Bangladesh goes to polls amid ailing democracy

SALEEM SAMAD

After much international media hype on the Bangladesh election, the day dawned on 7 January.

On the eve of the tense election battle of the ballots, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, called the election environment in Bangladesh “repressive” and said that he is “deeply disturbed”.

The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) has expressed profound concern over the 12th Parliamentary Elections to ensure free and fair elections in Asia voiced its concern.

ANFREL said they strongly believed that this election is at risk of lacking genuineness and electoral competitiveness, raising serious questions about its adherence to democratic principles and international election standards that assess the legitimacy of the electoral process.

The statement also said ANFREL believes that the risk of lacking genuineness and electoral competitiveness emanates from the observed absence of accountability, fairness, and inclusivity in the electoral processes.

Amnesty issued a 10-point human rights charter and urged all contesting political parties to ensure that the protection and promotion of human rights is a core part of their plans for the country.

The 10 points: Respect and protect freedom of expression and media freedom; Protect the protest; Sustainable solutions to the Rohingya crisis; End impunity for enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions; Protect women’s rights; Protect the rights of religious minorities and indigenous peoples; Abolish the death penalty; Inclusive, sustainable responses to the climate crisis; End impunity for custodial deaths and torture; and Uphold corporate accountability and labour rights.

The question they are addressing to the wrong group of politicians, and political parties including the governing Awami League. None of them has the mood to listen to the civil society and often blames them for working for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami.

On the other hand, a senior Indian journalist Bharat Bhusan writes that the staged election could result in political instability in the country. He believes that the national election on January 7 is widely expected to be neither inclusive nor competitive.

Instability, because Bangladesh has fallen into geo-political fault. China, Russia and India want Sheikh Hasina, the president of the Awami League should return to power with an overwhelming majority.

India’s conspicuous silence over the one-sided election has encouraged China and Russia to adopt a similar policy to keep Hasina in power for another term.

China and Russia are singing the same tune, which could be understood to counter the United States, European Union and other West putting pressure on Bangladesh to hold a free, fair and inclusive election.

The election needs no prediction as BBC News dubbed the polls as a ‘one-woman’ election, while the result already looks inevitable, writes Anbarasan Ethirajan.

The predicted win of stage-managed win in the election would be a win for India, Russia and China.

It’s an election of Awami League versus Dummy League. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has advised his political hierarchy to nominate ‘dummy’ candidates to ensure that if the contestant application is rejected by a higher court or the election commission, at least there is one standby candidate to fight the ballot.

As the dummy candidates have no political credibility and accountability in their constituency they are known to be troublemakers for the rebel candidates who failed to get nomination from governing Awami League.

The dummy candidates are also a political nuisance in the area for obstructing independent candidates, also creating rowdyism for other party candidates.

There are reports of clashes and attacks on rival candidates in scores of district towns. News of vandalism of polling centres is also pouring. Such incidents give a chilling message of violence during voting. The fear is likely to hinder voters from going to the polling station.

Such fear means the election is not free. The voters will go to the polling station with fear and impending violence among supporters and henchmen of rival candidates.

It is expected that violence would be lowest, as the Awami League has no opposition in the real sense. The independent and rebel candidates are unlikely to pose any threats.

In several seats, the rebel candidates are very influential and have a strong support base in the certain constituency. Most rebel candidates have strong people-to-people contacts.

The parliamentary election as Western and Indian media are agog with stories that the election is one-sided and Sheikh Hasina, the Mother-of-Humanity will be elected for the fifth tenure.

She will surely be included in the Guinness World Records, as the longest-serving woman prime minister in the world.

Well, the call for agitation by the BNP and its allies has fallen flat. As the BNP failed to garner the support of the people to protest the one-sided election.

Agitation in the form of a general strike (hartal) and lockdown to disconnect from the rest of the country could not woo the people to support the anti-government movement.

What did not surprise the political observers was that a significant number of candidates from the ‘loyal opposition’ Jatiya Party, Trinamool BNP and other King’s parties have stepped out of the election race.

More than 225 of the 265 Jatiya Party candidates have pulled out of the race, terming the election “one-sided and staged” and others blamed the non-cooperation of the ruling Awami League.

However, only the contestants who were blessed with a quota of 26 have not pulled out.

It’s too late for the candidates to drop out from the race as the last date for withdrawal has long gone.

The Bangladesh Election Commission has also reiterated that they also envisage holding a free and fair election, but could not assure that the election would be free of violence.

Despite repeated promises by the government and the election commission, it seems neither the West nor the international media are convinced that the election would be free, fair, credible and inclusive.

