From 13-point charter to 9: Hefazat seeks ban on Hezbut Tawheed

Highlights:

• Several longstanding religious demands remain unchanged.
• Constitutional demand dropped from latest charter.
• Tribunal capacity demand also omitted separately.

Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, which came to national prominence in 2013 after submitting a 13-point charter of demands to the then-Awami League government, has now placed a revised nine-point charter before Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

The new charter includes a demand to ban Hezbut Tawheed and was presented after the prime minister met Hefazat Ameer Allama Shah Muhibullah Babunagari at Al-Jamiatul Islamia Azizul Ulum Babunagar Madrasah in Chattogram's Fatikchhari on 9 August.

Hefazat Joint Secretary General Maulana Azizul Haque Islamabadi confirmed the development to The Business Standard this afternoon (11 August).

"Hefazat-e-Islam has placed these demands before the prime minister. We hope the government will consider the demands seriously and take necessary measures," he said.

In 2013, Hefazat submitted its 13-point charter to the then-Awami League government. Among its demands were restoring "Absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah" to the Constitution, repealing laws deemed inconsistent with the Quran and Sunnah, and imposing the severest punishment for insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The latest charter retains several of Hefazat's longstanding demands but leaves out some issues included in its previous lists.

The demand to restore "Absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah" to the Constitution does not appear separately in the new charter. Hefazat said it omitted the demand because the BNP had already pledged to restore the provision in its election manifesto.

The demand for increasing the capacity of the International Crimes Tribunal has also been dropped as a separate point.

At the same time, the latest charter introduces a demand for banning Hezbut Tawheed while retaining the call to declare the Ahmadiyya community "non-Muslim".

The charter also seeks trials over the 2021 anti-Modi protests and the 2024 July-August crackdown, alongside implementation of the recognition of Dawrae Hadith certificates as equivalent to a master's degree.

What the nine-point charter says

In its first demand, Hefazat calls for parliament to pass a law providing the severest punishment for insulting Allah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Quran and Islam.

Its second demand calls for no law to be passed that conflicts with the Quran and Sunnah.

The third demand calls for what the charter describes as exemplary punishment for those responsible for the "brutal massacre" at Shapla Chattar on 5 May 2013.

The fourth demand seeks implementation of the recognition of Dawrae Hadith certificates as equivalent to a master's degree.

According to the charter, this would expand employment and higher-education opportunities for Qawmi madrasah students at home and abroad. Hefazat specifically calls for government recruitment notices for religious teachers to mention Dawrae Hadith certificates alongside degrees from government madrasahs as equivalent to a master's degree.

The fifth demand calls for Islamic religious education to be made compulsory for Muslim students from primary to higher-secondary level.

The sixth demand calls for the Ahmadiyya community to be declared "non-Muslim" and Hezbut Tawheed to be banned.

In the charter, Hefazat describes the Ahmadiyya community as "religion-distorting" and says the activities of Hezbut Tawheed are against Islam.

The seventh demand calls for an end to "conspiracies and activities" by local and foreign missionaries in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

The eighth demand seeks withdrawal of what Hefazat calls "false cases" filed against Islamic scholars during the then-Awami League government and greater participation of Islamic scholars in rebuilding the state.

The ninth demand calls for Tabligh Jamaat activities in Bangladesh and the Biswa Ijtema at Tongi to be conducted under the supervision of Islamic scholars.

The charter also calls for the existing ban on Indian preacher Maulana Saad Kandhalvi's entry into Bangladesh to remain in place and for permission to hold an Ijtema by his followers at the Tongi ground to be withheld.

How the demands have changed

Hefazat submitted a 12-point charter to the interim government in 2025 following the ouster of the Awami League regime in 2024.

Several issues from its previous charters remain in the latest nine-point list, including religious education, recognition of Qawmi madrasah qualifications, punishment for religious insult, cases against Islamic scholars and Tabligh Jamaat activities.

However, the latest charter no longer separately includes the constitutional demand to restore "Absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah" or the call to increase the capacity of the International Crimes Tribunal.

The then-Awami League government had acted on several of Hefazat's demands, including recognising Dawrae Hadith certificates from Qawmi madrasahs.

The latest list therefore retains a number of longstanding demands while placing renewed emphasis on banning Hezbut Tawheed, seeking trials over the 2021 and 2024 violence, and implementing recognition of Dawrae Hadith as equivalent to a master's degree.