Information Minister Hasanul Hoque Inu said on Sunday that the government was considering banning the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student affiliate, Islami Chhatra Shibir, under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Published : 10 Mar 2013, 08:05 AM
He said the Jamaat-Shibir had clearly emerged as a ‘terrorist’ party in view of the recent countrywide violence they unleashed.
“The Jamaat is a registered party and takes part in the national elections. But their recent acts [of violence] were not in the nature of mass demonstrations. These acts of sabotage and terrorism, especially the attacks directed against the police and the security forces, were planned and well organised,” Inu said.
The Minister said the radical party was gradually emerging as a terrorist organisation.
Two of the party’s top leaders have already been convicted by the war crimes tribunals of Bangladesh. After the conviction of Delwar Hossain Sayedee on Feb 28 on war crimes charges, the Islamist party and its student front went on rampage across Bangladesh.
The Jamaat-Shibir combine launched countrywide attacks on government property including offices, railways, buses and trucks. They also attacked the police and the religious minorities across the country demanding dissolving the tribunals and release of their leaders.