Ban Imposed on Bangladesh's Main Islamic Party by Former PM Hasina Lifted

New Delhi: The interim government of Bangladesh, led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, has lifted the ban on the country’s main Islamic party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.

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Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government had imposed a ban on them on August 1 under the country’s anti-terrorism law, alleging that they stoked deadly violence during the student-led protests, which eventually resulted in the fall of the Hasina regime.

A gazette notification by the Bangladesh home ministry on Wednesday, August 8, said that “there is no specific evidence of involvement of Jamaat, Shibir, and its front organisations in terrorist activities”, reported Bangladeshi newspaper The Daliy Star.

The interim government today lifted the ban on Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir.

The home ministry issued a gazette notification in this regard. “Since there is no specific evidence of involvement of Jamaat, Shibir, and its front… pic.twitter.com/wEHzLUdlHX

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— Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (@BJI_Official) August 28, 2024

Invoking Section 18 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009, the Yunus-led government revoked the previous circular that banned Jamaat, Shibir and its front organisations.

With the ban lifted, it would allow Jamaat to participate in the political process of Bangladesh and in the political dialogue for holding the next general election in the country.

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is an offshoot of another organisation called Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which was established on August 26, 1941, in Lahore, Pakistan. The Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh advocated for an undivided Pakistan. Its offshoot too favoured undivided Pakistan even after Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971.

“Politics will determine the course of our country. We all have tried from our respective positions to address the aspirations of the people. But I want to say respectfully that so far we did not succeed in addressing those challenges,” said the Emir of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Shafiqur Rahman at a press conference on Wednesday, according to The Hindu.

Rahman went on to add that the media must look at the organisation from an “impartial point of view”.

Underlining that Bangladesh is a multireligious country, he said, “Bangladesh is made of Muslims, Hindu brothers and sisters, Buddhists and Christians and other smaller religious groups. I want to say clearly that we all constitute Bangladesh.”