Since its independence in 1971, there has been an ongoing conflict between its people and the leaders of the ruling "Awami" Party because they enacted a law in 1972 to appoint their supporters to high-paying government jobs, under the pretext that they are "children of the heroes of the War of Independence."
Due to this strange law, which allocated a large percentage of government jobs to veterans and their families (30%), women (10%), and ethnic minorities, especially Hindus (5%), students and university graduates have protested several times over the years, demanding justice and that employment be based on experience and competence, not favoritism and the pretext of being children of martyrs and veterans.
These popular demands were supported by the leaders of the Bangladeshi Islamic Jamaat Party, which has been persecuted by the oppressive authorities since independence and whose leaders have been executed since 2013 up to the present under the pretext that they – when Pakistan was united as East and West – opposed the independence of Bangladesh to prevent the fragmentation of Muslim unity. Therefore, the authorities targeted them, along with the opposition and students who rejected the initial corruption and favoritism, and the dictatorial regime, particularly Sheikh Hasina Wajid, who has ruled the country for 20 years, formed special courts to sentence them to death because they opposed the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan and considered it a fragmentation of the Islamic unity of the two countries and a global Indian conspiracy, thus they were considered enemies and "war criminals"!
Comprehensive Revolution
These social, economic, and political injustices have driven the students of Bangladesh to protest again since the beginning of July 2024, demanding the abolition of the law that distributes jobs to supporters of the ruling party and military personnel under the pretext that they are children of veterans. About 400,000 graduates annually compete for 3,000 government jobs, and there are 18 million unemployed young people. Meanwhile, scandals and corruption cases involving generals and members of the ruling party surface annually, and opposition members are executed and killed.
Students protested demanding the abolition of the law distributing jobs to supporters of the ruling party and military personnel
The dictatorship of Hasina Wajid's regime responded to the students with violence and gunfire, resulting in the death of approximately 115-150 young people, according to various estimates, and leaving hundreds injured. This ignited a revolution, and the students not only demanded the abolition of the unjust employment law but also called for the overthrow of the government and the departure of Hasina Wajid. She is the head of the Awami League (People's) Party, founded by her father, Mujibur Rahman, in 1949 in India, which acted as an arm of India that supported it in destroying Islamic unity with Pakistan, and separated Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.
The "International Crisis Group" described the protests as the greatest challenge to the Awami League regime (Sheikh Hasina's party) since it came to power. The Guardian newspaper stated that the protests turned into a broader expression of discontent with Hasina's authoritarian rule. The magazine "Muslim Matters" described the situation as similar to the "Arab Spring" that has extended to Bengal, noting that what worries the Bangladeshi authorities is that the Jamaat-e-Islami's ideas are similar to those of the Muslim Brotherhood and are inspired by Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. It stated that Sheikh Hasina, the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, feared the revolutions in the Arab world; hence, she launched a repressive campaign to prevent a revolution in her country, which is why she executed the scholars.
Western reports predicted that Hasina, who rules Bangladesh with an iron fist and allies with Hindu extremists against Muslim choices, executes scholars in cold blood, and that her rule will fall. They confirmed that the students' revolution has shifted from social and employment demands to political and human rights demands, calling for an end to election fraud and Hasina's departure due to their deprivation of true democracy, and the country's transformation into a family rule for those who separated Bangladesh from Pakistan.
Execution of 5 Scholars
Following the independence of Bangladesh, what was called the "International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh" was formed in 2010, under the pretext of prosecuting "war criminals" who opposed its independence in 1971, mainly targeting the leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami and other opponents.
These scholars, who led the Islamic movement within the ranks of the Jamaat-e-Islami before the separation of Bangladesh (East Pakistan) from Pakistan in 1971, were executed by the current regime in Bangladesh through a special court established for this purpose, on the pretext that they were enemies of independence.
The dictatorial regime confronted the protesting students with violence and gunfire, resulting in dozens of martyrs
At first, the repressive regime delayed the trial and execution of scholars out of fear of public backlash. However, with the escalation of their opposition activities against the oppressive authority, the authorities began carrying out executions starting in 2013. So far, five senior scholars of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh have been executed. The Jamaat-e-Islami had sought to unify East and West Pakistan when calls for Bangladesh's independence arose in East Pakistan, led by Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina, who incited the Hindus against it.
During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, the Jamaat-e-Islami in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) opposed independence based on Islamic unity and the fear of violent conflict, warning against India's full support and funding of the secession.
