Bangladesh plans to ban ‘terrorist’ Jamaat-e-Islami
AP
Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Md. Shahriar Alam. File photo
Secularism is a founding pillar of the country, says Deputy-Foreign Minister.
Bangladesh is planning to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami, the
country’s biggest Islamist party, State Minister for Foreign Affairs
Shahriar Alam said on Wednesday.
“Jamaat is a
full-terrorist organisation and the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party),
which has had an alliance with Jamaat, is a half-terrorist organisation.
The BNP needs to be reformed. But Jamaat needs to be banned. After all,
a terrorist organisation like the Jamaat cannot be allowed to conduct
normal political activities in the country,” Mr. Alam said while meeting
a group of international journalists at his office on Wednesday.
Mr.
Alam’s comments against Jamaat came a week after secular blogger
Nazimuddin Samad was hacked and shot dead in Dhaka. Though Jamaat has
said it is not involved in the murder, a confrontation is brewing
between the group and the law enforcement authorities.
Global efforts
Bangladesh
has seen a rise in extremist violence over the last few years and the
murder of Samad on April 6 has created a tense situation in the country
right before the traditional Bangla celebration of Pohela Boishakh.
In recent months, several activists and minority communities were targeted in the country by Islamists.
Mr.
Alam said Bangladesh, which is a party to the Saudi Arabia-led struggle
against global terrorism, wants concerted global efforts to defeat
terrorism.
However, he pointed out that “tension
within the Islamic world” is also responsible for the inability to deal
with growing terrorism.
The Election Commission of
Bangladesh has already banned Jamaat from contesting elections. “We are
looking forward to the statements from the War Crimes Tribunal on
Jamaat’s role in the war crimes of the 1971 [liberation] war and will
move ahead from there [to ban the outfit],” Mr. Alam said.
His
comments against the Jamaat and the BNP highlight the deep political
divide in Bangladesh between the ruling party and the opposition. .
Challenging criticisms that the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina is cracking down on political opponents, Mr. Alam said: “Our
commitment to secularism is a founding pillar of Bangladesh, which
cannot be understood from outside without understanding the unique
Bangladeshi conditions.
“Some of the political
forces in the country have been against the foundational principles of
Bangladesh. Such forces will have to be defeated.”
Mr.
Alam acknowledged that India and Myanmar have been strong partners of
Bangladesh in dealing with terrorism that threatens South Asia.
