New Islamist alliance seeks to ride on Awami League in next election

Several Islamist parties that defected from the BNP-led alliance after the 10th parliamentary election are forming a new coalition with the Awami League, a move considered to add a new dimension to the count of votes in the next polls.

The initiators of the new alliance wish to take part in the next election, scheduled to be held in one and a half years, aligned with the ruling party's boat symbol through negotiation.

Lawyer Nurul Islam Khan, the chief of the Democratic Islamic Movement, is coordinating the efforts to form the new alliance. Khan is a former leader of Islami Oikya Jote, a former partner of the BNP in its four-party alliance.

The new alliance will have 10 Islamist and like-minded parties, Khan told bdnews24.com in an interview.

"The alliance will work to uphold the spirit of Liberation War and Islamic values with the name Islamic Democratic Alliance or Bangladesh Democratic Alliance," he said.

Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury, chairman of a faction of Islami Oikya Jote, is expected to become the chief of the new alliance.

He hoped the new alliance would be able to field 20 of its candidates in the next election with the boat symbol after negotiations with the Awami League.

Members of potential alliance

1. Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan (led by Maulana Zafrullah Khan)

2. Bangladesh Islami Oikya Jote (Chairman: Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury)

3. Ganatantrik Islamic Movement (Chairman: Nurul Islam Khan)

4. National Democratic Party or NDP (Chairman: Alamgir Majumder)

5. Bangladesh Islamic Party (Chairman: Abdur Rashid Prodhan)

6. National Awami Party or NAP Bhashani (Chairman: Hasrat Khan Bhashani)

7. Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal (Chairman: Abdul Malek Chowdhury)

8. Jamiyate Hizbullah Bangladesh (led by Maulana Shah Mostakim Billah Siddiqui of Sharshina Darbar Sharif)

9. People's Justice Party (Chairman: Barrister M Haider Ali)

10. Bangladesh Muslim League (General Secretary: Kazi Abul Khayer)

For 29 years, Zafrullah Khan was the secretary general of Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan. Following a dispute over the leadership, he left the party and formed another with the same name.

Claiming that his party is the original organisation, Khan also applied to the Election Commission for the ‘banyan tree’ as its electoral symbol.

Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury, who was vocal against the Jamaat-e-Islami, was with Bangladesh Islami Oikya Jote in different movements. He is known as a supporter of the Awami League.

Nurul Islam Khan was the legal affairs secretary of the Islami Oikya Jote, which was a member of the BNP-led four-party alliance. He left the coalition in 2009 and formed Ganatantrik Islamic Movement, which he leads as the chairman.

NDP, Islamic Party, Jatiya Ganatantrik Dal, and NAP Bhasani had left the BNP-led 20-party alliance earlier and joined the coalition led by NPP with Shawkat Hossain Nilu as its chief.

NDP Chairman Alamgir Majumder was the secretary general of that coalition. After Nilu had fallen sick, they had formed another coalition named Democratic Alliance.

During the Liberation War in 1971, the ‘Bara Pir’ of Sharshina was in the Razakar force, collaborating with the Pakistani army. But Mostakim Billah Siddiqui, known as ‘Mejho Pir’, had supported Bangladesh’s struggle for freedom. He is now leading Jamiyate Hizbullah Bangladesh.

Haidar Ali, a leader of People’s Justice Party which came into being three years ago, was the founding managing director of Islamic TV. But he was involved with the Bangladesh Chhatra League and the Awami League during his student life, according to Khan.

The Bangladesh Muslim League, which had opposed the nation’s independence in 1971, looks to the new coalition while one of its factions -- under the name Bangladesh Muslim League -- is currently a member of the BNP-led alliance.

Several political parties had left the BNP-led alliance after it failed to get any result after carrying out a three-month-long anti-government movement in 2015.

BNP leaders have been saying that the ruling party had lured the parties away in an effort to diminish their alliance’s power.

Recently, an announcement has also been made that a new coalition of ‘Islamic values’ led by Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and named ‘Sammilita Jatiya Jote’, is to form soon.

The Awami League, which had redefined itself as a secular force under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has only one Islamist group, Tariqat Federation, in its 14-party coalition.

The ruling party now appears to be an ally of Islamists: it awarded a post-graduate status to the highest Qawmi Madrasa degree and removed a statue of Lady Justice from the Supreme Court, giving in to a demand from hardliners.

​Khan said they started the process to form the new alliance six months ago. A meeting will take place on Saturday to finalise the name before it makes an official announcement by August. Khan claims that these Islamist parties will be able to garner at least 20 percent of the total votes.

Muslim League Secretary General Kazi Abul Khair told bdnews24.com that they have not joined the new Islamist coalition.