Bangladesh has banned the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing, and other affiliates, branding them a ‘militant and terrorist’ group as part of a nationwide crackdown following weeks of violence that left more than 250 people dead and hundreds injured.
The announcement came after the Awami League-led coalition government accused the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing of “perpetrating violence” during student demonstrations. The Jamaat-e-Islami, however, denied the charges and called the government’s declaration an ‘illegal step’.
The government is blaming the opposition in an attempt to “hide its killing of the students”, it said in a statement posted on social media.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political allies have accused Jamaat-e-Islami, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir and other affiliated organisations of instigating violence during recent student protests over a quota system for government jobs.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political allies have accused Jamaat-e-Islami, its Islami Chhatra Shibir student wing and other affiliated organisations of instigating violence during recent student protests over a quota system for government jobs.
The government has reduced the quota for public jobs to 7%, with 5% reserved for the children of war veterans.
The protests began after a judge restored the quota to 56%, with 30% reserved for relatives of those who fought in Pakistan’s 1971 freedom struggle.
