Jamaat-e-Islami is a liability, BNP does not need it as an ally, says pro-BNP professional Emajuddin

In the changed political context, Khaleda Zia no more needs the Jamaat-e-Islami as an ally, says a pro-BNP professional who is known to be an adviser to her.

Speaking at a discussion on Tuesday, former Dhaka University VC Emajuddin Ahamed described Jamaat as a ‘liability’.
 
“It seems that a political party is the major obstacle to a national unity...Khaleda Zia has already decided that the 20-Party alliance does not need that party,” he claimed.
 
BNP chief Khaleda has called for a national unity against militancy after terrorists killed at least 22 persons in an attack on a cafe in Gulshan last month.
 
Awami League has brushed aside the call, saying a national unity has already been forged and there is no need to include ‘terrorists’ in it, in a veiled reference to the Jamaat.
 
Since then, BNP has been trying to form a new alliance by keeping Jamaat and other Islamist parties away.
 
Some pro-BNP professionals have also suggested ditching Jamaat.
 
Barrister Rafiq-Ul Huq, Professor Emajuddin and Ganasasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury advised the BNP to take political parties other than Jamaat on board in the national unity initiative.
 
Emajuddin on Tuesday said, “It (Jamaat) has become a liability. It’s not an asset now. So, if take this view into consideration, there is no obstacle (to keeping the party out of the alliance).”
 
He said most of those in the Jamaat leadership have been born after the Liberation War, which the party opposed.
 
“They should also think – if the national unity fails because of them (being in the alliance), why should they want it (to remain in the alliance),” he added.
 
The BNP formed a four-party alliance with Jamaat before the 2001 general elections. 
 
It became a 20-Party Alliance before the 2014 election.