Chaite gelam rights, hey gelam razakar!
who got swept away in the tsunami of slogans Sheikh Hasina Government Earlier this month, this particular sentence (“We demanded our rights but became Razakars”), laced with sarcasm, emerged as a summary of the political history of Bangladesh’s independent existence. When her law and order machinery did its job, Ms. Hasina described the protesters as ‘Razakars’, that is, the anti-liberation forces of 1971 who opposed Bangladesh’s independence. But it turned out that Ms. Hasina, despite her best efforts, failed to stop the anti-liberation forces, most effectively represented by Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.
During her 15-year tenure as Prime Minister, one of the most dramatic moments came on the morning of May 11, 2016 when Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh leader Motiur Rahman Nizami was hanged in Dhaka Central Jail. The hanging of Nizami, one of the most powerful men in the country, showed that Jamaat-e-Islami had become weak after the continuous attacks by the Hasina government.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s weakness was further proven when its foot soldiers failed to organise themselves in protest against Nizami’s death. Nizami represented the strength of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh. On May 13, 1971, when the Pakistani army’s ‘Operation Searchlight’ was attacking those opposing the Bangladesh independence movement, a large contingent of the Pakistani army reached Demra in the western part of the country and killed a large number of civilians with the help of collaborators. The war crimes tribunal formed by the Hasina government investigated and found that the Al Badr militia led by Nizami had assisted the Pakistani army in carrying out the Demra massacre.
Jamaat-e-Islami is a branch of Bangladesh, founded on August 26, 1941 in Lahore. Soon after its emergence, Jamaat-e-Islami opposed Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s Pakistan Movement. However, after the formation of the state of Pakistan, it reestablished itself by demanding an Islamic constitution and Islamic rule. In East Pakistan, Ghulam Azam led the Islamic movement.
In 1954, Ghulam Azam joined JeI and under his leadership, JeI became a strong movement in East Pakistan as well. During this time, JeI established its student wing (today Chhatra Shivir in Bangladesh). In East Pakistan, JeI faced its first repression under the government of President Ayub Khan, who banned the organisation under an order that remained in force until 1962. In 1963, the organisation revived itself as part of a campaign against the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, which was opposed by anti-Ayub Khan parties. In the next election in 1965, Fatima Jinnah, sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, contested against Ayub Khan. This marked a dramatic turn in JeI’s history as the organisation, including its main ideologue Maulana Maududi, went against its core principles and supported a female candidate in the election. This experiment with democracy would be an example that the organisation would later repeat.
Mujib’s rivals
It was only after Fatima Jinnah’s defeat that the East Pakistan branch of the JEI became more focused on Dhaka politics, where it emerged as the main opponent of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Sheikh Mujib wanted a federal arrangement for East and West Pakistan that would include two separate currencies and separate foreign exchange reserves for the two branches. He also demanded a separate paramilitary force for East Pakistan. Reframing the JEI’s political position against Mujib brought the movement closer to its former archenemy, President Ayub Khan. As Pakistan moved towards the December 7, 1970 elections, the JEI contested and won four seats in the National Assembly. As the movement for Bangladesh gained momentum, the JEI became part of the official move to preserve Pakistan in its undivided form.
Summary
Jamaat-e-Islami is a branch of Bangladesh, founded on 26 August 1941 in Lahore.
In East Pakistan, Jamaat emerged as the main opponent of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who demanded a federal system with autonomy for East Pakistan.
In the 1990s, Jamaat supported the pro-democracy movement led by the Awami League and BNP, and in 1996 it joined forces with the Awami League to form a caretaker government. And in 1998, it emerged from the margins and joined the political mainstream as an ally of the BNP.
After the defeat of the Pakistani army in the 1971 war, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ghulam Azam left Bangladesh and lived in London and Pakistan for some time, campaigning for the restoration of East Pakistan. Azam’s citizenship was revoked by the Mujib government in 1973, when the country held its first elections. After a period of uncertainty, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh was founded in 1979, with Azam as Ameer and Abbas Ali Khan as Ameer-in-Charge. In 1986, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh contested the elections and secured 10 seats. It campaigned against the government of President Hussain Mohammad Ershad. During the stormy anti-Ershad movement led by Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League and Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 1990, Jamaat-e-Islami leaders gave speeches in support of popular democracy. In the 1991 elections, which brought Ms Zia to power, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh won 18 seats.
The biggest turning point in the history of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh came on 6 December 1992 when the Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya. The organisation took advantage of the public sentiment and established itself as the voice of the religious majority in Bangladesh. Through a court verdict, Ghulam Azam got back Bangladesh citizenship. Ironically, in 1996, Jamaat-e-Islami joined hands with the Awami League and launched a movement to establish a caretaker government that would hold the next election. However, the two parties did not form an alliance during the election, leading to Ms Hasina becoming the Prime Minister for the first time. From the margins, Jamaat-e-Islami came to the centre of Bangladesh politics in 1998 when it entered into an alliance with the BNP.
In 1999, Jamaat-e-Islami joined the four-party alliance led by the BNP. With Jamaat-e-Islami becoming a mainstream political player, Ghulam Azam withdrew from active politics and Motiur Rahman Nizami became Ameer. In the 2001 election, Jamaat-e-Islami won 18 seats and Nizami became a minister, holding the ministries of agriculture and industry. During this time, the organisation further improved its ties with Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan. When the Zia government became unpopular, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh also suffered and its leaders were caught in the vortex as they repeatedly made derogatory remarks about the 1971 Liberation War, which infuriated the public and led Ms Hasina to vow that the Awami League would set up a war crimes tribunal if she returned to power. The opportunity to form this tribunal came in 2009 when the Jatiya Sangsad unanimously passed a resolution to establish a war crimes tribunal.
New strategy
After Nizami’s execution, the Jamaat-e-Islami, led by Shafiqur Rahman (in pic), has changed its strategy and replaced its earlier anti-liberation rhetoric with sophisticated social media outreach. It also strengthened its presence in coaching centres and liberal universities, where there was resentment against the Hasina government’s hardline policies. Ms Hasina banned the Jamaat-e-Islami in a last-ditch act of retaliation. But it was too late.
Jamaat-e-Islami has avenged Nizami’s hanging. Like the 1990 movement against military dictatorship, this time too Jamaat-e-Islami took part in the pro-democracy movement. In 1990, Jamaat-e-Islami had joined hands with the Awami League and BNP to overthrow the Ershad regime. In 2024, they have joined hands with students to overthrow Ms Hasina.