Meanwhile, foreign election observers will be only allowed to visit polling centres within a range oftwo-hour road drive. The observers can travel to cities and towns where domestic airlines fly.

The election commission has given election observer accreditation cards to 127 foreign observers.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Foreign Ministry, Information and Broadcasting, and Home Affairs have imposed conditions on foreign journalists to issue visas to cover the election. Only 73 journalists were accredited to cover the election and visit polling centres.

The award-winning journalist Nazmul Ahasan in a Twitter (X) posted that foreign journalists granted visas are mostly those based in the India bureau. Some are required to sign agreements mandating that their footage receives official approval before publication and that they will not harm the “national image” or “sentiment.”

Indirectly, the Bangladesh authorities have imposed censorship and restrictions on foreign journalists who are not free to report independently.

Bangladesh, the nation tests an ailing democracy on the ballot.

First published in the North East News, Guwahati, Assam, India, 6 January 2024

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter: @saleemsamad

Can EC Become A Game Changer In Elective Democracy?

SALEEM SAMAD

In every election, the same screenplay of vote fraud and election irregularities has been produced by the ruling party.

Whenever BNP, Jatiya Party or Awami League are in power till today, the election observers witnessed a similar style of forcibly taking control of polling centres by henchmen of ruling party political leaders.

The Bangladesh Election Commission’s (EC) order to pack up the ongoing by-election in Gaibandha drew widespread accolades from civil society, rights organisations and national media.

Promptly the ruling Awami League bigwigs did not hesitate to critique the EC. They churned conspiracy theories that EC’s decision will make the electronic voting system questionable.

The recent electoral episode in northern Bangladesh invited fresh controversy regarding the operation of the electronic voting machine (EVM).

Whether the EVM is an electoral tool to ensure free and fair elections in a country where political parties flex their muscles in polling centres and flout the election code of conduct?

Indeed Gaibandha polls raised some doubts, whether the EC is competent to deliver the nation, a free, fair, credible and inclusive election.

Always the ruling political parties have a nexus with district civil administrators and district police. It seems the government officials do not have accountability under the oath of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

Why does the ruling party abuse the nexus? The reason, the governing party possesses the ‘magic wand’ to influence the civil bureaucrats and police administration.

Their obligation to serve at the whims of their political master is obvious. The lucrative posting and promotion await for the subservient officers – the government officers cannot ignore the sugar-coated blessings of favouritism and nepotism to build their careers and accumulate wealth to live a peaceful life after retirement.

Prof Dr Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah of Dhaka University and chairperson of JANIPOP, a voluntary election observer’s organisation explained that EC’s experience in Gaibandha proved that Bangladesh does not need a caretaker government to hold the general elections.

The EC is a constitutional body and has once again proved that it’s an accomplished organisation to hold free and fair elections.

Dr Masum Billah, a political analyst who teaches law at Jagganath University says a controversial clause in the constitution requires holding the general election keeping the existing parliament. As such, the lawmakers remaining in power flex their muscles in the election.

On the other hand, Awami League’s arch-rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) demands that the prime minister should dissolve the parliament before the election, which is not in compliance with the constitution. “It’s a collective political failure,” Dr Billah remarks.

Among other limitations of the EC, the body does not have its cadre service of civil officers to independently conduct a national election. Unfortunately, the EC is dependent upon the civil bureaucracy and police administration to conduct the elections.

There are several instances in the last half a century when the state apparatus showed thumps down on EC’s orders.

Despite being empowered by the constitution, sometimes EC becomes a toothless tiger and is unable to take departmental actions against delinquent officers of civil administration and police department.

What is next, after the newly launched newspaper Dainik Kalbela published breaking news that the upcoming general elections will be held on 4 January 2024?

Obviously, the nation will expect high hopes from the Election Commission. The EC in many countries has demonstrated as a role model in conducting credible elections.

The Chief Election Commissioner of India TN Seshan (Dec 1990 to Dec 1996) redefined the status and visibility of the Election Commission of India.

He became best known for his electoral reforms. He curbed several malpractices like bribing or intimidating voters, use of government funds and machinery for campaigning, appealing to voters’ caste or communal feelings, use of loudspeakers and high-volume music.

In another continent, Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega, was Chairman of the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he organised a peaceful elections in 2015 for the first time in Nigerian history.

Well, the Bangladesh Election Commission should uphold the constitution and is expected to be game changer in elective democracy to deliver credible and inclusive elections in Bangladesh, which would be widely acceptable by the citizenry at home and abroad – the international bodies and the West too.

First published in the News Times, October 17, 2022

Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

Who Is To Blame For Failed Gaibandha By-Poll?

