The Bangladesh government has decided to ban hardline Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir, through an executive order expected on Wednesday. The government’s decision comes after protests in Bangladesh, which are said to have been hijacked by radical Islamists. Which resulted in massive deaths.
The decision to ban Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing was taken by the 14-party ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League. Bangladesh Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters that the ban on Jamaat would be implemented through an executive order.
Jamaat leaders criticised the ban and called it “illegal, extrajudicial and unconstitutional”.
Bangladesh Election Commission had already cancelled the registration of hardline right-wing party Jamaat following a High Court ruling in 2018.
The law minister said the matter would be discussed with the home minister on Wednesday to finalise the process for implementing the ban, several Dhaka-based media outlets, including The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, reported on Tuesday.
Bangladesh trying to take steps towards normalcy
The decision to ban Jamaat comes at a time when Bangladesh is moving towards normalcy after violence during student protests left nearly 150 people dead.
The government said public and private offices would function normally from Wednesday.
However, internet services have not been fully restored and social media sites like Facebook remain down.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also announced that her government would seek foreign technical assistance to form a judicial inquiry committee to investigate the deaths during the reservation movement, the Daily Star reported on Tuesday.
He said the aim was to ensure “a thorough and standard investigation”.
Meanwhile, a ban was announced on Jamaat and its student wing.
Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader said after the meeting of alliance parties, “For the sake of the country, the alliance of 14 parties has decided to ban Jamaat-Shibir to eliminate anti-national evil forces.”
The meeting took place at Gono Bhaban, the official residence of Sheikh Hasina on Monday evening.
How Islamists hijacked student protests
Some Dhaka-based experts told India Today that the reservation movement The event took a violent turn as it was “hijacked by Islamists”.
He said radical Islamists from the Jamaat and its student wing had infiltrated among the protesting students and turned it into a fight against the government.
“This has now become a movement of Jamaat and other Islamic fundamentalist groups. Only three-four students are present in the crowd of around 1,000,” Dhaka-based senior journalist Swadesh Roy had earlier told IndiaToday.in.
“Most of the students have understood this and have withdrawn from the movement,” he said in a phone interview on July 21, when the Bangladesh government had shut down internet services.
However, those critical of Sheikh Hasina’s regime believe that these protests, in which most political forces participated, were a spontaneous protest against the government.
Experts say that since the ban in 2018, the Jamaat has been looking at movements like reservation protests as oxygen to survive.
Despite losing its electoral registration, Jamaat continued its political activities as an ally of the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The Jamaat on Tuesday described the move to ban it as “illegal” and said it was part of a well-planned scheme to take action against opposition parties.
“The government has been lying from the beginning to escape responsibility for its wrongdoings. Using the government machinery, they are playing the blame game against the Jamaat and other opposition parties,” Jamaat-e-Islami tweeted from its official X handle.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s role in the 1971 Liberation War has been tainted by several verdicts by war crimes tribunals that found its leaders guilty of playing a key role in atrocities against Bengalis by siding with the Pakistan army and its militias.