Amid fluctuating demands and repeated court orders in this regard since 2013, the government has finally decided to ban Jamaat-e-Islami accused of war crimes during the country’s 1971 Liberation War.
Previously, the Election Commission, issuing a gazette notification, in November 2018 revoked the registration of Jamaat in line with a verdict the High Court had delivered in 2013. However, despite not being a registered political party, Jamaat and its student organization, Islami Chhatra Shibir, have been conducting activities as allies of the BNP-led 20-party alliance. The demand of banning Jamaat has been raised from within the ruling party Awami League, but it has not been done since the 2013 High Court judgment.
Finally, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina`s government is now going to ban this religion-based political party on the allegation of sabotaging the quota reform movement across the country. But the existing law in Bangladesh does not allow any single political party to be banned.
As a new law is being formulated to ban Jamaat`s politics, the party has been in a fix. There is also confusion about what they will do next. However, Jamaat has termed this decision as `illegal` and `unconstitutional`.
On Tuesday, Law Minister Anisul Huq said that Jamaat will be banned as a political party through an executive order. The government will clarify this process very soon.
Bans since British rule
Jamaat-e-Islami started its journey during the British colonial rule. However, the political party has been banned several times in Bangladesh since the Pakistan regime. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was established on August 26, 1941. The party opposed the creation of Pakistan and even did not support the Muslim League in the 1946 elections.
Jamaat was first banned in Pakistan in 1959 for inciting communal riots. It was banned again on 4 January 1964 for opposing Ayub Khan`s Muslim Family Law Ordinance in 1962. However, they joined the All Party Democratic Alliance in 1965 as a democratic movement.
In the 1970 elections, Jamaat-e-Islami won four seats in West Pakistan. When religion-based politics was banned after independence in 1971, Jamaat also came under it.
In August 1976, the Ziaur Rahman government announced the Political Parties Ordinance, paving the way for all types of political parties to do politics. At that time, Jamaat-e-Islami was associated with a party called Islamic Democratic Party. Later, when Ghulam Azam returned to Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh was formed in May 1979. At that time, Abbas Ali Khan got the post of acting ameer (party chief).
On August 1, 2013, the High Court ruled that the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party was invalid. The appeal against the verdict was rejected by the Appellate Division on November 19, 2019. But there was no point of canceling it as a political party either.
What law to ban Jamaat is on the cards?
In 1971, Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the liberation war of Bangladesh. It formed forces such as Razakar, Al Badr, Al Shams to help the Pakistan Army.
Allegations of involvement in various crimes against humanity in Bangladesh`s Liberation War have been proven in the International Crimes Tribunal and many leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami have been sentenced to various terms including death penalty.
Although individual crimes are tried, the demand of trying Jamaat as a party was raised by Gana Jagaran Mancha in 2013. The demand became stronger after the court termed the Jamaat as a `criminal outfit` in the verdict against Ghulam Azam. Awami League leaders have also spoken in favor of it at various times. But the matter remained stalled as there was no opportunity to prosecute the party in the law that constituted the International Crimes Tribunal.
On Monday, the decision to ban Jamaat-Shibir was taken in the meeting of the 14-party alliance led by the ruling party Awami League. On Tuesday, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said that the government will take the next step soon after looking into the legal matter for banning Jamaat so that this “evil force” does not get any chance to do politics in an independent Bangladesh through any legal loophole.
Jamaat-Shibir will be banned by the government`s executive order by next Wednesday. Obaidul also said that he will hold discussions with the home minister to decide the process by which the ban will be imposed.
Meanwhile, an amendment to the law was drafted for the trial of Jamaat-e-Islami. In this regard, Law Minister Anisul Huq said that a proposal to amend the law to prosecute Jamaat as a party for war crimes of 1971 has been sent to the Cabinet. But later on, that matter did not go to the Parliament. The government is looking into legal proceedings for banning Jamaat, he added.
National unity sought
Banning Jamaat through new laws or an embargo on religious politics will cause complications, said Shusasoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) General Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar. He said that a law has to be formulated to ban Jamaat. “I see no alternative. Because it is difficult for the government to decide to ban religious politics and within the 14-party alliance of the government, religious politics is done by the Bangladesh Tarikat Federation.
“But grips on them, too, till tighten. Apart from this, the government has a good relationship with Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh and Khelafat Majlish. I see no reason to displease them,” he added.
Asked whether banning Jamaat would reduce political unrest, Badiul Alam said that prohibiting any party would force them to work secretly. “In many countries, banned groups are involved in extremism or militancy. Meanwhile, if a party is banned through the law and other parties are banned in the future, then the question remains that will a separate law be made or will it be covered by the same law?” he questioned.
Emphasizing national consensus rather than the law, he said that if political parties are to be banned, it should be done on the basis of consensus of all parties. “The support of all registered political parties including the BNP is required there.”
AB Party ‘alternative’ to Jamaat
After the decision of the 14-party alliance, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, condemning the move in a statement, said,” The Awami League-led 14-party alliance is a political platform. A political party or alliance cannot make any decisions about another political party. The law and the Constitution of Bangladesh have not given this authority to anyone. If a party or coalition bans another party, one party will continue to ban another party. Then there will be no such thing as state discipline.
Meanwhile, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) on May 3, 2020, under the leadership of former bureaucrat AFM Solaiman Chowdhury as convener, and former Islami Chhatra Shibir president Mujibur Rahman Manju as member secretary. Both leaders were Shura members of the Majlis, Jamaat-e-Islami`s central policy-making body.
Abdur Razzaq, senior assistant secretary general of the party and prominent lawyer, resigned from Jamaat on February 14, 2019. He is also an advisor in the AB Party.
In response to the question whether AB Party is an alternative party to Jamaat, the party’s Joint Member Secretary Barrister Asaduzzaman Fuad said, "We are not an alternative party. However, we welcome all those who agree with our ideologies to join our politics.
Even though 25 people openly joined the AB party in 2021, most of them were in the leadership of various levels of Jamaat and Shibir.
