Why Jamaat-e-Islami banned?

The government has banned Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.

The home ministry in this regard issued a gazette notification on Thursday.

Through this, the activities of the party, which opposed the liberation war, have been banned.

As per section 18 (1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the government has banned Jamaat-e-Islami, Chhatra Shibir and other associate bodies as political party and organisations through an executive order.

The section reads: "For the purposes of this act, the government, on reasonable grounds that a person or an entity is involved in terrorist activities, may, by order, enlist the person in the schedule or proscribe the entity and enlist it in the schedule.

Jamaat-e-Islami, founded by Abul Ala Moududi in 1941, has been banned for the fourth time. The party was banned twice in 1959 and 1964 in Pakistan. Three religion-based parties including Jamaat were banned in 1972 in Independent Bangladesh. Jamaat got scope to do politics in public on 25 May 1979 during the late president Ziaur Rahman's period.

The party's student body Islami Chhatra Sangha also renamed as Islami Chhatra Shibir.

The law ministry sent the file to the home ministry through its legal counsel.

These parties cannot practice politics under these names when the ban comes into effect, the law minister told the media after sending opinions to the home ministry on Thursday afternoon.

The gazette notification says the government has enough evidence that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir were involved in recent killings, destructive and terrorist activities directly and through incitement.

So Jamaat-e-Islami, Chhatra Shibir and its associated bodies have been banned as a political party and organisations.

Earlier in 2013, following a verdict of the top court, the election commission cancelled registration of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami were executed on charges of crimes against humanity during the liberation war in 1971.

Jamaat appealed against the High Court verdict scrapping the registration.
On 19 November 2023, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court rejected the appeal. So the registration remained cancelled.

Earlier, a decision was taken at a meeting of the governing Bangladesh Awami League-led 14-Party Alliance to ban Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student organisation Islami Chhatra Shibir.

Presided over by Awami League president and incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the 14-Party Alliance’s meeting was held at her official residence, Ganabhaban, in Dhaka on Monday evening.

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader and 14-Party Alliance coordinator Amir Hossain Amu briefed the newspersons after the meeting at Ganabhaban.