Dhaka Bureau: Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the main partner of BNP, wants to participate in the next 12th national parliament elections. They want to contest 100 seats separately by fielding candidates. Even if the party symbol is lost due to the loss of Election Commission registration, they will contest any symbol in the polling field.
They do not want to leave the ruling Awami League unchallenged. For this, they will nominate candidates for specific constituencies after reviewing their vote count. Basically, this strategy of theirs is to put pressure on Awami League and advance BNP. Jamaat thinks that they will be better off if the Awami League government is ousted and BNP is in power. Will get opportunity to openly politics. Avoid lawsuits. Although they do not trust the BNP 100%, they think it is much better for them than the Awami League.
Regular meetings are held between them. Jamaat’s organizational activities do not stop even in the midst of intelligence surveillance and the strictness of law and order forces. Everything is going their way online. Money is regularly coming to Baitul Mall from home and abroad. They are active in many countries, including Saudi Arabia, London, Dubai, and the USA.
Although Jamaat is in an anti-government role, Charmonai Pir’s Islamic Movement Bangladesh as an Islamic party has become a headache for them. Jamaat thinks that Charmonai is talking about Pir Sarkar. They can create influence among Muslims by giving candidates the hand-fan symbol in the polling field. If they spread to the grassroots, their importance may increase in mosques and madrasas. This information was revealed while talking to several top leaders of the Jamaat active in Saudi Arabia.
According to sources, the number of Jamaat people abroad has decreased after the global pandemic corona. Many have been forced to return home. However, many of them are going to perform Hajj or Umrah in Saudi Arabia. Many members of Jamaat are also active among the Saudi diaspora. They are having regular meetings there. Eid reunion.
Jamaat’s women’s wing and Islami Chhatra Shibir are also active there. There are also committees for Jamaat and Shibir. Referring to the recent flood situation in Sylhet, the leaders of the party also claimed that Jamaat extends a helping hand in any disaster of the country.
A Jamaat leader active in Mecca’s Jeddah is the imam of a mosque there. Has been with the family for almost 30 years. He told this reporter while sitting on the Arabian Sea that many of their children are studying in madrasas and universities there. They are founded on camp ideology. Wives and daughters of Jamaat leaders work for the organization. Day by day, their supporters are increasing. Many of the country’s leaders travel there regularly. He met with them. Ziyarah (Visit of Historical Sites of Islam)
In the last parliamentary elections, Awami League gave at least 80 seats to the BNP through compromise, a share of which Jamaat will also get. The leader of Jamaat said that now Jamaat has to pay the price for not being able to compromise properly with the BNP government. They are preparing for the election of the twelfth parliament by combining the accounts of the eleventh parliament. At least they want to win more seats than the Jatiya Party. That is why they want to fight hard in Satkhira, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Khulna, Sylhet, and Rajshahi. In this way, they will help BNP by providing agents at the center. They have prepared candidates for 100 seats outside the BNP. In this, they have also decided to convey the message that the chosen candidate will be allocated from the Election Commission to the workers, supporters, and voters.
In the last Union-Pashad election, their candidates won in some unions in this manner. Earlier, Jamaat considered the victory of Masood Saeedee as Chairman of the Indurkani Upazila Parishad of Pirojpur as public support.
It is known that unaccounted money can be sent to Saudi Arabia. Money can be sent in both legal and illegal (hundi) ways. There is no dollar endorsement to go there. There is no problem bringing reals and dollars back. Jamaat activists are also taking this opportunity, like many others.
Many expatriate Jamaat leaders staying in Makkah and Madina said that Barrister Abdur Razzak has been organizationally silent since his exile. But he did not deviate. Those who did AB party are basically not with the mainstream of Jamaat. They made this team hoping for benefits. There are doubts about them within the Jamaat. Jamaat also thinks that they are a team arranged by the government.
Meanwhile, several leaders said that there is no leadership crisis in the Jamaat and that the leadership is ready, step by step. They think that the main obstacle to their plan to establish a permanent Islamic state is the party of Pir Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim, Islami Andolan Bangladesh. Jamaat thinks that this party with the hand fan symbol speaks openly against the government, but everything is arranged. This party will take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections and will act as a supporter in the campaign of the Islamic party in the election, the Awami League. And they think that Jamaat’s organizational work is being harmed through the propaganda of the Islamic movement.
On the other hand, Jamaat wants to bring forward the issue of arresting Hefazat leaders before the next elections. They want to create a big platform with Islamic leaders and scholars to put pressure on the government and share the votes of religious Muslims.
Some of the arrested leaders have been released. When they went to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj and Umrah, there was such a discussion among the Jamaat leaders. Jamaat is said to be trying to become stronger as an organization, even though it is not dreaming of coming to power right now.
