Jamaat-e-Islami holds first-ever major rally in Bangladeshs capital
The rally was chaired by the party's Ameer or chief Shafiqur Rahman, who said that last year's movement, in which the party played a 'crucial role", was aimed at eliminating 'fascism".
At the rally in Dhaka's Suhrawardy Udyan, Rahman warned party supporters that Bangladesh might witness further violent struggle to keep it on the right track, and said, 'May Allah accept me as a martyr in the struggle that lies ahead to build a just country".
In an oblique reference to the ousted regime, the party supremo said, 'From 28 October 2006, onward, all those responsible for different politically motivated 'massacres', including that of deaths of army officers in the then paramilitary BDR border guard force and the events of July 2024, must be tried on the soil of Bangladesh." 'Until visible trials begin, Bangladesh cannot move forward under the old system," said Rahman.
Hasina's government had slapped a total ban on the Islamist party days ahead of her ouster on August 5, 2024, in a violent mass movement which was led by a student group and supported by several parties including the Jamaat-e-Islami. The interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus later lifted the ban.
At the rally, Rahman said that the party would now spearhead a movement against corruption and extortion.
'We will not accept extortion, we will not engage in corruption, and we will not tolerate it," he said.
If voted to power, no lawmaker or minister associated with the party would accept government plots and tax-exempt vehicles or personally handle public funds, he added.
One of the major agendas of the party is to wage a campaign to introduce a proportional representation (PR) system in the national election.
Senior party leader Nayeb-e-Ameer Abdullah Mohammad Taher told the rally that elections under the PR system were the most appropriate method in the current political context.
Jamaat-e-Islami has distanced itself from its once crucial ally, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, which is opposed to the PR system.
No BNP leader was seen in the rally, even though they shared power during the 2001-2006 period when the BNP led a four-party alliance government.
Several other Islamist parties and leaders of the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) attended the rally.
Rahman, 66, collapsed twice while addressing the rally and was later hospitalised, according to party leaders.
Media reports quoting Jamaat leaders said this first solo rally was staged after nearly a month of preparations and drew over half a million attendees. The party has previously participated in joint rallies at Suhrawardy Udyan alongside the BNP.
According to political historians and analysts, the party, which was opposed to Bangladesh's 1971 independence from Pakistan, last tried to stage a grand rally in Paltan Maidan in the then East Pakistan ahead of the 1970 elections.
But the rally broke at the midpoint as opponents, particularly activists of the now-disbanded Awami League, chased them away.
'From then on or since Bangladesh's 1971 independence, Jamaat, even after the withdrawal of its ban in 1976 (imposed after the 1971 victory), could not stage a grand rally in the capital though it held numerous quickly arranged unscheduled smaller roadside public meetings," political writer Shamsuddin Ahmed Peara said. PTI AR GRS GRS GRS
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