The Awami League-led 14-party alliance has decided to ban Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the rightist political party of Bangladesh, which lost its registration from the Election Commission in October 2018 following a High Court verdict.
This decision was made at a meeting at Ganabhaban Monday night, chaired by Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
After the meeting, 14-party leaders, including Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Huq Inu, Workers Party of Bangladesh President Rashed Khan Menon, Toriqat Federation Chairman Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari, and General Secretary of Bangladesh Sammabadi Dal Dilip Barua, announced the decision in front of the Ganabhaban gate.
Obaidul Quader said: “The BNP and Jamaat are conspiring to create chaos in the country. The 14-party alliance has unanimously decided to ban Jamaat-Shibir to eliminate anti-national evil forces for the sake of national interest.”
“The government will quickly implement this decision to ban Jamaat-Shibir,” added Rashed Khan Menon.
“If Jamaat-Shibir is banned, they will not be able to hold press conferences or engage in any other political activities in Bangladesh,” said Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari.
Awami League Office Secretary Biplab Barua said this step was a historical victory for the party.
He further added that it would help eliminate arson and terrorism in Bangladesh.
When asked, some leaders of the 14-party alliance who were present at the meeting told this correspondent that the Home Ministry and the Law Ministry will take the initiative to ban the activities of Jamaat.
“By July 31, you will receive clear instructions from the government about banning Jamaat,” a 14-party leader told Dhaka Tribune Monday night.
At the meeting, Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emphasized the violent activities carried out by Jamaat and other militant forces during the recent quota reform movement.
The leaders of the 14-party alliance said the government should have taken the initiative to ban the activities of Jamaat earlier.
Despite Jamaat losing its registration, it has continued political activities as an ally of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, along with some other opposition groups, over the last couple of years.
Several times, the Awami League and the leaders of the 14-party alliance called for banning Jamaat from Bangladesh, but the government had not taken this decision earlier. Now, after the recent vandalism across the country, the government led by Sheikh Hasina is going to take this decision, according to ruling party alliance sources.
Earlier, the international crimes tribunals, in their judgments, described Jamaat's role in 1971, where some judgments said that Jamaat played a leading role in creating the Pakistani occupation army's auxiliary forces like Al-Badr, Razakar, Al Shams, and the Peace Committee, which actively participated in atrocities against Bengalis.
The High Court, in a landmark verdict on August 1, 2013, declared Jamaat's registration with the Election Commission illegal.
Jamaat then appealed to the appellate division and finally lost its registration in 2018.
Controversial Islamist thinker Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi founded Jamaat in undivided India under British colonial rule in 1941.
The government of independent Bangladesh, in its first decision, banned five communal outfits, including Jamaat, which not only opposed the nation's independence but also actively helped Pakistani occupation forces commit genocide and other war crimes.
The banned parties were allowed to resume political activities during the rule of late President Ziaur Rahman after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