SALEEM SAMAD

In an unprecedented move, the Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) suspended the by-elections in Gaibandha-5 (Fulchari-Shagata) in the middle of voting on 12 October.

Such a move in recent history has surprised many and is likely to strengthen the confidence of the opposition and the ‘aam-janata’ (general public), but it would be short-lived.

Nevertheless, the EC is empowered by the state constitution to hold a credible election.

The ruling Awami League did not expect EC would take dramatic action in halting the election in the middle of the electioneering.

The leadership is not all happy with the action of the EC. The nation is eagerly expecting a formal statement from party stalwarts.

Two things made the EC go ahead with a drastic decision to stop the election squarely blaming vote fraud. First, the surveillance cameras in the polling booths were monitored from the control room of the EC, where journalists were allowed to observe.

The suspension of the by-election in Gaibandha indeed will be a warning to political parties, local leaders and their henchmen.

The question has been raised, whether it was prudent of EC to cancel the voting, which is definitely not a solution to vote fraud.

One thing is clear the government did not cooperate with the EC. The government did not lend their shoulder to EC to hold a peaceful election.

Experienced observers of elective democracy, Dr Badiul Alam Majumder of SHUJAN and Dr Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah of JANIPOP have expressed their reservations over the action by Election Commission on logical grounds.

They explained that the recent parley between the EC, civil administration (Deputy Commissioners) and police administration (Superintendents Of Police) gave a signal of appalling partisanship in the bureaucracy.

They recommended that the gap between the EC and the local civil administration have to be significantly reduced, living no room for confusion and controversy.

Both Dr Majumder and Dr Kalimullah feel that the election is the responsibility of the Election Commission, but successful implementation lies entirely with the district administration and law enforcement.

In short, the involvement of civil society, grassroots leadership and other stakeholders should work alongside the local civil administration and law enforcement. If there are irregularities and the election is cancelled for vote fraud then the responsibility for the failure to hold the polls will be bestowed upon the government.

Well, in most countries, the EC has election cadre service officials to conduct all kinds of elections. But for Bangladesh, it will be an additional burden on the national exchequer.

It is equally true that political parties, especially the ruling party will not agree to strengthen the independence of the EC, which may jeopardise their political career, and weaken the possibility to remain in power by hook or by crook.

Since independence, it would be difficult to say which election was credible and inclusive. Elections in different regimes were tainted.

When the voters in Bangladesh have lost confidence in the ballot; when the ‘aam janata’ fear their life going to the polling centres – then democracy fails. Democracy and electioneering are twins and go parallel.

When the government officers responsible for holding a credible inclusive election fail, who is to be blamed? Blame whom, the Election Commission (EC) or the civil administration?

If the civil service and police administration are recruited on a partisan background, what else the nation should expect from them?

It is also true that the district administration and police are under constant pressure from the local political leadership and vested groups, which restrains them from functioning.

In most cases, it becomes difficult for the local civil administration and police to continue with administrative duties because of political high-handedness and fear of losing their government job.

Like, Magura vote fraud and stark inaction by the Election Commission is still remembered, Gaibandha will also be remembered, when the general elections are around the corner, at end of 2023.

Do the ruling party understand that the whole world is observing the development towards holding parliamentary elections next year? The international community expects Bangladesh will not hold free and fair elections and also credible and inclusive elections too.

First published in The News Times, 14 October 2022

Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

BANGLADESH Battle of the Begums

S. BINODKUMAR SINGH

Paving the way for the constitution of an "all-party" Interim Government to oversee the next Parliamentary Elections, all 52 ministers in the Awami League (AL)-led Begum Sheikh Hasina Wajed Government submitted their resignations on November 11, 2013. 

Subsequently, on November 21, 2013, a 29-member Interim Government was formed under Prime Minister Hasina. 28 other Ministers (including 21 Cabinet Ministers and seven State Ministers) were also inducted. All the 28 ministers are members of the Grand Alliance which was formed under AL leadership in December 2008, after the last Parliamentary Elections. While 20 Ministers have been re-inducted, eight new faces, including Anisul Islam Mahmud, Rahul Amin Hawlader, Rawshan Ershad, Mujibul Hague Chunnu, Salma Islam of the Jatiya Party (JP); Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed of the AL; and Rashed Khan Menon of the Workers Party (WP).

Hasina later gave an assurance that the Ministers of the Interim Government would not make any policy decisions, and would only engage in 'routine work' during the election period, adding, "I want to assure you [people and the opposition] that the elections will be held in a free and fair manner. I urge the opposition leader to join the elections and the people will decide who assumes power." Prime Minister Hasina also stated that President Abdul Hamid had advised her to lead the Interim Government.

