A group of women leaders on Sunday demanded the cancellation of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami amir Shafiqur Rahman’s candidacy over derogatory and misogynistic remarks about working women.

The women leaders submitted a memorandum in this regard to the chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the EC headquarters in the capital.

The leaders demanded the immediate withdrawal of the remarks, an unconditional apology to working women, and action by the election commission in line with its code of conduct, including the cancellation of his candidacy.

They said the Jamaat amir had recently made offensive, vulgar and misogynistic comments about working women from his verified X account, which was not only an insult to women but also a direct denial of the dignity, labour and social contribution of millions of working women across the country.

The women leaders also rejected the Jamaat’s claim that the post was the result of hacking, saying such an explanation was not credible in the absence of any official statement, transparent investigation or verified evidence from the platform concerned.

Among others, the memorandum was signed by Democratic Revolutionary Party general secretary Mosharrafa Mishu; Dhaka University teacher Professor Samina Lutfa; Garments Workers’ Liberation Movement president Shabnam Hafiz; NPA spokesperson Ferdous Ara Rumi; Women’s Political Rights Forum organiser Nafisa Raihana; Zakia Shishir, women affairs secretary of the Rashtra Sangskar Andolon; rights activist Tabassum Mehenaj; Green Bangla Garments Workers Federation president Sultana Begum; and the women’s rights organisation Naripokkho.