Ban on Fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami Party Lifted by Bangladesh’s Interim Govt

Bangladesh’s caretaker government lifted the ban imposed on the country’s main Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as groups affiliated to it on Wednesday.

The interim government claimed that it found evidence of their involvement in “terrorist activities”. A gazette notification on Wednesday by the caretaker government that replaced Hasina’s administration said there was “no specific evidence of involvement of Jamaat” and its affiliates “in terrorist activities”.

The Jamaat-e-Islami party was banned by the now ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government under the anti-terrorism law. Hasina blamed the party for the violence during student-led protests that forced her to resign and escape to India on Aug 5.

The party denied the allegations and condemned the ban as “illegal, extrajudicial and unconstitutional.”

Jamaat could not contest the Bangladesh elections as a court had found in 2013 that its registration as a political party conflicted with Bangladesh’s secular constitution.

The party is planning to file a petition early next week at the Bangladesh Supreme Court seeking restoration of its registration as a political party.