Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), was banned by Sheikh Hasina’s now-deposed government just days before the former prime minister left the country in August.

Hasina’s Awami League party insisted that the JI was involved in terrorist activities. Many of the party’s members and activists were imprisoned and its leaders hanged during Hasina’s 15 years in power.

After the dissolution of the Hasina government, the caretaker government of Bangladesh led by Muhammed Yunus reversed the ban.

Khalid Hossain, advisor to the caretaker government’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, said the caretaker administration was “working to establish a level playing field for all political parties in the country.”

He told DW that political culture and citizens’ voting rights in Bangladesh have been eroded over time and the caretaker government is working to restore them by supporting all political parties, including Islamic parties.

But Munshi Faiz Ahmad, former president of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), told DW that the previous Awami League government had legitimate reasons to restrict JI’s political activities.

“Given the JI’s opposition to the creation of Bangladesh through its association with Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War, it should not be allowed to operate under that name. However, if its leaders wish to participate in politics under a new name, they should be allowed to do so,” he added.

The mandate of Bangladesh’s caretaker government is to pave the way for new elections and propose reforms that could be implemented under a newly elected government. The date of the new elections has not yet been determined.

A new opportunity for Islamist parties?

Lawyer Shishir Munir, who represents the JI in legal disputes, said the party survived the last 15 years under the Awami League and could prosper in the future.

“Like other political parties, the JI has started to adapt to meet the expectations of citizens. The JI will adjust its strategy to better prepare for the next elections, keeping in mind the lessons of the fall of the previous government” , he told DW.

Syed Mohammad Mosaddek Billah, a senior leader of the Islamist party Islami Andolan Bangladesh, told DW that Islamist political parties, including his own, were suppressed by the Hasina government and are now being supported by the caretaker administration to participate in the upcoming elections .

Shafi Md Mostafa, a postdoctoral researcher at the Central European University in Hungary, said Islamist parties supported the student-led movement that led to the ouster of Hasina and the Awami League, and that this left them earned a role in the development of reforms. process.

The demands of the Islamists

Mamunul Haque, leader of the far-right Islamic defense group Hefazat-e-Islam, has demanded the withdrawal of nearly 300 complaints filed against the group’s leaders and activists. The party also wants the Awami League to be banned.

Haque told DW that only one or two cases were removed and no significant steps were taken to classify the others.

Following these demands from Islamist political parties, on October 24, the interim government of Bangladesh officially banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League party, calling it a “terrorist organization.”

Ridwanul Hoque, a former law professor at Dhaka University, criticized the decision to ban the BCL, calling it politically, legally and constitutionally flawed.

He told DW that the interim government’s BCL ban was autocratic and lacking a fair process.

Steps taken by the caretaker government, including the dismissal of Supreme Court judges and university professors, have been criticized by some rights groups as lacking transparency.

“Many convicted terrorists have been released from prison since the formation of this government without following proper legal procedures, posing a threat to the security of Bangladesh and beyond,” said Veena Sikri, former High Commissioner of Bangladesh. India to Bangladesh.

Sikri told DW that “even students’ opinions are divided, and it is especially Bangladesh’s Islami Chhatrashibir, the student wing of JI, which is involved in bringing about these changes by involving an interim government without respect legal procedure.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn