July 15, 2022
3 mins read

US support for Jamaat-e-Islami draws ire in Bangladesh

The US report pulled up the Bangladesh government headed by Awami League for deregistering Jamaat as a political party which prohibits them from seeking office….reports Sumi Khan

A US State Department report defending the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh has angered veteran freedom fighters for backing “a Pakistan-paid war criminal, militant-breeding party, which committed rape and genocide”.

Jamaat-e-Islami, which was an auxiliary force of Pakistan Army in the then East Pakistan, had led in crimes against humanity and atrocities along with Pakistani soldiers, said the veterans who fought the Liberation War back in 1971, expressing their anger and frustration for the unabashed lobbying of US for a party that had been convicted of war crimes with Pakistan forces by a judicial process.

Several top leaders of the Jamaat have been found guilty for murder, rape, and forcible conversions of minorities, and some have been hanged following the long judicial process of the Bangladesh War Crimes Trials.

However, the US State Department report 2022 on human rights situation in Bangladesh pulled up Sheikh Hasina government over “action against Jamaat-e-Islami”.

Veteran Bangladesh war heroes are stunned by the US defence of the Jamaat, whose declared objective of creating a “Pakistan-owned Islamic Republic” has been found to be going against the spirit of the secular democratic policy of Bangladesh.

Former Justice Shamsuddin Ahmed Manik said that the Jamaat has violently agitated on a host of issues and dozens of innocent people have died in their firebombing of passenger buses and trains.

Author Sukharanjan Dasgupta said: “US envoy Peter Haas may lament Washington’s 1971 policy as a ‘mistake’ but this US defence of Jamaat proves the Americans retain the same policy of backing pro-Pakistan forces in Bangladesh. Or else why would those claiming to fight the militants seek to pitch for Jamaat.”

He contended that the Americans always use Islamist radical forces to fight progressive nationalists in Asia.

“That is why they are shedding tears for the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh, the party of the war criminals that opposed its independence, killing millions of innocent people,” he said.

Peter Haas, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh

The US State Department report says: “Opposition ‘activists’ faced criminal charges. Leaders and members of Jamaat-e-Islami, a leading Islamist political party in the country, could not exercise their constitutional freedoms of speech and assembly, because of harassment by law enforcement.”

Jamaat leader and former minister in the Premier Khaleda Zia’s BNP-led four-party coalition government, Matiur Rahman Nizami was hanged to death on May 11, 2016 after being convicted of war crimes. Convicted of superior responsibility as the chief of the ferocious Al-Badr militia forces in 1971, he was found guilty of systematic killings of over 450 people alone in his own village in Santhia of Pabna and also grabbing the ancestral house of legendary Indian film actress Suchitra Sen. This was retrieved by the Hasina led government on 2014, following a SC order.

However, the US report pulled up the Bangladesh government headed by Awami League for deregistering Jamaat as a political party which prohibits them from seeking office.

“The fundamental constitutional rights of speech and assembly of its leaders and members were denied,” it said.

Talking to IANS, veteran freedom fighter Foyez Ahmed Siddiqui said: “After the independence of Bangladesh, Pakistan-paid Jamaat was active in militancy against the innocent people. It pursued its Pakistani fundamentalist agenda with violent attacks on minorities and unleashed a ruthless tactic to employ radical values to upend the secular policy of Bengali culture until a high court verdict banned the party, bringing some justice for millions of families who fell victim to persecution since 1971.”

With Bangladesh scheduled to go in polls by end of next year, the US report clearly acts as a shot in the arm for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Justice Manik told IANS.

The nexus between BNP and Jamaat dated back to the country’s first military dictator General Ziaur Rahman.

ALSO READ: Bengal CM’s security breach: Police probing intruder’s Bangladesh links

Previous Story

Saudi, Turkey, Egypt set to join BRICS

Next Story

Lankan Speaker confirms resignation of Gotabaya

Latest from -Top News

Pakistan Slams IWT Move as ‘Act of War’

Islamabad also said that India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) will be considered as an “act of war”…reports Asian Lite News The high-level emergency meeting of Pakistan’s National Security

Modi: We’ll Hunt Them Down

The Prime Minister thanked nations that extended support to India in the aftermath of the terror attack…reports Asian Lite News In his first address after the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu

Moscow Steps Up Afghan Diplomacy

Russia sees a potential economic partner in the Taliban authorities, who praised Moscow for scrapping the “terrorism” label last week…reports Asian Lite News Russia has announced that it will elevate the Afghan

World leaders condemn Kashmir terror attack 

Strong messages of condemnation of the terror attack came from leaders in different parts of the world including the US, Russia, UAE, Israel, Singapore, France, Sri Lanka and Iran  World leaders strongly

India downgrades ties with Pakistan 

The decision — which also included the downgrading of diplomatic ties with Pakistan — came after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the PM   India on
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Bangladesh resists China’s push for Teesta river management

Dhaka is naturally reluctant to implement it and has so

Don’t think of yourself as a minority: Hasina tells Hindu community

Hasina again promised strong action against those involved in provoking