Every region in the world has its own brand of politics. While there may be some interregional commonalities, it is always the uncommon factors that define the politics of a particular region. For example, one of the key characteristics of South Asian politics is the tendency to form alliances before a major election. While occasionally the allies may have strong ideological similarities, in most cases, the partnerships are held with loose, common threads.

Bangladesh, being a part of South Asia, is no different. With the next parliamentary election set to be held in a year or so, the ruling Awami League and the BNP, the two dominant political forces in the country, have once again started rallying lesser and sometimes even completely unknown political parties to form alliances.

Eventually, it's all about numbers. Before the 2001 general election, the then main opposition in parliament, BNP, formed a four-party alliance with three other like-minded right-wing parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami. BNP and its allies swept that election with a two-third majority and ended up forming a coalition government. Before the following election in 2008, the Awami League took a page out of their archrival's books and formed a bigger alliance with 14 like-minded parties, who were mostly left and centre-left in terms of political ideology. That coalition later came to be known as the "grand alliance" and it ended up winning an even bigger majority in parliament than what the four-party alliance did in 2001.

After a disastrous defeat in the 2008 election, the BNP took a couple of years to regroup and decided to form an even bigger alliance, this time with as many as 19 parties, in 2012. Apart from Jamaat-e-Islami, the remaining 18 parties were either one-man shows or existed only on papers and signboards, let alone having any significant vote bank.

Around the same time, the ruling Awami League revived the long-pending 1971 war crimes trial against top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami. By the time the next general election rolled around in 2014, some of the top Jamaat leaders had already been executed for their war crimes, and some others, alongside a number of BNP stalwarts, were awaiting the same fate, which significantly curtailed the impact that the 20-party alliance could have had.

Read more

When it’s the BNP, you never know

The BNP-led alliance tried to retaliate by launching violent protests, aiming for two objectives: 1) to somehow prevent the execution of the Jamaat and BNP leaders; and 2) to prevent the Awami League from holding one-sided elections. None of those objectives were achieved, and the BNP-led alliance only drew fierce criticisms from both home and abroad for their bloody means. Since then, Jamaat has been stripped off their right to participate in elections, and the 20-party alliance nosedived into the ground.

If we analyse the results of some of these elections, we will see that only about a few parties actually have vote banks big enough to have any impact on the overall outcomes. Some of the other, lesser known parties have even been known to have given up their own symbols and chose to run with the symbols of the dominant parties in the alliance. Some of them have even won in elections as well because they received votes from the dominant parties' supporters due to their association with the alliance.

Read more

How fares the opposition in Bangladesh?

In the ninth parliamentary election in 2008, a total of 38 parties took part. One of those parties had the organisational strength to nominate a candidate for just one seat in parliament, and there, too, that candidate managed to bag 297 votes only. In 2014, at least five among the 12 parties who took part in the election received less than 10,000 votes combined. In some cases, the smaller parties were the ones who were the beneficiaries. For example, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Workers Party, and Bangladesh Tarikat Federation contested in the election with the Awami League's "boat" symbol in the 2014 election and bagged only 1.75 percent, 2.06 percent and 0.3 percent votes, respectively. But the alliance head, Awami League, accommodated their leaders in the cabinet and some of them became ministers as well, which, quite understandably, they would have never been able to achieve had they contested on their own.

However, as the 12th parliamentary election draws nearer, we are observing an incredible reversal of the trend. While some smaller left-wing parties have started to side with the BNP, which has always been centre-right, some right-wing parties are getting closer to the Awami League, which has been historically centre-left. It is going to be quite hard to tell what this would eventually transpire to, simply because this has never happened before in Bangladesh.

Alliances are a tested strategy to win elections all over the world. However, alliances between parties with completely opposite standings are not very common, and it is hard to tell how well party members at the grassroots level would gel given their ideological differences, especially during election campaigns. Probably, only time will tell.

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla is deputy chief reporter at The Daily Star.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday restored an appeal that challenged a High Court verdict scrapping the Jamaat-e-Islami's registration with the Election Commission as a political party.

