BNP and Jamaat on divergent paths

At a juncture when Jamaat leaders are sternly criticising the 15 years of Awami League's misrule and warning the people against a resurgence of fascism, the incident at Gazipur is rather curious.

The news read, 'Jamaat leaders and activists march to the police station in Gazipur to get Awami League leader released.'

According to the Prothom Alo report, Jamaat-e-Islami's local leaders and activists had taken a procession to the police station for the release of Awami League leader who had been arrested in the Bhawal Mirzapur area of Gazipur Sadar.

The Jamaat men had gathered on 3 January night at the Joydebpur police station. However, the police did not release the arrested Awami League leader, Md Shafiqul Sikder. Shafiqul Sikder is from Bibekbari, Mirzapur union of Gazipur Sadar upazila. He is Mirzapur union ward 2 Awami League organising secretary.

On a list of Mirzapur union ward 2 Awami League committee, signed and approved on 8 September 2023 by Mirzapur union Awami League convener Md Enamul Huq, Md Shafiqul Sikder's name appears at serial number 23 as organising secretary.

Gazipur district Jamaat leader Mustafizur Rahman, defending their actions, said, "The arrested Shafiqul Sikder had been associated with Awami League politics before 2018. He was not associated with Awami League after 2018. He later filled up a Jamaat-e-Islami form and has been with us."
He claims that the leaders of a different party had been pressuring Shafiqul to join them. They got him nabbed by the police because he refused to join them.

According to the Jamaat leader, the Jamaat men went to the police station to get him released since he had been arrested at the behest of the party that he had refused to join. While he did not name the party, it was clear that he had been indicating BNP.

This was confirmed by the local people too.

With Awami League out of the scene, Jamaat is BNP's opponent, or BNP is Jamaat's opponent. Both are trying to pull in as many people into their respective sides, aiming to weaken their opponents.

The Jamaat leader said, Shafiqul had been with Awami League till 2028. Does that mean up until 2018 Awami League leaders and workers have been very honest and peace-loving? It was a good deed to bring people from Awami League to the Jamaat fold at the time.

From this statement it is apparent that former Awami League leaders can join up with Jamaat-e-Islami to prove their "patriotic purity".

In the meantime, political leaders and activists all over have begun changing their jerseys. Like passengers of a sinking ship grab at straws for survival, it is only natural that Awami League leaders and activists will do the same.

When they were in government, in certain areas Jamaat leaders and workers too had turned to the Awami League doctrine. So it is nothing unexpected that hybrid Awami League leaders and activists will follow suit. It's a matter of "survival of the fittest". Now Awami League men at the grassroots are out to survive.

It is not just in Gazipur that such incidents have taken place. After 5 August, many Awami League leaders have been adopting all sorts of tactics for survival. They are seeking out friends, relations, old classmates, associates and colleagues in BNP and Jamaat. When in power, they sought BNP and Jamaat men to get them arrested, killed. Now they are seeking them for survival.

The dispute between BNP and Jamaat at the moment is because of the coming election. It is all about the votes. BNP and Jamaat leaders are firing vitriolic arrows at each other. They are trying to trip each other up.
Speaking at a recent gathering, BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, many have become the heirs of S Alam and his men who had embezzled banks funds during the rule of Sheikh Hasina. They talk big to besmirch BNP. A party is involved in tender manipulations and taking over terminals and such in various areas and localities. The people know very well who slice people's tendons.

Jamaat assistant secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan protested against Ruhul Kabir Rizvi's statement. He said, "Rizvi's statement is misleading, baseless and politically motivated. Jamaat's politics is against Indian hegemony and fascism. The nation accepts this stance. That is perhaps why Rizvi is smarting."

At another rally in Sylhet, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, referring to Jamaat, said, "I want to asked that Islamic political party what their role was in 1971, which sector did you fight in, under which sector commander did you fight?"
Previously Jamaat's amir Shafiqur Rahman had said, "There are two tried and tested patriotic forces in the country, one is the army and the other is Jamaat-e-Islami."

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president ASM Abdur Rab termed this statement of the Jamaat amir as a "cruel irony of history." New Age editor Nurul Kabir, speaking at a talk show, said the Jamaat leader's statement was "historical insolence". He said, today the Jamaat amir is bracketing themselves with the army. Back in 1971 when the Pakistan army was attacking the people of this country, the amir at the time had said the same, that the Pakistan army and Jamaat were the pure patriots.

In informal conversation, a senior leader of BNP said in the past certain quarters would, in a motivated manner, bracket BNP with Jamaat. They would try to term BNP as anti-independence. Yet it was BNP's leaders and activists who had suffered the most in the movements and struggles over the last 15 years. His assessment of Jamaat was that BNP and Jamaat's politics were never the same and will never be the same in the future either. BNP had had a strategic unity with Jamaat to salvage democracy.
Awami League had also joined hands with Jamaat in the nineties on the issue of the caretaker government. The bottom line is, the leader said, those who consider the election as an opposition to reforms, are the ones gradually pushing the country towards a de-politicisation. It is not just BNP's responsibility, but the responsibility of all democratic forces, to save the country from this onslaught.

From the recent statements of the leaders of both the parties, it is clear that the paths of BNP and Jamaat have diverged. They will not merge in the foreseeable future.  

* Sohrab Hassan is joint editor of Prothom Alo and a poet  
* This column appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ayesha Kabir