By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, August 29: On Wednesday, the Interim government of Bangladesh lifted the ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami on the plea that there was no specific evidence of its having been involved in any violence during the recent disturbances which resulted in the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina had imposed the ban on the Jamaat on August 1 under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The freeing of the Jamaat has significant consequences for Bangladesh’s domestic politics as well as relations with India, Pakistan and the comity of Islamic nations, especially, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye.
The Jamaat’s return to Bangladesh’s political mainstream amounts to filling the vacant Islamic constituency in the country. According to official data, the Jamaat has about 6 to 7% of the popular vote that cannot be ignored in a democracy.
On the other hand, the Jamaat’s Islamization program could weaken secularism that was established and maintained under trying circumstances by the first President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Jamaat’s coming to the mainstream is expected to be detrimental to the Hindus and other minorities such as Christians, Buddhists and free thinkers.
The Jamaat would pose a threat to neighboring Hindu-majority India because persecuted Hindus could pour into India again and touch off communal riots there, especially in West Bengal and Assam .
Given its unsavory past, India sees the Jamaat as a terrorist organization with international links, particularly with Pakistan.
In the past, the Jamaat has contested elections as a registered political party though its main mission has always been to educate Muslims to establish an Islamic State.
The Jamaat says that it is working “to implement the Islamic code of life, prescribed by Allah and shown by Prophet Muhammad, with a view to turning Bangladesh into an Islamic welfare state, consequently, achieving the pleasure of Allah and salvation in the life hereafter.”
In its constitution, it states that “it will create disciplinary and democratic measures and … carry effort to create public opinion in its favor.”
The Jamaat did not, and till date, it has not, approved the Bangladesh liberation movement against Pakistan. It had fought side by side with the Pakistani army during the liberation war from March 25, 1971 to December 16, 1971 and participated in the Pakistan army’s atrocities through its storm troopers such as Al Shams, Al Badr and the Razakars.
After Bangladesh came into being the Jamaat faced thousands of criminal cases and over 90,000 were jailed.
Even so, according to The Daily Star, the Jamaat’s permanent membership has mounted to 73,046. In other words, the Jamaat has thrived amid persecution.
The Jamaat is the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh. It has enjoyed political power through its alliances with both of the major political parties from time to time. The Awami League (AL) of Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by the Zias, namely, Ziaur Rahman and his wife Khaleda Zia, have allied with the Jamaat from to time.
When Ziaur Rahman became President of Bangladesh in 1977, provisions on Secularism and Socialism were removed from the constitution, providing scope for forming political parties based on religion.
Zia’s successor Maj.Gen. H.M.Ershad continued to support the Jamaat. It also gained access to vital economic sectors such as the well-funded NGO sector and the Islami Bank, one of the largest Islamic Banks in Bangladesh.
The Jamaat used its power and influence over Zia and Ershad to systematically persecute the minorities, especially the Hindus.
The Jamaat continued to enjoy political power until Prime Minister Hasina established the War Crimes Tribunal (WCT) in 2008. Many top leaders of the Jamaat were found guilty by the WCT and executed.
Those Jamaatis executed included top leaders like Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Motiur Rahman Nizami and Mir Quasem Ali. Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years of imprisonment in 2013 but he died of a stroke in 2014.
Literature on the events of those days says that the WCT’s proceedings were opposed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye. The Turkish President withdrew his Ambassador from Dhaka as a protest against this execution. Initially, Saudi Arabia being one of the significant donors of Islamic organizations in the world, attempted to lobby against the executions.
In 2016, the Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution condemning the war crimes trial. Earlier in 2009, during a visit to Dhaka by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Sheikh Hasina was requested not to reopen cases of war crimes. This was construed by Bangladesh as a direct and deliberate attempt by Pakistan to interfere in its internal affairs.
When Pakistan failed to influence the decisions of the Hasina government, it demanded that the international community oppose the executions. But Bangladesh responded by describing Pakistan’s support to those who committed atrocities during the 1971 war as a demonstration of its own involvement in those atrocities.
Bangladesh skipped the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meetings held in Islamabad in late 2015.
In contrast, India declared full support to Bangladesh on the war crimes trials. India had serious concerns over the growing Islamic terrorism in Bangladesh and the region. Its Foreign Secretary stated that New Delhi would strongly support Bangladesh in its battle against extremism and terrorism.
Even though Jamaat-e-Islami was initially able to orchestrate protests against the execution of its leaders, its power weakened in the face of a spirited response by the government forces.
According to senior Bangladeshi journalist Afsan Chowdhury, the Jamaat may not have much electoral power now, but it has “street power.” Also, Bangladeshi political parties do not treat it as a pariah. In the last stages of her rule, Sheikh Hasina became soft towards the Jamaat as she wanted it to be a weak substitute for the BNP, Chowdhury points out.
Nakibur Rahman, a U.S.-based scholar, who is a permanent member of the party, told The Diplomat: “ The Jamaat is an ideology-based party. Therefore, it is not going to vanish against the backdrop of persistent persecution.”
The Jamaat denies it is anti-minority. “As Muslims we believe it is our religious duty to protect the minorities,” Nakibur Rahman said
Asked if the BNP and the Jamaat will now join to form an anti-secular front, Chowdhury said that in the absence of Hasina’s Awami League the BNP and Jamaat will be competing for political dominance and not have an alliance, unless the AL shows up again.
In Chowdhury’s view, the Awami League could eventually re-emerge because it has a constituency with a strong attachment to the freedom struggle that was spearheaded by Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
It is noted by some observers that the Jamaa’s current leaders are trying to distance themselves from previous positions taken by the party, especially with regard to the 1971 war of liberation.
It has also indicated that it could lessen its hostility to India.
Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of the Jamaat, old PTI on Wednesday that his party will seek stable ties with India if New Delhi stops interfering in his country’s affairs.
Bangladesh should maintain strong and balanced relations with countries like the US, China, and Pakistan by “leaving behind the baggage of the past” Rahman added
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