The apex court will now fix a date for holding a complete hearing of the appeal on merit, said Mohammad Shishir Manir, a lawyer for the Jamaat.

"If the Appellate Division allows the appeal after holding a hearing on it, Jamaat-e-Islami will get back its registration and will participate in elections," he told The Daily Star.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, passed the order yesterday after holding hearing on a petition filed by Jamaat, seeking restoration of its appeal.

The other three judges of the bench are Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, and Justice Md Rezaul Haque.

The apex court bench also condoned 286 day's delay in filing Jamaat's restoration petition after this court had dismissed its appeal against the HC verdict.

On September 1 this year, lawyer Shishir Manir submitted the restoration petition to the apex court on behalf of Jamaat Secretary General Miah Golam Parwar seeking necessary directives.

On that day, the lawyer told The Daily Star that the Appellate Division earlier dismissed the Jamaat's appeal without holding a complete hearing.

On November 19 last year, a five-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the then chief justice Obaidul Hassan, dismissed the Jamaat's appeal for "default" as its counsels did not appear before the court on that day.

Yesterday, Jamaat's lawyer Barrister Ehsan Abdullah Siddiq told the SC bench that senior counsel AJ Mohammad Ali, now dead, for the party in this case could not attend the court for placing arguments due to political programmes, including countrywide strikes, and his illness.

Maulana Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, secretary general of the Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, along with 24 others, filed a writ petition with the HC on January 25, 2009, seeking its order declaring the Jamaat's registration illegal.

The petitioners said that the Jamaat is a religion-based political party, and it does not believe in the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.

Following the writ petition, the HC on August 1, 2013, declared the Jamaat's registration with the EC illegal.

The EC scrapped the Jamaat's registration in October 2018, making it clear that the party will not be able to contest the upcoming national election.

In the verdict, two judges of the three-member HC bench declared the registration illegal. However, the other judge disagreed with the decision made by his two colleagues.

The Jamaat then filed the appeal with the apex court challenging the HC verdict.

Attorney Ehsan Abdullah placed arguments on behalf of the petitioner, while a number of pro-Jamaat lawyers, including its leader Md Jashim Uddin Sarker and Shishir Manir, were present at the court during yesterday's hearing.

The High Court has sought relevant documents from the government to determine BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's "genuine" date of birth.

In response to a writ petition, the court asked the authorities concerned of the government to provide the record regarding her date of birth in 60 days.

The HC also issued a rule asking the respondents to show causes why their inaction to prosecute Khaleda Zia under relevant law for celebrating her birthday on different dates deliberately to malign and undermine the solemnity of National Mourning Day on August 15 should not be declared illegal.

Secretaries to the ministries of home affairs and health and family planning, inspector general of police, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station have made respondents to the rule.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Sardar Md Rashed Jahangir came up with the order and rule after holding hearing on a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Mamun Or Rashid, challenging the legality of celebrating birthday by Khaleda Zia on August 15.

The petitioner said that it is a matter of great distress for the nation that Khaleda Zia has mentioned and used her date of birth on August 15, 1946 in the current passport with an ulterior motive -- to malign the National Mourning Day when the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brutally killed with his family members in 1975.

Also, Khaleda Zia's date of birth is September 5, 1946 according to her SSC certificate; August 4, 1944 according to her marriage registration certificate; August 5, 1946 according to her machine-readable passport; and May 8, 1946 according to her Covid-19 test report, the petitioner said in the petition.

BNP's Joint Secretary General and former Supreme Court Bar Association Secretary AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon opposed the petition, saying that the writ petitioner has been filed in order to achieve political gains.

Thousands of people including Khaleda Zia were born on August 15, he said, adding it is not the work of the HC to deal with such a matter involving a birthday.

