Jamaat-e-Islami is quietly carrying on with its organisational activities, despite the execution of its top leaders on war crime charges and the scattering of its second-rank leadership after the government crackdown on the party, claimed party sources. The government has reportedly imposed an unofficial ban on both indoor and outdoor activities of the party. But, early this month, the Jamaat apparently completed its rokon (members’) conference in several phases secretly to avoid arrest, said the sources. Earlier, the party reorganised its central and city committees by bringing in a new generation of leaders, who were born after the 1971 War of Liberation.
The Jamaat, which had opposed the War of Liberation, is currently suffering from an identity crisis after the Supreme Court prohibited the use of its party symbol, the scale. The fate of its registration with the Election Commission (EC) is also pending with the Appellate Division.
Most of the party leaders are on the run to avoid arrest. They are apparently maintaining contact with the party rank and file secretly and working covertly. The formal activities of the party have been throttled under pressure from different political parties and pro-liberation forces.
As the party offices across the country remain under lock and key, the central leaders contact each other over telephone and on social media sites. Party leaders alleged that Jamaat members are victims of injustice and political vengeance. They have even been deprived of their democratic right to hold rallies and processions, they alleged.
Calling the party an “ideological” one, the leaders said that their major challenge is to continue with their “constitutional movement” despite all obstacles and repression.
Party sources claimed that over 1,000 Jamaat leaders and activists were killed, around 10,000 injured or maimed, and 70,000 implicated in false cases of sabotage before and after the anti-election movement in 2014.
A central leader said that though they have been made victims of political vendetta, they are committed to continuing their movement for the ideal despite obstacles.
Regarding the cancellation of the party symbol, the leader said that it is officially registered with the EC. “Since the case on the legitimacy of the party registration is still pending in a higher court, the cancellation of the party symbol is beyond the juris
diction of the lower court,” he claimed.
The Jamaat leader also alleged government hand in the matter.
He criticised the President for not involving Jamaat in the dialogue on the formation of the EC, saying that the President had “failed to discharge his constitutional responsibility”.
The leader, also a former president of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, the students’ wing of Jamaat, claimed that they have around 17.5 million voters across the country. “Not only Jamaat members, all citizens are living in a country which has no democracy, rule of law, or basic rights,” he fumed.
“We have two priorities now: to continue with our constitutional movement as citizens of the country to restore democracy and voting rights, and to carry on with the movement for our ideals, facing all sorts of obstacles,” he said.
A party leader said many of the party leaders are on the run to avoid arrest, as they have been implicated in false cases. “The Jamaat now has no formal meeting. But the senior leaders are maintaining communication with fellow leaders and activists using other methods,” he said.
The leader said the party is trying to overcome the image crises following the execution of its top leaders on war crime charges. The party has been reorganised with leaders who were born after the War of Liberation. They were drawn from the ranks of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, he said.
After the execution of party ‘ameer’ Motiur Rahman Nizami on May 11 last year, acting ‘ameer’ Maqbul Ahmad was elected the new ‘ameer’ in October. Nizami was hanged on charge of crimes committed against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. The Jamaat emerged as a political party in Bangladesh after the ban on Islamic political parties was lifted in 1976. The party won 18 seats in parliamentary elections in 1991. The seat strength of Jamaat was reduced to three during the 1996 elections and the party won only two seats in the 2008 polls. The then Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan had strongly opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the breaking up of Pakistan. It had collaborated with the Pakistani army in its operations against Bengali nationalists and pro-liberation intellectuals during the War of Liberation.