Readers favour Jamaat ban

Jamaat-e-Islami should be banned from politics, is what an overwhelming number of bdnews24.com readers have said during a regular opinion poll conducted online.

On Sunday, Bangladesh’s first Internet newspaper asked people to vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on: “Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed the 1971 Liberation War, has no right to be part of politics in Bangladesh. Do you agree with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's comment in light of countrywide demand seeking ban on Jamaat?”

In the poll for the English edition, as many as 85 percent of the 7917 readers wanted the Jamaat outlawed.

The Bengali site poll had 90 percent of 19732 participants backing the Prime Minister on the issue.

As the online voting went on, Parliament on Sunday passed the bill amending 1973 International Crimes Tribunal Act to make way for trying political parties or organisations alongside individuals accused of war crimes in 1971, riding the groundswell of public anger against the rightwing party.

The amendment came following the ongoing protest since Feb 5, the day the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced senior Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla to jail for life.

Protesters have been demanding capital punishment to those who committed crimes against humanity in 1971, and also a ban on politics of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.

They have continued with the nonstop agitation under an oath that they would not call it off and go back home until their demands were met.

On Feb 10, the Parliament and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed solidarity with the Shahbagh protest and supported their demands that have captured the imagination of millions of people across the country.

The first two verdicts of ICT clearly explained how Jamaat-e-Islami and its then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha were involved in organising ‘armed militias’ to thwart Bangladesh’s emergence in 1971.

One of its former activist, Abul Kalam Azad, locally known as Bachchu Razakar, has already been sentenced to death.

In the verdict, the tribunal observed, Jamaat-e-Islami helped Pakistan military in the war against unarmed Bengalis by establishing ‘armed militia’ in the name of ‘saving Pakistan.’

The second verdict of the tribunal concerning Molla provided more detail on Jamaat’s role in organising auxiliary forces in support of Pakistan.

Regarding Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Sangha, currently known as Islami Chhatra Shibir, the verdict observed that a very few Bengalis, Biharis, other pro-Pakistani organisations and religion-based political parties, especially Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, Muslim League, Pakistan Democratic Party, Council Muslim League, Nezam-e-Islami had joined the occupying Pakistani force or barbarically assisted to resist the idea of an independent Bangladesh.

They had committed themselves to barbaric activities in violation of traditional international laws for assisting the Pakistani occupation force, observed the verdict.

Regarding Jamaat’s direct relation with auxiliary forces like Razakar, Al-Badr, the verdict observed that Jamaat-e-Islami and some other pro-Pakistani political organisations substantially contributed in creating these para-militia forces (auxiliary force) for combating the unarmed Bengali civilians, in the name of protecting Pakistan.

The judgement continued, virtually putting Jamaat in the same category as other vigilante groups. “Actions in concert with its local collaborator militias, Razakar, Al-Badr and Jamaat-e-Islami and other elements of pro-Pakistani political parties were intended to stamp out the Bengali national liberation movement and to smash the national feeling and aspirations of the Bengali nation.”

It ended with a quote from the New York Times (Jan 3, 1972). “Al-Badr is believed to have been the action section of Jamaat-e-Islami, carefully organised after the Pakistani crackdown last March.”