Govt bans Jamaat-Shibir under Anti-Terrorism Act

The government today (1 August) banned all political activities of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its various wings, including Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir under the Anti-Terrorism Act-2009 centring the recent spate of violence that has killed at least 150 people.

This is the second time Jamaat has been banned in independent Bangladesh. 

A notification issued by the Public Security Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs today (1 August) says the "government has sufficient information to prove that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliate Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir were directly and indirectly involved in the recent massacres, destructive activities and terrorist activities."

The ban will come into effect immediately.

Speaking about the possible reaction from Jamaat regarding the ban, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, "We have fought in the Liberation war. We are capable of tackling the situation."

Furthermore, the gazette says the government "believes that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir, and all their affiliates are involved in terrorist activities; Therefore, the government, by virtue of Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, banned Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir, including all their affiliates as political parties…"

Citing Schedule II of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the notification said Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh  Islami Chhatrashibir and all their affiliates have been listed as banned entities.

Earlier, Jamaat-e-Islami lost its registration with the Election Commission following a Supreme Court verdict.

In August 2013, the High Court declared Jamaat's registration illegal following a writ petition filed in 2009 by Bangladesh Tariqat Federation's Secretary General Rezaul Haque Chandpuri and 24 others.

In the petition, they said Jamaat was a religion-based political party and it did not believe in the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.

Earlier on Monday (29 July) the Awami League-led 14-party alliance unanimously recommended banning Jamaat-Shibir after a meeting chaired by AL President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the Ganabhaban.

"The alliance has agreed to ban Jamaat-Shibir politics on the charges of killing common people and destroying state assets by creating various issues and carrying out militant attacks," AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said after the meeting that day.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina labelled the recent events surrounding the quota reform movement as militant activities, attributing the attacks to Jamaat-Shibir and BNP.

She stated, "The events in Bangladesh are not political but militant acts." 

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said the process to ban Jamaat-Shibir is underway and a notification can be issued anytime in this regard.

A history of bans

Jamaat was first banned in independent Bangladesh over their anti-liberation role in 1972 by a new constitutional provision that banned politics based on religion.

The ban, however, was lifted three years later when General Ziaur Rahman came to power and amended the constitution through martial law proclamation. 

Things stayed as they were until Lt General HM Ershad swept to power in a coup in 1982. 

During this period, Jamaat began to gain muscle power and after the dictatorship was ousted, the party, alongside AL and BNP, contested the 1991 election. 

The party then secured 18 seats. It then extended support to the BNP to form the government. 

By 1994, Jamaat was back on the streets, launching agitations against the BNP in alliance with the AL, Jatiya Party and others, to push home the demand for an election time non-partisan caretaker government.

It became a member of the liaison committee of opposition parties led by the AL. 

The chaos leading up to the 1996 elections meant Jamaat's vote bank was compromised and it secured only three seats. But this would mean little in the 2001 election.

This time, Jamaat came to the polls in a four party alliance, including the giants, BNP, which took on the AL. 

By the end, the alliance won and Jamaat secured 17 seats. The alliance received a drubbing in the very next elections to the Grand Alliance, led by the Awami League.

The 2008 was a debacle for the BNP and its allies, prompting a two-year long emergency.

When the dust settled and elections were held, the AL won. 

Jamaat's tryst with the BNP would come back to haunt them.

In 2013, its deputy, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, was sentenced to death. Two more death sentences for its other members would follow.

With the AL in power, the High Court in 2013 cancelled the registration of the party.

Another chapter of the party, Jamaat-e-Islami (J&K) was banned in India in 2019.

In Russia, the party has remained banned since 2003.

In Bangladesh, the ban pushed Jamaat to the background of political conversations.

Islami Chhatra Sangha was renamed Chhatra Shibir in 1977. At the time, there was a fear that they could regroup in a few years. 

They later became infamous as 'tendon cutting' party. At one stage, the Shibir took control of Rajshahi and Chittagong university campuses.

A number of students became victims of Shibir's reign of terror.