New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS) Bangladesh’s February 12 general election appears all set to witness a direct contest with a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance poised against another grouping with the National Citizens Party (NCP) and Jamaat-e-Islami at the helm.
The Awami League (AL) is barred from contesting the election after the interim government imposed a ban on all its political activities following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
This marks the first time since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 that the party has been formally excluded from national polls, after ruling uninterruptedly since 2009 in the last stint.
Despite international observers urging Bangladesh to hold inclusive elections, the interim administration led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has stood its ground.
Hasina has objected to the exclusion from her exile in India, questioning the fairness and inclusivity of the election process.
Meanwhile, the NCP has entered an election pact with nine more parties, including Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
The NCP is a newly-formed, student-led political party that grew out of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) movement, which spearheaded last year’s uprising against the then Hasina-led government. It has faced criticisms for tying up with the Jamaat, with some of its leaders resigning in protest.
For the Jamaat, it is an opportunity to claim power in Bangladesh where it has a chequered history given its conservative Islamism, and questions over its pre- and post-independence political activity.
The organisation traces its origins to the Jamaat-e-Islami movement founded by Maulana Syed Abul A’la Maududi in British India in 1941, aimed at promoting social and political Islam.
Initially, the movement opposed the creation of Pakistan and advocated for a unified Islamic India.
After the partition of India in 1947, the movement split into separate national organisations, leading to the formation of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, whose East Pakistan wing eventually became Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, the party opposed independence and reportedly collaborated with the Pakistan Army, with alleged support for armed militia groups like the Razakars.
Though Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami describes itself as a modern, liberal democratic party, whose ideal is Islam, its constitution explicitly states that policies are formulated according to religious principles, and seeks to establish an Islamic welfare society at the national level.
Following Bangladesh’s independence, the party was banned, and many leaders fled the country. Their citizenship and political legitimacy were contested throughout subsequent governments.
The ban on religion-based parties was lifted in the mid-1970s, and by 1979, the current faction of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was formed. The party has been active in national politics, participating in pro-democracy movements, notably against the authoritarian regime of Gen Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1990.
Jamaat joined the BNP-led coalition government following the 2001 general election, with its leaders holding ministerial positions.
However, from 2010 onwards, war crimes prosecutions by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) led to arrests and executions of top leaders like Motiur Rahman Nizami and conscientious legal challenges regarding the party’s registration and political participation.
The ICT in Bangladesh is a domestic court established to prosecute individuals for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War. It was established in 2009 by the Awami League government to address the atrocities committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War against the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators.
In 2013, the Bangladesh Supreme Court cancelled the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami following a High Court ruling that deemed the party unfit to contest national elections. The cancellation was reversed in June 2025, allowing the party to regain registration.
The reversal, following the fall of Hasina’s government in August 2024, helped the Jamaat regain political influence, allying with the NCP to exert greater control on policymaking and student politics, infiltrating universities and advocacy networks. This resurgence is shifting Bangladesh’s political spectrum to the right, with Jamaat aiming to move toward a proportional representation electoral system to improve smaller-party representation.
–IANS
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