Yunus-led Bangladesh’s interim govt lifts ban on Jamaat-e-Islami Party

The weeks of violent protests and Hasina’s crackdown resulted in over 600 deaths, according to U.N. estimates. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs lifted the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing the party to resume activities. However, it must still register with the Election Commission to participate in elections. The party’s leadership has not yet responded.

Jamaat-e-Islami has been barred from elections since 2013, when the Election Commission revoked its registration and the High Court upheld the decision, citing the party’s constitutional violations related to secularism. According to news agency AP, Bangladesh’s Law Affairs Adviser, Asif Nazrul said that Hasina’s ban was politically motivated and not based on ideology.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by Khaleda Zia, accused Sheikh Hasina’s government of imposing the ban to divert attention from the violence and allegations of excessive force by security officials that resulted in deaths among protesters.

The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been struggling to restore political stability and order as police forces and other government sectors are demoralized after attacks by protesters.

Compounding the crisis was a devastating flash flood that ravaged the country’s eastern and other regions, killing at least 27 people.

Under Sheikh Hasina’s regime, which is criticized as authoritarian, thousands of opposition leaders and activists were arrested before the January election, which secured her a fourth consecutive term. Human rights groups accused her of using security forces and courts to suppress opposition, a claim she denies.

Jamaat-e-Islami was founded during British colonial rule in 1941 by a controversial Islamist scholar who campaigned against the creation of Bangladesh as an independent state during the war of independence from Pakistan in 1971, news agency AP reported.

In 2013, a mass uprising in Dhaka led by youth groups, civil society organizations, and secular political parties called for the execution of the party leadership for their role in 1971 war crimes.

In 2013, many senior Jamaat-e-Islami leaders were either hanged or jailed after being convicted of crimes against humanity, including killings, abductions, and rapes during the 1971 war. The party had formed militias to support the Pakistani military during the nine-month conflict. Bangladesh gained independence on December 16, 1971, with the help of India.

According to news agency AP, three million people died, around two lakh women were raped, and nearly one million people fled to India during the war.