Bangladesh on Thursday banned Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir under anti-terrorism law following nationwide unrest, citing threats to public security from the radical party.
A notification issued by the Home Ministry’s Public Security Division on Thursday confirmed the ban on the Islamist party, which is a key ally of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The ban on the Jamaat, Chhatra Shibir and other affiliated groups was imposed through an executive order under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
“They (Jamaat-Shibir and BNP) used students as their shield,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday when Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro visited her at her official residence Ganabhaban here.
The Bangladesh government on Tuesday decided to ban Jamaat-e-Islami following deadly nationwide student protests over reservation in government jobs, accusing it of exploiting the agitation that left at least 150 people dead.
The development comes after a meeting of the 14-party alliance led by the ruling Awami League passed a resolution earlier this week that the Jamaat should be banned from politics.
The recent decision to ban the Jamaat comes 50 years after the initial ban was imposed in 1972 for “misusing religion for political purposes”.
Top leaders of the ruling Awami League, which has been in power for the past 15 years, have supported the ban on Jamaat because of its role in the Liberation War.
The Jamaat remained active despite losing its registration and being banned from participating in elections due to court rulings.
The report said the party was allegedly involved in violence during the recent reservation reform movement protests, which the government has cited as the reason for the ban.
Violence prevailed in Bangladesh for almost the entire month of July, as protests that began in universities and colleges earlier in the month soon turned into a wider movement against the policies of Prime Minister Hasina and her government.
The government called in the army to suppress protests against job reservations as violence left at least 150 people dead, thousands injured, including policemen, and major government installations damaged.
According to the report, Law Minister Anisul Haque said on Tuesday that the ban was being imposed due to recent violence related to the quota reform movement and would be implemented through an executive order.