Over a hundred members, including leaders and activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) were arrested in Dhaka on 1 June, after they defied a ban imposed by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on holding any meeting or rally at the city’s Paltan Maidan. The ban was declared after the Bangladesh JeI and Awami Jubo League (the ruling Awami League’s youth wing) called for simultaneous rallies at Paltan Maidan and was aimed at preventing any violent confrontation between the two. Prior to this, in February, police arrested cadres of the ICS across the country after violence erupted following the death of two students in Rajshahi and Chittagong Universities.

In May this year, subsequent to earlier directives from Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) to the JeI, the latter was asked to amend certain provisions of its charter which the EC believed did not conform to the country’s constitution, to avoid the cancellation of its registration. Faced with mounting pressures from various quarters, the hard-line party has finally agreed to amend its charter. It has accepted the parliament's power to make and amend laws and agreed to delete the charter’s proclamation that “people must not accept anyone except Allah as the maker of laws.” Additionally, it has also decided to provide for 33 per cent reservation of posts in all its committees for women.

Since the coming to power of Sheikh Hasina, the JeI has come under strong scrutiny, which is unsurprising given the uneasy relationship between Hasina’s Awami League (AL) and the JeI, with which the main opposition party, Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has a strong political and ideological affiliation. The coming to power of the AL with an overwhelming majority meant it was in a strong position to go after the JeI, especially its top leadership. To this end, the incumbent government has already initiated action, including the institution of the war crimes tribunal.

The government recently constituted a tribunal, appointed an investigation agency and prosecution panel for the trial of suspected war criminals of the 1971 Liberation War. Most of these suspected war criminals belong to the JeI, including most of its top leadership which was vehemently opposed to Bangladesh’s creation and fought on the side of the Pakistan Army to prevent the breaking away of erstwhile East Pakistan. 

Speaking on the current status of the Bangladesh JeI, AKM Abdus Sabur, Research Director and Head of the International Studies Division at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), said that the party is faced with colossal challenges and its troubles are unlikely to abate anytime soon. Not only is the JeI finding it increasingly difficult to rally public support for its activities, but also finds itself under strict government surveillance. The Central Intelligence Cell of Bangladesh’s National Board of Revenue recently directed all banks and non-banking financial institutions to provide account details of two JeI leaders, Abdul Quader Mollah and Maulana Delwar Hossain Saydee. This is purportedly part of the government’s larger attempts to monitor the JeI’s network, believed to be engaging in money laundering and financing other terrorist outfits.

Moreover, the JeI’s own political graph has shown a downward trend in the last few general elections with its worst showing in 2008, when it won 2 of a total of the 38 seats contested. Without its alliance with the BNP therefore, the JeI would be completely isolated on Bangladesh’s political scene, which is why, according to Sabur, the JeI is “trying to convince the BNP that it is an indispensable partner in their mutual political alliance, especially since it has a valuable vote bank.”

Abdus Sabur however points out, that contrary to this claim, the JeI has a rather narrow political base and draws support mostly from its own members and other radical Islamist groups. The reason why the JeI does not enjoy popular support is that it preaches and propagates Salafism – an undifferentiating and parochial strain of Islam, intolerant of the social, cultural, regional and linguistic differences which characterize not only Bangladeshi society, but communities all across South Asia, which explains why the JeI has been unable to transform itself into a mass-based political party. Further, the JeI is losing its traditional patronage from Pakistan and West Asian states. There has been a significant decrease in Pakistan’s ability to assist the Bangladesh JeI due to the challenges the former faces vis-à-vis terrorist groups operating on its territory. Additionally, Pakistan faces heightened US pressure not to help any extremist or radical Islamic forces. According to media reports, the US is exploring possible links between the JeI Bangladesh and the Pakistani militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Given these recent developments, it appears that the JeI, once regarded a formidable force in Bangladesh, has become increasingly isolated and cornered from all sides. The Bangladesh JeI is in trouble and according to Abdus Sabur, “desperately seeking an escape from the inevitable political debacle” that looms large on its political horizon. How it grapples with the present challenges and rethinks and reworks its role in Bangladesh’s politics remains to be seen.