It appears that the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Party has decided to enter the political arena with the aim of dominating legislation in Parliament and dismantling the secular identity imposed by the ruling Awami Party for the past 17 years.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, once the third political force in the country after the secular ruling Awami League, whose leader Sheikh Hasina Wazed fled to India, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Khaleda Zia, now seems poised to become the first political force in the country. This is in light of the changing political landscape following the Bangladesh Spring.
With the power vacuum Bangladesh faces and the collapse of the ruling party, the country stands at a critical juncture. There is a competition in the upcoming elections between the Jamaat-e-Islami and the BNP, and it is unclear whether the Awami League will be allowed to participate or not.
Jamaat and the Parliament
The announcement by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, through Mohammad Salimuddin, a member of the central executive council, that they are preparing to introduce candidates for all 300 seats in the upcoming general elections indicates the party's intention to dominate Parliament. The Parliament consists of 300 seats.
But why does the Jamaat-e-Islami seek to dominate Parliament and become the leading party? Analysts propose several reasons, including the party's right to reap the benefits of its efforts with the students and youth of Bangladesh to overthrow the dictatorship of Hasina.
Other reasons include the void left after the Bangladesh Spring, the rise in the Jamaat's popularity, and their desire to control legislation in Parliament to ensure the passage of Islamic laws.
However, Bengali reports suggest the goal is to remove the secular identity that the Awami League tried to impose on the Muslim-majority country. The Jamaat places great importance on removing the secular mantle imposed by the Awami League, which led to the killing and execution of several Islamic scholars from the Jamaat-e-Islami.
In this context, the Jamaat-e-Islami demanded on September 22 that at least two prominent religious scholars be included in the “National Curriculum Review Committee,” formed by the Ministry of Education to remove secular teachings from the curriculum.
The Jamaat stated: “The previous anti-Islam government included many anti-Islamic cultural elements in school textbooks during its nearly 17-year rule, which is completely unacceptable to the people of Bangladesh.” They emphasized that many anti-Muslim and atheistic issues were included in the national curriculum as part of a long-term conspiracy.
Following the 2024 general elections in Bangladesh, the Awami League won 224 out of 300 contested seats, and 48 out of 50 seats reserved for women, giving them over three-quarters of the seats in the Parliament, known as the Jatiya Sangsad.
Of the remaining 76 contested seats, 62 were won by independent candidates, most of whom were affiliated with the Awami League and ran independently to legitimize the Awami League's victory and give the impression of free and fair elections.
Thus, many Western governments and democratic observers stated that the elections were neither free nor fair, as the main opposition party, the BNP, boycotted the elections, leading to Bangladesh being described as a one-party state.
The secular ruling Awami League banned the Jamaat-e-Islami, which has millions of supporters, in 2013 from participating in elections by a court ruling from Supreme Court judges loyal to the government, claiming that its charter violated the secular constitution of the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people.
In 2013, the Election Commission banned the Jamaat-e-Islami from participating in elections after canceling its registration. This followed the establishment of the International Crimes Tribunal by the Awami League administration, which prosecuted and convicted many senior Jamaat-e-Islami leaders for war crimes during the 1971 conflict.
Subsequently, the party was excluded from the 2014 and 2018 elections, as well as the January 2024 elections, in which Sheikh Hasina won a fifth term in rigged elections.
However, after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled Bangladesh, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on August 6, paving the way for a transitional government. On August 28, the transitional government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus lifted the ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami imposed under the anti-terrorism law. The Ministry of Home Affairs revoked the ban imposed in the final days of Sheikh Hasina's rule, which accused the Jamaat-e-Islami of inciting unrest during the Bangladesh Spring that led to her resignation. A notice published in the official gazette of the interim government stated that “there is no specific evidence of the Jamaat's involvement in terrorist activities.”
Zionist Concerns!
The Islamist transformation undertaken by the Jamaat-e-Islami after the Bangladesh Spring, its effort to remove the secular identity, and restore the original Islamic identity has angered the Zionist occupation state and Hindu India.
Hindu researcher in international relations, Ratnadeep Chakraborty, wrote in an article published in the Israeli newspaper “Jerusalem Post” on August 11: “The developments in Bangladesh threaten to reverse years of economic progress and potentially push the country towards a more Islamic future!” He stated that the most pressing concern now is the potential rise of Islamist groups to power.
He added that the history of the BNP (Khaleda Zia's party), the potential successor of the Awami League, in allying with Islamist parties, especially the Jamaat-e-Islami, raises serious concerns about the future direction of the country.
The Hindu writer in the Israeli newspaper claimed that the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJeI), with its grassroots organization and goal of Islamizing the country, poses a particular threat to the secular character of Bangladesh. He affirmed that there is a real possibility that an Islamist-led coalition could win the elections if held in the current climate.
He added that the pragmatic entanglement between religion and politics has gradually eroded the secular foundations of the country, especially with the BNP's past efforts to integrate Islam with Bangladeshi nationalism.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami x.com
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