Jamaat-e-Islami is one of the oldest parties of the subcontinent. Its roots can be traced back to colonial India. Founded in Lahore in 1941 to promote social and political Islam, this party opposed Bangladesh and its Liberation War. According to media reports during the 1971 war and historical records, it aided and abetted the Pakistan army in committing acts of genocide in Bangladesh. The leaders of Jamaat and its student wing Chhatra Sangha had led and encouraged the formation of vigilante militias like the Razakar, Al Badr and Al Shams. Lately, the Islamist party has become a major player in the shifting political landscape following the mass uprising and fall of the Awami League government on August 5. In light of the prevailing context and a drastic realignment of the political forces, it has become important to know and understand the stance and vision of the key Islamist parties. This interview of Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, done on October 10, is the first in a series of interviews with leaders of Islamist parties.
 

Bangladesh's vicious cycle of political retribution stops with Jamaat-e-Islami, said its Ameer Shafiqur Rahman.

Pointing out that the previous regime had been particularly vicious towards his party, the Jamaat chief, during an exclusive interview on October 10, said if anyone had the right to vengeance, it was Jamaat.

But assuring that his party would not seek revenge, Shafiqur said, "We want to operate as a responsible organisation contributing to the stability of the country."

Read more

Full transcript of interview with Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman

This was why, he explained, the party leadership had asked its rank and file to refrain from criminal activities. "We have to be patient during these trying times when the nation is sort of going through birth pangs."

A political activist since his teens, Shafiqur noted that as there had been some instances of anarchy soon after the fall of the previous regime, he strongly urged Jamaat activists not to take the law into their own hands.

Speaking to The Daily Star, the Jamaat chief said the party had a "common principle" for all those who had wronged them: "The politics of revenge and retribution must be put to the grave".

A physician by training, he said it did not matter if no one else was on board. "Someone has to bell the cat. So why not me?"

Noting that the minorities had come under attack in the wake of Awami League's fall, the Jamaat chief said his party activists were among those who had then taken up vigil at temples and pagodas. "But that should not be the case ... if mosques did not need security, why should temples and pagodas?"

He added, "Religion and party, to each his own. But the state belongs to everyone. Everyone must converge on this basic point of agreement if people desire a healthy society and a strong state."

Regarding the allegations against Jamaat-e-Islami and its leadership during the Liberation War, Shafiqur said he would have no reservations about apologising for the misdeeds if they were proven beyond doubt.

The Jamaat chief also clarified that crimes of individuals did not constitute culpability of Jamaat as an organisation automatically.

He explained that he heard afterwards that the Jamaat leaders in 1971 feared that an independence, which had been won "with the favour, cooperation and active engagement of India" would not bear rich dividends that the people expected. He said the leaders feared that "there would be an undue influence over Bangladesh, and because of that, we would not be able to emerge and establish ourselves as a truly sovereign nation with full dignity".

About the shifting political landscape and whether he had reasons to be apprehensive, the Jamaat ameer explained how the country had never really been completely stable since its birth in 1971. Regarding the fluid political state at present, he said, "You can never really wish away your apprehensions."

Shafiqur referred to two events that many thought aimed to destabilise the government. "There was a chance of a judicial coup soon after the changeover. Then there was an incident with the Ansar." He said there were "strange incidents of provocation" at different levels.

He said some members of the government were making political statements at times and cautioned that the partisan statements from advisers did not bode well for the country. "This government is a non-partisan government. It is best that we don't hear anything partisan from a non-partisan government."

Queried about women's participation within Jamaat's policymaking body, the majlis-e-shura, and its central working committee, Shafiqur said while women constituted about 40–42 percent of its full members (rukn), women accounted for about 35 percent in both the shura and the central working committee. "And it is gradually rising."

About women leading the country for over more than three decades, the Jamaat chief said, whether it was Sheikh Hasina, Khaleda Zia or Rawshan Ershad, they all had inherited legacies of their husbands or fathers. "None of them climbed up the ranks from the grassroots as an individual political worker."

Asked when Jamaat might have its first woman ameer, the party chief declined to answer saying, "I will hold my answer for now."

While the Jamaat chief endorsed the Islamic rules of inheritance, saying that those rules favoured women more than men, he refrained from saying whether his party would oppose the Women's Development Policy of 2011 — calling for equal inheritance between men and women — that was withdrawn in the face of strong protests.

He said, "We are not opposing anyone. We are merely advocating a certain position in the light of Islam."