This move, however, has been vehemently opposed by the Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the 18-party opposition alliance she heads, which includes the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and other Islamist radicals. The alliance has been demanding a non-party Caretaker Government (CG) on the pattern of arrangements under which earlier elections were held. In June 2011, Parliament had abolished the non-party CG system, declaring the 15-year-old constitutional provision illegal.

While the BNP-led alliance has opposed the formation of the Interim Government and is planning its strategy of response, the Election Commission (EC), on November 25, 2013, announced that the 10^th General Election would be held on January 5, 2014. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed made the announcement in an address to the nation on state radio and television and appealed to all political parties to contest the election, assuring them of taking all necessary measures, including deployment of the armed forces, to ensure a free and fair election. According to the schedule, the deadline for submission of nomination papers is December 2, 2013.

Since the AL led-Government had completed its tenure on October 24, 2013, Article 123 of the Constitution of Bangladesh required general elections to be held within 90 days, that is, before January 24, 2014.

On November 25, 2013, the Opposition announced a 48-hour countrywide blockade from November 26, 2013. In a press briefing arranged minutes after the announcement of the Election schedule, BNP acting Secretary General, Mirza Fakhrul Islam, called on the EC to postpone the polls schedule until a consensus on the arrangements for a non-party CG was reached among the political parties. BNP spokesman Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir declared, "We reject the election schedule."

Stunned by the announcement and realizing that their attempts to obstruct the announcement of the polls had failed, the Opposition alliance intensified its 'street protests' unleashing wave of disruptive demonstrations and violence in the hope that this would force the Government to rethink its position. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), as many as 25 people, including 20 civilians, four JeI and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) cadres and one trooper of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been killed in street violence since the announcement of the poll schedule (all data till December 1, 2013).

The present disturbances, however, are only an intensification of near-continuous disruptions since January 21, 2013, when the first verdict in the trials for the War Crimes of 1971 was announced. Since then, the country has recorded at least 267 fatalities, including 157 civilians, 96 JeI-ICS cadres and 14 Security Force (SF) personnel, in violence unleashed by the Islamist formations backed by the BNP-JeI combine.

Meanwhile, on November 26, 2013, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), at a Press Conference at its central office in Dhaka, and the Democratic Left Alliance (DLA), a combine of eight left-leaning political parties, at another press conference at the Nirmal Sen Auditorium in Dhaka city, rejected the announced election schedule. The CPB President Mujahidul Islam Selim declared, "CPB is rejecting the election schedule and will not take part in any one-sided election." Saiful Huq, the DLA coordinator, also rejected the election schedule on the grounds that the process would encourage a 'unilateral election'. Similarly, at a Press Vonference in Dhaka city's Mukti Bhaban on November 28, 2013, Socialist Party of Bangladesh (SPB) General Secretary Khalequzzaman asserted, "Since we believe that a one-sided election under this EC will escalate the present crises rather than resolve it, the CPB-SPB will not take part in the election."

On November 28, 2013, amid fresh political violence and uncertainty about the upcoming General Election, the EC conceded that the January 5 polls could be postponed if consensus is forged by the country's feuding political parties. CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed, when asked if the panel could revise the poll schedule, observed, "Everything is possible if they (political parties) reach a settlement in the people's interest."

Any consensus between Bangladesh's polarized political parties is, however, highly unlikely. Shahriar Kabir, a war crimes researcher, thus noted, "The body language of Khaleda made it clear that she is not interested in a resolution and the reason is she is dictated to by Jamaat-e-Islami, which wants to push the country towards a civil war." On the other hand, the Sheikh Hasina-led Government is determined to hold elections on time. While giving an introductory speech at the meeting of the Awami League Parliamentary Board (ALPB) at her Dhanmondi office in Dhaka city on November 28, 2013, Sheikh Hasina urged the people to be prepared to vote, saying that the next parliamentary elections would be held at the "right time" and the people would elect their representatives according to their wishes. Referring to Khaleda Zia, she declared that the Opposition leader was "killing innocent people in the streets" and pushing the country into complete anarchy, even while she kept herself aloof from the street-agitation and lived a "lavish life".

Bangladesh had witnessed a remarkably violence-free poll on December 29, 2008, when the AL secured a landslide victory, with 230 of a total of 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament). The AL subsequently formed the Grand Alliance along with the JP, which accounted for 27 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, and with 'others' who accounted for five seats. The BNP, which had won 193 seats in the 2001 Elections, collapsed to a strength of just 29 seats, while its principal ally, JeI, was reduced from a strength of 17 seats to two.

