The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party reopened its office in Dhaka on Tuesday, marking its return after more than a decade following the resignation and departure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina, 76, had been criticized for governing with an “iron fist,” with her opponents facing numerous legal cases that they claimed were politically motivated.
The religio-political party was reportedly involved in the student protest movement that led to Hasina’s downfall. Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader.
Jamaat spokesperson Ataur Rahman Sarkar stated that the party’s head office in the Mogbazar neighborhood had been forcibly shut in 2011 and was not allowed to reopen despite a court order. On Monday night, Shafiqur Rahman, the head of Jamaat-e-Islami, entered the party’s head office.
جماعت اسلامی بنگلہ دیش 13 سال بعد دفتر کھل گیا pic.twitter.com/vOHEgWJZtO
— Sajid usmani (@SajidFb) August 5, 2024
The party’s student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, also reopened its head office.
On Monday, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin held discussions with all parties and announced the release of political workers, leaders, and activists arrested since July. Hundreds were granted bail on Tuesday.
Khaleda Zia, the main opposition leader and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is also set to be released. The 78-year-old, who served as prime minister twice, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption in 2018.
Jamaat had been banned from politics on August 1 over allegations of violence during student protests about government job quotas. The party was first banned in 1972 by Mujibur Rahman and was also barred from contesting elections in 2013.
Jamaat has been a key ally of the main opposition BNP since the 2001 national election.
