Govt pressure behind Khelafat Majlis’ decision to quit 20-party, Fakhrul thinks

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that Khelafat Majlis has decided to quit BNP-led 20 party alliance facing pressure from the government.

“They have surely left the alliance under duress from the government. I think this is part of the government’s effort to create a division among the anti-government political parties,” Fakhrul said after Khelafat Majlis announced to quit the alliance at a press conference on Friday.

Khelafat Majlis, however, attributed the alliance’s inactivity since 2019 as a reason to leave the 20-party. They also alleged that the alliance has been rendered 'ineffective' by forming National Oikya Front in 2018.

Regarding the allegations, Fakhrul asked why they were inactive as they were also a part of the alliance. It cannot be a valid reason that they are leaving the alliance for its inactivity.

On behalf of the party’s ameer (chief), Khelafat Majlis acting secretary general M Jahangir Hossain made the announcement to sever all ties with the 20-party alliance at a press conference at a restaurant in the city after a meeting of the party's top decision-making body, Majlis-e-Shura.

He said the meeting unanimously decided to part away with the 20-party alliance.

The written statement said Khelafat Majlis has been there in the 20-party alliance for 22 long years, but it has not had any visible political activities and programmes since 2019.

"Considering the ideological, organisational position and political situation, our party's Majlis-e-Shura today decided that Khelafat Majlis will play a role in the field with its own unique characteristics as an ideological organisation. We're severing relations with all political alliances, including the 20-party one, from now on," Jahangir said.

Khelafat Majlis ameerMaulana Mohammad Ishaq, senior nayeb e ameers Jobayer Ahmed Chowdhury, Shakhawat Hossain, Mazduddin Ahmed, Abdul Basit and Ahman Ali Kashemi, joint secretaries Muntasir Ali, Abdul Jalil and Mustafizur Rahman were present during the press conference.

The press conference also demanded unconditional release of the party’s secretary general Ahmad Abdul Quader, who was arrested after violence centering the protest against visit of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi last March. There has been a discussion in the political arena that Quader’s incarceration also played a role in the party’s decision.

On 14 July last, a faction of Jamiat Ulama-e Islam, another component of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, left the alliance. A total of 60 leaders and activists of Jamiat were made accused in cases over the violence. 29 of them were arrested. Jamiat made the announcement to leave the BNP-led alliance within hours of meeting home minister Asaduzzaman Khan at the secretariat on 14 July. The Jamiat leaders started to be freed on bail after the announcement.

Khelafat Majlis was the only religion-based registered party in 20-party alliance. The other religion-based components of the alliance are basically fractions of the parties who had already left the alliance. Although Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikyajote (Abdur Rakib) and Jamiat e Ulamae Islam (Mansurul Hasan) are still in the alliance, they are not registered.

BNP, Jatiya Party, Jamaat e Islami and Islami Oikya Jote formed 4-party alliance on 6 January 1999. No other parties, except Jamaat, are in the alliance. Before Khelafat Majlis, Qawmi madrasa-based parties such as Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis of Shaikhul Hadis Azizul Haque, Islami Oikya Jote of mufti Amini and Jamiat e Ulamae Islam left the BNP-led alliance at different times.