On Sunday (1st June), the Supreme Court of Bangladesh allowed the re-registration of the Islamic extremist outfit ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’ as a political party.
The decision immediately implied that the outfit can list itself with the Election Commission and participate in the general election scheduled to be held in June 2026.
The participation of Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh’s electoral process was restricted by the country’s High Court in August 2013.
The court had found evidence that the extremist outfit violated the election rules and had a charter which refused to recognise Bangladesh as a sovereign and independent nation.
At the same time, Jamaat-e-Islami’s charter was against the ‘secular spirit’ of the Constitution of the country.
The new ruling of the Supreme Court restoring the registration of the Islamic extremists outfit as a ‘political party’ comes days after the same apex court acquitted a 1971 war criminal belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami named ATM Azharul Islam.
This has bolstered radical Islamists and extremist outfits in the country, who are now being revived from political irrelevance by the Muhammad Yunus-led regime.
Brief political history of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh
Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in 1941 by an Islamic extremist named Abul Ala Moududi. It was banned twice in Pakistan in the years 1959 and 1964.
Soon after the establishment of Bangladesh, founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman banned the extremist outfit for siding with Pakistan and committing genocide against the Bengali population during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
The ban was lifted after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
His daughter, Sheikh Hasina, who led the Awami League government, banned the Islamic extremist organisation and its student wing in August 2024 under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
However, Jamaat-e-Islami was unbanned within a month by ‘chief advisor’ Muhammad Yunus.
It must be mentioned that the extremist organisation has received the support of the Khaleda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since the start.
It was under Ziaur Rahman’s administration in May 1979 that the Jamaat-e-Islami participated in politics for the first time. The Islamic extremist outfit returned the favour by helping the BNP come to power in 1991.
The BNP-Jamaat Alliance won in 2001 and remained in power till 2006. By 2008, Jamaat-e-Islami was down to 2 seats. Thereafter, it could not contest any election. The extremist outfit is now hoping to capitalise on growing Islamist ideology in the country and make inroads into Bangladesh politics.
Operation Searchlight, 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and the role of Jamaat-e-Islami
In the General elections held in December 1970, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League secured a huge majority (167 seats) in the provincial legislature in East Pakistan.
With constant interference in the affairs of East Pakistan by its Islamic counterpart, Rahman had begun demanding for greater regional autonomy.
This was just within 13 years of the Partition of the Indian subcontinent, when Muslims sought for a separate country of their own.
Although united by the common Faith, the resentment between the West and East Pakistan towards each other continued to grow.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who won the most seats in West Pakistan in 1970 elections, was opposed to the demands of Rahman. He had threatened to boycott the Assembly and sought for the dissolution of the provincial legislature in East Pakistan, if PPP was not included in the government.
Miffed over the denial of power and autonomy to East Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called civil disobedience movement, on March 7, 1971. Bhutto feared civil war and President Yahya Khan, therefore, declared martial law and ordered the arrest of Rahman and other leaders.
In order to contain the civil and political unrest, the Pakistan army launched Operation Searchlight on March 26, 1971. Rahman, disillusioned by the high-handedness of West Pakistan, had already called for independence from West Pakistan.
The Pakistani soldiers launched their attack on the Bengali population in Rajararbagh and Peelkhana area. They put Mujibur Rahman behind bars and ambushed the Dhaka university, resulting in the death of 9 teachers and 200 students in Iqbal Hal.
Similarly, the Pakistan army continued with its barbaric attacks on civilians in Old Dhaka, Tejgaon, Indira Road, Mirpur, Kalabagan and other places.
On the same night, several people in Chittagong were shot dead by the army personnel. National newspapers, including, Daily Ittefaq, the Daily Sangbad were shut down and their offices were set ablaze, resulting in the death of several media personnel. Mass graves were dug out and hastily bulldozed.
An estimated 700 people were burnt to death in Dhaka. Similarly, they set fire to the houses of slum dwellers, fired bullets at those running away to save their lives, razed a Kali Mandir and also destroyed the Central Shaheed Minar.
It is believed that around 10,000-35,000 Bengalis were killed by the Pakistan army under the Operation Searchlight while the death toll to increased to over 3 lacs in the months to follow.
“Thanks to God that Pakistan could have been saved,” Bhutto had famously remarked.
The genocide against the Bengali population intensified. In the months to follow, around 4 lac Bengali women were raped by the Pakistan army while a majority of the victims being Hindus.
All these atrocities and crimes against humanity, committed by the Pakistani Army were made possible by members of Jamaat-e-Islami, which operated 3 armed outfits named ‘Al Badr’, ‘Al Shams’ and ‘Razakars’.
