The Crime Desk: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student organization, including student camps, are going to be banned by the government in an executive order. A notification may be issued in this regard from the Ministry of Home Affairs today. Law Minister Anisul Haque told the media yesterday on Tuesday.
The party founded by Syed Abul A’la Maududi in 1941 is going to be banned for the fourth time. The party was banned twice during the Pakistan era. In 1972, the Awami League government banned the Jamaat from politics in independent Bangladesh for its participation and cooperation in genocide in opposition to the last liberation war, and at that time the party’s leaders went into exile in Pakistan. But after the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 and after several military coups and counter-coups, when Major General Ziaur Rahman came to power in 1977, the leaders and activists of the party were allowed to return, and in May 1979, the party was registered under the leadership of the then very influential leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, Abbas Ali Khan.
Incidentally, the Election Commission canceled the registration of Jamaat in 2013 by the judgment of the High Court. An appeal was filed by the Jamaat against the High Court verdict. However, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court dismissed Jamaat’s appeal on 19 November 2023. As a result of the cancellation of registration, the party lost the eligibility to participate in the elections in Bangladesh with the symbol as a single (party). An order from the Crimes Against Humanity Tribunal also ordered the banning of the group for war crimes, but the government did not speak up on the issue for a long time.
Quite suddenly, after a meeting of 14 parties with Sheikh Hasina on the night of July 29, it was decided to ban Jamaat-e-Islami and all its affiliates. General Secretary of Awami League Obaidul Quader said that in the meeting, 14 parties unanimously decided to ban Jamaat-Shibir politics after taking into account the statements of participating parties, analysis of information and data, past and present activities of the party, and court judgments given at different times. Now the government will implement that decision.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formerly known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. It is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. The objective of this group is to implement the Islamic Sharia law in Bangladesh. The party takes the ideology of ‘Ikamte Deen’ (Establishment of Religion) as its basic premise and interprets it politically as ‘establishing an Islamic state through the acquisition of state power’. It is a branch of Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan and holds the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
In the 1980s, the Jamaat joined a multi-party alliance to restore democracy. During this period, the party, along with the Awami League and contemporary opposition parties, and later the party agitated for the introduction of a caretaker government system. In 2001, in the run-up to the elections, it formed a four-party alliance with BNP and two other parties and participated in the elections. When the four-party alliance won the elections, the then Amir and Secretary General of Jamaat were appointed as the ministers in the government led by Begum Khaleda Zia.
In 2010, the Awami League-led government started the trial of war criminals accused of the 1971 genocide through the International Crimes Against Humanity Tribunal. In 2012, war crimes cases were filed against several leaders, including two BNP leaders and former and current members of Jamaat. As of July 2013, many Jamaat leaders were convicted and sentenced to death and life imprisonment, and former Amir Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years in prison. Because of these verdicts, Jamaat led violent protests in various parts of the country in which many people were killed and government property was damaged.
Note that in 1971, Jamaat-e-Islami strongly opposed the liberation war. Razakar, Albadar, Alshams, etc. forces were formed to help the Pakistan Army. They worked for the Pakistani forces throughout the liberation war. Allegations of involvement in various crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, looting, and the December 14 killing of intellectuals against the group, have been proven in the International Criminal Tribunal.
