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JCD Central Joint Secretary Sayera Chandra Chakma.

“You [Jamaat] will not be able to confine women to their homes again,” she added.

The protesters chanted slogans such as “Women are not prostitutes; Shafiq must apologise” and questioned the Jamaat chief’s claim that his social media account had been hacked.

“You called them prostitutes and now claim your ID was hacked,” they shouted.

JCD Central President Rakibul Islam Rakib warned of tougher programmes if Shafiqur does not offer an unconditional apology.

“When women make up 52 percent of the voters, how can they call them prostitutes and still claim the right to do politics?” questioned JCD Central Joint General Secretary Mansura Alam.

Around the same time, Jagannath University (JnU) students, led by several female activists of the JnU unit JCD, held a protest rally at the university’s Shanto Chattar.

Farzana Akter Tumpa, president of the Nawab Faizunnesa Chowdhurani Hall unit of JCD, said, “We strongly condemn the vulgar comments made about women by the Jamaat ameer while holding a responsible position.”

Khadijatul Kubra, joint convener of the JnU unit of JCD, termed the equation of working women with prostitution “a gross insult”.

Around 1:00pm, women leaders from various student organisations brought out a broom procession in front of the Raju Sculpture at DU to protest the remarks.

Later in the evening, around 6:40pm, the Ganantratik Chhatra Jote -- a coalition of seven left-leaning student organisations including Chhatra Union, Biplobi Chhatra Maitree, and Chhatra Federation -- staged a torch procession from the TSC.

Meanwhile, a group of working women also brought out a broom procession in the Baishteki area of Kafrul in Mirpur yesterday afternoon.