The situation worsened, forcing neighbouring India to step in to prevent the further continuation of genocide. In 14 days, Pakistani forces under AK Niazi signed the Instrument of surrender and thus a new nation of Bangladesh was born on 16th December 1971.
The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh), established in 2010, found 10 extremists associated with Jamaat-e-Islami ‘complicit’ in the 1971 genocide.
These include
- Abdul Kader Mullah (executed in December 2013)
- Ghulam Azam
- Muhammad Kamaruzzaman (executed in April 2015)
- Delwar Hossain Sayeedi
- Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid (executed in November 2015)
- Abul Kalam Azad
- Motiur Rahman Nizami (executed in May 2016)
- Mir Quasem Ali (executed in September 2016)
- Abul Kalam Muhammad Yusuf
- Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin
Ghulam Azam and Abul Kalam Muhammad Yusuf died in 2014 while Delwar Hossain Sayeedi expired in 2023 of natural causes. Abul Kalam Azad remains absconding to date. Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin is now a British citizen and has not been arrested.
5 extremists associated with ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’ Bangladesh were hanged to death between December 2013 and September 2016.
Targeted violence against Hindus by Jamaat-e-Islami after 1971 genocide
On 6th December 1992, a strong mob of 5000 Muslim men, armed with bamboo sticks and roads, tried to storm a cricket match played between India and Bangladesh at the Dhaka National Stadium.
Their attempts were foiled by the police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the frenzied mob. As per a report by United Press International, a mob of 1000 Muslim men barged into the Hindu Shiva temple in Thatari Bazar district of Dhaka and razed it to the ground.
Islamists also attacked a Hindu temple in the Narinda district and gravely injured an 88-year-old Hin du priest in a bomb attack. Muslim mob also tried to break into the Dhakeswari Mandir in Dhaka.
They also looted shops belonging to the Hindus and smashed the cars of the minority community with sticks and iron bars.
According to the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM), the pogrom was executed by the radical Islamist outfit Jamaat-e-Islami which was an alliance partner of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The riots were not spontaneous but rather well-planned. An estimated 2400 Hindu women were gang raped, and 3500 temples and religious establishments were destroyed by frenzied Muslim mobs.
Over 28000 homes and 2500 commercial buildings belonging to the Hindu community were razed. An estimated 700 Hindus were killed in the carnage. The numbers were conservative as acknowledged by several prominent politicians at that time.
After Jamaat-e-Islami won the 2001 Bangladesh election alongside its ally BNP, unspeakable atrocities were committed on the Hindu community. Many Bangladeshi Hindus were forced to flee the country after the planned carnage.
“Hindu leaders said there were a series of attacks against them, including murder, looting and rape which began as the results were announced. They said Islamist parties and the BNP targeted them because they supported the rival Awami League political party in those elections,” a report by BBC stated.
In February 2013, Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing ‘Islami Chhatra Shibir’ attacked over 50 Hindu temples and targeted more than 1,500 houses and businesses of the persecuted minority community. They carried out arson in several districts of Bangladesh, such as Gaibandha, Chittagong, Rangpur, Sylhet, Bogra, etc.
A year later in February 2014, BNP members and Jamaat-e-Islami extremists launched 160 attacks on the Hindu community.
On 12th February this year, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a 104-page report [pdf] detailing atrocities committed against vulnerable Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.
The report is titled ‘Human Rights Violations and Abuses related to the Protests of July and August 2024 in Bangladesh.’
It found that a majority of attacks on the Hindu community took place during ‘victory processions’ of individuals, celebrating the ouster of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
OHCHR noted that the attackers were local supporters of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. Page 62 of the report stated –
“Some local members and supporters of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami opposition parties bear responsibility for human rights abuses committed during revenge attacks, including against members of the Hindu community.”
In September 2024, human rights activist and exiled Bangladeshi blogger Asad Noor revealed that Hindus were being forced to join the ‘Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.’
Noor informed that members of the radical Islamist outfit visited Kalmati Ward No.2 in Khuniagach Union of Lalmonirhat Sadar Upazila. They preyed upon 27 poor, destitute Hindus and forced them to join ‘Jamaat-e-Islami.’
According to Asad Noor, the radicals threatened to kill the victims and remove them from the nation. Forced by circumstances, the impoverished Hindus had to comply with their diktat. The Jamaat-e-Islami members coerced them into signing some forms and gave them Islamic books to brainwash them into changing their Hindu Faith.
Hafiz Mohammed Shah Alam, the Assistant Secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami (Lalmonirhat Branch), was present during the forced induction of Hindus into the radical outfit.
