Bangladesh’s interim Govtlifts ban on Jamaat-e-Islami

 

 

BANGLADESH’S interim Government on Wednesday revokedabanon therightwing Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, less than a month after it was imposed on the Islamist partybyformerPrimeMinister SheikhHasina,whowas forced to resign following massive protests against her Government. “It (lifting theban)willcome under effectimmediately,” the HomeMinistrysaidinagazette notification, noting that there was no particular evidence against the organisation. The erstwhileAwamiLeague governmentledbyHasina had imposed a ban on Jamaat on August 1, 2024, accusing the Islamistpartyasa“militantand terrorist” organisation. The government blamed Jamaat’s studentwing forincitingchaos over a quota system for government jobs.

 

Thenotificationsaid theban under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 has been lifted as there was no particular evidence against the organisation. The government believed that Jamaat and its associate bodies, including its student front Chhatra Shibir, were not involved in terrorist activities and violence. The decision, formally published in a gazette notification onWednesday,representsasignificant change from the decision taken by the erstwhile Awami League government earlier this month, just days before its ouster. Thedevelopmentcameaday after Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman urged the High Court to summarily reject a writ petition seeking an order on the government tobanHasina’sAwami League as a political party and scrap its registration. “The current (interim) government has no intention to bananypoliticalorganisation,” the government’s top law officer tolda two-judgeHighCourt bench, which setAugust 29 for its decision on the writ filed by one Sarda Society as a public interest litigation. The interim government’s law adviser, equivalent to a minister, Asif Nazrul on Wednesday told reporters he was opposed to the call for a ban on Awami League or any other political parties unless there was any strong evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities.

 

“Awami League is the party which led Bangladesh’s independencemovement andcontributed to different democratic movements. (But) what they did in the past 15 years doesnot gowith theirheritage, thespiritof theLiberationWar,” Nazrul said. He said the party had established the “most barbaric fascism” in Bangladesh’s history forwhichsomeonemighthave individual or its leaders might have collective responsibility “but I don’t think it will be a wise decision to ban it as a political party”. Secretary General of ex-premierKhaledaZia’sBangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza FakhrulIslamAlamgirsaid that anyone should be able to form an independent political party, that is the main goal of democracy. “We arenotin favour of banning any political party; any party and any individual has the right to form an independent party. But they must be on the side of freedom and sovereignty. Those who do not believe in freedom cannot be supported,” he said at a media briefing on Tuesday