Jamaat reformists form new party

Reformist leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh have formed a new political party ‘Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party)’ with a research wing ‘Jana Akhankhar Bangladesh’ (The Bangladesh people aspire for).

AFM Solaiman Chowdhury has been made convener of the new party while Mujibur Rahman Manju became the member secretary.

Mujibur Rahman Manju made the announcements through an online media briefing from the party’s Bijoy Nagar head quarters in the capital on Saturday.

“Overlooking the skewed impressions of the critics, we are announcing the name of our party ‘Amar Bangladesh Party’ (AB Party). We think, liberation war in 1971 and the victory is the one of the significant platforms of our national consensus. AB Party is pledge-bound to set that platform on a solid base,” Mujibur Rahman Manju said.

Both the two chief leaders of AB Party were members of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh’s central policymaking body, Majlish-e-Shura.

Jamaat expels Mujibur Rahman in February last year for his opinions over the party’s role in liberation war and reforms within the party while Solaiman Chowdhury left the party in December that year for differences of opinion over reforming the party.

On 27 April 2019, Mujibur Rahman formed the platform ‘Jana Akhankhar Bangladesh’ and said they would announce the formation of a new political party within three months. However, he has came up with the announcement after almost a year.

Earlier on 14 February 2019, Jamaat senior assistant secretary general and a noted lawyer Abdur Razzaq resigned from the party on the same grounds. Many assume he has been contributing to the idea of forming this new political party.

Responding to a question about this in the briefing, Mujibur Rahman Manju said, “He has helped us, advised us. Besides Abdur Razzaq, many senior citizens and intellectuals are involved with us as advisers. Some of them might come to the party’s leadership position in the future.”

The newly formed party’s convener Solaiman Chowdhury is a former secretary of the government. He was the president of Jatiya Peshajibi Forum, an association of professionals of Jamaat-e-Islami. He competed as candidate of Jamaat-e-Islami from Comilla-9 constituency in the 11th parliamentary elections. But he came to the fore as Feni deputy commissioner during the Khlaeda Zia’s government in 2001 for conducting raids against former Awami League MP Joynal Hazari. Hazari fled the country at that time.

Mujibur Rahman Manju was the central president of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student body of Jamaat-e-Islami. He also was the deputy executive director of the now-defunct Diganta Television, known as a media of Jamaat.

The AB Party leaders said the party would run by three principles -- equality, human dignity and social justice. They also announced a 222-member committee of conveners, most of them were involved with the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatrashibir.

Manju said the convener committee will be responsible to form committees in every district, finalise the rough party structure and to elect the party leadership through a national convention according to that in the shortest possible time.

One of the joint conveners of the party retired major Abdul Wahab Minar highlighted the party’s aims and objectives. He said, “The objective of the organisation is to form Bangladesh as a welfare state by ensuing fundamental and citizen rights of all people irrespective of their religion, caste and community.”

The 7-point agenda of the AB Party said it would work to ensure national consensus, democratic and fundamental rights, increase motivation, research and development, flourish leadership, social and state reforms and to form a welfare state.

No Jamaat leaders agreed to comment on the formation of the new party. But the observer of Jamaat’s politics former secretary Shah Abdul Hannan did not see any future of AB Party.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said, “In this current political scenario, I don’t see necessity of any new political party. The country has no space for any new political party as it already has got Islamic, leftist, nationalist – all types of political parties. I don’t think they would fare well. Still, they have done it, we will see what happens in the future.”

Jamaat leaders’ lawyers in the International Crimes Tribunal Tajul Islam, Zobayer Ahmed Bhuiyan and Asaduzzaman Fuad were present in the media briefing.