As for the legal system, he said while the Islamic laws would have equal weight for testimony of Muslims and non-Muslims, it would not have the same weight for men and women. The Jamaat chief explained that the provisions called for two women in the stead of a man. "Allah has explained that it is because one woman can assist the other if one becomes unable to testify."

When asked about his views on songs and dances that are an integral part of the Bangali culture, the Jamaat chief remarked that when the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) migrated from Mecca to Medina, young boys and girls had greeted him with songs and dances. "He did not mind that."

The Pahela Baishakh celebrations have seen opposition from Islamist groups. About Jamaat's views on celebrations like Pahela Baishakh  with its mangal shobhajatra and Ekushey February (February 21, International Language Day) with its probhat feri, and whether Jamaat would join in celebrating these festivals, Shafiqur said there was some merit to the reservations expressed by religious scholars about mangal shobhajatra.

He went on to say that celebrations, no matter what they were, should be in an orderly fashion. "But that does not happen, which is the main point of concern."

He said good will not come from just a shobhajatra. "For that we have to change our characters. If the character and actions are well-intentioned, only then will good come from it."

Jamaat has recently put forth a number of reform proposals, and one of them endorsed sculptures based on the nature of Bangladesh rather than figures of living beings like animals or humans.

Asked about Jamaat's position regarding sculptures like Aparajeyo Bangla or Raju Bhashkorjo, both of which depicted humans, Shafiqur said, "We are indifferent."

Asked if Jamaat would call for these sculptures to be razed or whether it would want to put a stop to building any more of such sculptures, he explained that extreme actions were almost always a result of outburst. "It is because our society is intolerant. We must increase our tolerance."

He said whatever had to be done would have to be on the basis of consultations and discussions.

When pointed out that Shafiqur used words like mazlum, khalaas, and majlis-e-shura and asked about the reason behind Islamist politicians' preference for Urdu, Farsi or even Arabic words over Bangla, Shafiqur said, "This language is a rather generous one."

Bangla has become enriched with words from so many other languages. It has words from Sanskrit, Arabic, Urdu and even English, he said.

"Take Awami League for instance. Awam is Urdu and League is English. There is no Bangla at all. Our name is fully Arabic. Take BNP…it's all English.

"The people will accept whatever words they understand easily. You might say this the beauty and generosity of the Bangla language," said Shafiqur getting ready for his afternoon prayers.

Shafiqur Rahman bio

Shafiqur Rahman's political activism began with a street march in his village during the 1969 mass upsurge. He was still in his teens when he was picked to write posters leading up to the 1970 general election. Like millions, Shafiqur too rooted for the "boat", Awami League's electoral symbol.

In later years, he got involved with the student wing of Jatiyatabadi Samajtantrik Dal, commonly called Jasad Chhatra League.

He was soon disillusioned with Jasad and decided to move away from its influence.

Shafiqur was first introduced to the Jamaat-e-Islami's student wing Chhatra Shibir when he had just started at the Sylhet Medical College, which he says was a turning point in his life.

The High Court today wanted to know the government's decision about the old trees at the capital's Suhrawardy Udyan, a historical place related to the republic's Liberation War.

The court sought for the resolution of a meeting organised by the liberation war affairs ministry on this issue on June 24 with its Minister AKM Mozammel Haque in the chair.

The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice SM Maniruzzaman asked Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Samarendra Nath Biswas to collect the resolution from the ministry and to submit it to this court in two weeks.

The bench passed the order during hearing on a writ petition filed to seek its directive upon the government not to cut trees and damage the environment and characteristics of Suhrawardy Udyan.

It fixed July 15 for further hearing on the petition.

DAG Samarendra Nath Biswas told the HC that the government has suspended the process of cutting trees at Suhrawardy Udyan.

Liberation Minister AKM Mozammel Haque held a meeting on June 24 on this issue, but the resolution of the meeting was yet to be finalised, he said, adding that he will submit the resolution to the court once he receives it.

Lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan appeared for the writ petitioners during the virtual hearing of the petition today.

Read More: Tree-felling at Suhrawardy Udyan: HC hopes problems will be resolved through discussion