Ban on Jamaat-Shibir in a day: Law minister

Law Minister Anisul Huq has said that the government, though an executive order, is set to ban Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, in the country by tomorrow (Wednesday).

He disclosed the government decision at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Tuesday, a day after the 14-party alliance led by the Awami League opted to impose the ban.

The BNP and Jamaat are involved in a conspiracy to make the country ineffective through anarchy, the ruling party‍‍`s General Secretary Obaidul Quader said on Monday, adding, "So, for the sake of the country, the 14-party alliance has decided to ban Jamaat-Shibir to eliminate anti-national evil forces."

He was addressing the media after a meeting of the ruling Awami League-led 14 party alliance at Gonobhaban in Dhaka.

Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting.

In this regard, Rashed Khan Menon, president of Workers Party, Bangladesh, and a senior voice in the alliance, said the government would quickly implement the decision to ban ‍‍`Jamaat-Shibir‍‍`.

Although the party‍‍`s registration has long been scrapped, the ‍‍`Jamaat-Shibir‍‍` tag denotes adherents of the ideology of the Jamaat e Islami, which used to be the largest, most well-established Islamist party in the country, along with its student front, the Islami Chhatra Shibir.

"If Jamaat-Shibir is banned, they will not be able to hold press conferences or any other political programme," said Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari, chairman of Bangladesh Tarikat Federation.

Looking back

The Election Commission through a gazette issued on October 29, 2018 cancelled the registration of Jamaat as a political party, which had opposed Bangladesh’s independence during the Liberation War of 1971.

According to the gazette, Jamaat’s registration was cancelled in line with the Sub Clause 4 of Article 90H of the Representation of the People Order (RPO) 1972, following a 2013 High Court order that declared the party’s registration illegal and cancelled.

On November 19 last year, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court dismissed a leave-to-appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami challenging a High Court verdict, which declared the party‍‍`s registration with the Election Commission as illegal.