Among the prominent figures arrested and executed or who died in prison from the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership, seven senior scholars have been affected so far. Five were hanged, and two died in prison before their execution. The first of these leaders was Abdul Quader Molla, who was the first leader from the Jamaat-e-Islami party to be executed in December 2013 on charges of involvement in crimes during the 1971 war of secession from Pakistan. Molla was initially sentenced to life imprisonment, but the current regime was not satisfied with the ruling and amended the law to allow the regime to appeal final court judgments and execute him, preventing his funeral and killing some who participated in his burial.
The second leader executed in November 2015 was Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, who served as the Secretary-General of the Jamaat-e-Islami party and had previously held a ministerial position in the coalition government between the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party from 2001 to 2007. One of the fabricated charges that led to his execution was "killing Hindu intellectuals during the 1971 war of secession from Pakistan."
The third was Sheikh Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, a leader in the Jamaat-e-Islami party, who was sentenced to death on May 9, 2013, on charges of participating in the war of secession from Pakistan and causing the death of dozens, as part of the framing of political opponents. The execution was carried out on April 11, 2015, at the central prison in the capital, Dhaka.
The fourth martyr among the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders executed by the India-aligned dictatorial regime in Bangladesh was Motiur Rahman Nizami, who opposed the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan. He was chosen as the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party in 2001 and appointed Minister of Agriculture in 2001. In 2003, he was selected as Minister of Industry until 2006.
The student revolution has shifted from social and employment demands to political demands and the departure of Hasina Wajid
Nizami was arrested in 2011 on charges of smuggling weapons to India. In January 2014, he was sentenced to death, and another death sentence was issued in October 2014 on charges of committing "genocide" during the separation from Pakistan. With the dignity of the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh and his certainty that he was on the right path, he refused to seek a pardon from the President, resulting in his execution. The authorities carried out the death sentence on May 10, 2016, amidst American welcome, claiming it was "justice against those who committed atrocities against the Bangladeshi people."
In a statement, the Jamaat-e-Islami described Nizami's death sentence as politically motivated by the current regime, which seeks to eliminate the leadership of the powerful organization in the country through executions and endless arrests.
The fifth martyr is Mir Quasem Ali, a member of the central executive committee of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, a prominent businessman managing companies in various fields. He was arrested on June 17, 2012, convicted of committing "war crimes," and sentenced to death on November 2, 2014. The Supreme Court upheld his execution on March 8, 2016.
Political Trials
The opposition criticized the trials of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, describing them as political trials. Human Rights Watch, in a statement, called on the Bangladeshi authorities to annul the death sentence against Mir Quasem Ali. However, the Hasina dictatorship executed him by hanging on September 3, 2016, in a high-security prison on the outskirts of Dhaka after the martyr refused to submit a mercy petition to Hasina.
The sixth martyr was Ghulam Azam, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, who was arrested on January 11, 2012, at the age of about 89. Despite this, on July 17, 2013, the court sentenced him to 90 years in prison on the same charges that led to the execution of his companions, which were "war crimes" during Bangladesh's separation war from Pakistan.
The evidence presented by the prosecution against Ghulam Azam consisted of clippings from daily newspapers issued in 1971 and 1972 and testimonies from witnesses who claimed they "heard" without seeing or witnessing anything substantial, confirming the fabricated nature of the trials. He met his end inside the prison on October 23, 2014, instead of being executed like his companions.
Authorities began executing five senior scholars and leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami in 2013
The seventh martyr is Abu al-Kalam Muhammad Yusuf, who holds the title of "Mumtaz al-Muhadditheen," the highest title for hadith scholars in Bangladesh. He joined the Jamaat-e-Islami before the separation from Pakistan, and led its branch in Khulna between 1956 and 1957. He was later appointed Deputy Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami for East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and held this position until the formation of Bangladesh. After the separation, Abu al-Kalam served as the General Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami for four terms and was subsequently appointed Deputy Amir of the party.
Approximately 40 years after the events of 1971, the Bangladeshi government insisted on arresting and prosecuting prominent leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami on charges of participating in war crimes during the secession war. Sheikh Abu al-Kalam was among those arrested in May 2013 and died on February 9, 2014, in a hospital to which he was transferred from prison due to deteriorating health, as he was suffering from several chronic illnesses.
Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh is one of the largest political parties, initially established in Greater Pakistan (Pakistan and Bangladesh) before the latter's independence. It was founded on August 16, 1941, when 75 Pakistanis from various parts of the country gathered in Lahore under the leadership of Abu al-Ala Maududi to establish Jamaat-e-Islami, electing Maududi as its Amir. Following the declaration of the state of Pakistan on August 28, 1947, Maududi and his associates moved to Lahore, where they established the Jamaat-e-Islami headquarters.
In 1971, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan after months of conflict between secessionists and the Pakistani government and army. Jamaat-e-Islami was a supporter of unity and opposed the separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan, which led to its persecution.
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