Is the influence of Islamist parties growing? – DW – 25/10/2024

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), was banned by the ousted government of Sheikh Hasina just days before the former prime minister fled the country in August.

Hasina’s Awami League party insisted that JI was involved in terrorist activities. During Hasina’s 15-year rule, many party members and activists were imprisoned and its leaders were hanged.

After the dissolution of Hasina’s government, the interim government of Bangladesh under the leadership of Muhammed Yunus lifted the ban.

Khalid Hossain, an adviser to the interim government at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said the interim administration was “working to establish a level playing field for all political parties in the country.”

He told DW that the political culture and voting rights of citizens in Bangladesh have been eroded over time and the caretaker government is trying to restore them by supporting all political parties, including Islamic ones.

However, Munshi Faiz Ahmad, former president of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), told DW that the previous Awami League government had legitimate grounds to restrict JI’s political activities.

“Given JI’s opposition to the creation of Bangladesh through association with Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War, it should not be allowed to operate under that name. However, if its leaders want to participate in politics under a new name, they should be allowed to do so,” he added.

The mandate of Bangladesh’s interim government is to pave the way for new elections and propose reforms that could be implemented under the newly elected government. The date of the new elections has not yet been set.

A new chance for Islamist parties?

Lawyer Shishir Munir, who represents JI in legal disputes, said the party has survived the last 15 years under the Awami League rule and can prosper in the future.

“Like other political parties, JI has started to adapt to citizens’ expectations. “JI will adjust its strategy to better prepare for the upcoming elections, keeping in mind the lessons learned from the fall of the previous government,” he told DW.

Syed Mohammad Mosaddek Billah, a senior leader of the Islamist party Islami Andolan Bangladesh, told DW that Islamist political parties, including his, have been suppressed by Hasina’s government and are now being supported by the interim administration so that they can participate in the upcoming elections.

A postdoctoral researcher at the Central European University in Hungary, Shafi Md Mostafa, said Islamist parties supported the student-led movement that led to the ouster of Hasina and the Awami League, giving them a role in the reform process.

Islamists’ demands

Mamunul Haque, leader of the far-right pro-Islam group Hefazat-e-Islam, has demanded the withdrawal of nearly 300 cases filed against the group’s leaders and activists. The party also wants the Awami League banned.

Haque told DW that only one or two cases were dropped and no significant steps were taken to dismiss the others.

In response to these demands from Islamist political parties, on October 24, Bangladesh’s interim government officially banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League party, calling it a “terrorist organization.”

Ridwanul Hoque, former law professor at Dhaka University, criticized the decision to ban BCL, calling the move politically, legally and constitutionally wrong.

He told DW that the interim government’s BCL ban was autocratic and lacked due process.

The measures taken by the interim government, including the removal of Supreme Court judges and academics, have been criticized by some human rights groups as lacking transparency.

“Many convicted terrorists have been released from prisons since the formation of this government without following due legal procedures, posing a security threat to Bangladesh and beyond,” said Veena Sikri, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh.

Sikri told DW that “even students’ opinions are divided and it is mainly Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir, the student wing of JI, that is involved in bringing these changes by involving the caretaker government without following due process.”

Edited by Wesley Rahn