Jamaat faces ban in wake of Bangladesh student unrest

DHAKA: Bangladesh will ban the country’s largest religious party Jamaat-i-Islaami and its student wing Shibir in the wake of this month’s deadly nationwide unrest, road transport minister Obaidul Quader told reporters on Tuesday.

Representatives of Bangladesh’s governing coalition “unanimously decided to ban Jamaat and Shibir, taking into consideration their past and present activities,” said Quader, who is also general secretary of the ruling Awami League.

Jamaat is already banned from contesting elections but the new order would outlaw the party and prevent it from holding any public gatherings. Party leader Shafiqur Rahman condemned the order as “illegal, beyond jurisdiction and anti-constitution”.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday condemned the “use of excessive” force against protesters in Bangladesh after days of violence that killed at least 206 people, according to the source count.

European Union slams ‘use of excessive force’ against protesters

The violence erupted after student rallies against civil service job quotas this month and the death toll based on police and hospital data includes several police officers. Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists of the ruling Awami League party.

Borrell expressed his deep concern over the deaths of officers as well as the “torture, mass arrests and damage to property that have taken place”.

He called for an investigation and for those responsible to be brought to justice.

“There must be full accountability for the numerous instances of use of excessive and lethal force by the law enforcement authorities against protesters and others,” he said in a statement.

“We will follow closely the actions of the authorities in the context of this crisis and, with the fundamentals of EU-Bangladesh relations in mind, expect all human rights to be fully respected,” he added.

‘Witch hunt’

More than 10,000 people have been arrested in the wake of the unrest, according to the Daily Star newspaper, prompting criticism from rights groups of the extent of the police dragnet.

“The mass arrest and arbitrary detention of student protesters is a witch hunt by the authorities to silence anyone who dares to challenge the government,” Amnesty International’s Smriti Singh said in a statement.

Troops are still patrolling urban areas and a nationwide curfew remains in force, but the latter has been progressively eased since the start of last week in a sign of the government’s confidence that it was in control.

Protests began this month over the reintroduction of a quota scheme reserving more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.

With around 18 million young Bangladeshis out of work, according to government figures, the move deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis. Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists of the ruling Awami League.

The Supreme Court drastically cut the number of reserved jobs after the unrest but fell short of protesters’ demands to scrap the most contentious aspects of the system.

Hasina, 76, has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2024