With the AL Government hitting the Islamist formations decisively during its tenure, the Islamists and their BNP backers are determined to make one last attempt to derail the polls. Inevitably, in what is being viewed as a virtual battle for survival on both sides of the political spectrum, Bangladesh is heading towards a violent election. The BNP-JeI combine has already made its intention clear, taking the fight into the streets, and rejecting the very possibility of any political discourse for consensus formation. Unsurprisingly, the Sheikh Hasina Government has also hunkered down, to take all necessary measures to enforce a peaceful polling process.

First published in the South Asia Intelligence Review, Weekly Assessments & Briefings, Volume 12, No. 22, December 2, 2013

S. Binodkumar Singh is Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

What's next for Islamist party after higher court barred to participate in election?

Islamist protest critics of Islam, Koran and Muhammad in London

Bangladesh's main Islamist party ponders its future after a High Court ruling that deemed its charter unconstitutional

K.R. CHOWDHURY

Now that Jamaat-e-Islami has been disqualified from contesting in future elections, analysts are asking whether Bangladesh's leading Islamist party can regroup as a political force without resorting to further violence.

On August 1st, a three-member panel of the High Court declared Jamaat's registration as a political party illegal, because some sections of its charter go against the constitution and the 1972 Representation of the People Order (RPO).

Jamaat lawyers immediately appealed to the Supreme Court to stay the verdict, but the appeal was rejected on August 5th.

The relevant Jamaat charter passages stipulate that only Allah is sovereign, and the rules of Allah are the ultimate law. The constitution of Bangladesh, on the other hand, states that the people are sovereign, and the RPO bars registration of any party that may pose a threat to communal harmony.

Jamaat – believed to command around 10% of the popular vote – registered as a political party under newly-revised Election Commission (EC) guidelines in November 2008. Two months later, a leading Sufi group filed public interest litigation seeking to scrap Jamaat's registration.

Jamaat leaders and workers took to the streets and vandalised vehicles throughout Dhaka to protest the August 1st ruling, and called for yet another general strike on August 13th and 14th.

Critics of the ban say it is important that Islamists in Bangladesh have a stake in the democratic process. Marginalising them, they argue, will foster resentment and possible radicalisation.

"Scrapping the registration through judiciary is a wrong approach," Mahbubur Rahman, a member of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) highest policy-making committee, told Khabar South Asia. "If they are stripped of their political rights, they are almost certain to resort to the path of violence for existence."

"Violence will not help them"

Yet there are avenues open for the group to re-enter politics, without resorting to violence, experts say.

The EC has hinted Jamaat could regain registration by making its party charter consistent with the constitution and the RPO, political analyst Nazim Kamran Chowdhury told Khabar.

Jamaat members could also join up with their major political ally, BNP, and attempt to re-register under a potential future BNP administration.

"In case of its failure to restore the registration as a political party under the present election commission, they are likely to contest under the BNP's banner in the next polls.

Then they would get registration afresh after installation of a reconstituted election commission," said Chowdhury.

"Violence will not help them," he added.

Syed Abdullah Md Taher, Jamaat's central executive committee member and secretary for foreign affairs, told Khabar the cancellation of its registration as a political party was aimed at blocking the party from contesting the next national elections, expected in January 2014.

"Keeping Jamaat away from the polls will, of course, create some 'imbalance' in politics," he said, without elaborating. He, however, insisted that Jamaat 'certainly' wanted to be in the political process, and does not believe in violence.

Taher declined to comment on whether his party launched attacks on law enforcers while protesting recent war crimes court verdicts against its party leaders.

Asked if Jamaat will re-register with the election commission, he said, "we will consider it".

Syed Ashraful Islam, general secretary of the ruling Awami League, told reporters his party has no intention of banning Jamaat's political activities. The registration issue, he said, would be settled by the court and the election commission – two independent bodies free from government influence, he said.

He agreed, however, that Jamaat's party charter had some provisions contradicting the country's founding principles. "They must amend their party charter in line with the constitution for getting registration as a political party," Islam added.

First published in Khabar South Asia, August 15, 2013

Bangladesh: Momentous Ruling

S. BINODKUMAR SINGH

In a landmark ruling, the Dhaka High Court (HC) on August 1, 2013, declared the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), the biggest right-wing party of Bangladesh, illegal. A three-member Special Bench, including Justice M. Moazzam Husain, Justice M. Enayetur Rahim and Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque, passed the judgment, accepting a writ petition challenging the legality of JeI's registration as a political party. The petition filed by the secretary general of the Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, and 24 other leaders of the Federation on January 25, 2009, noted that JeI was a religion-based political party and rejected the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh. In its verdict, the Court observed: "By majority, rule is made absolute and registration given to Jamaat by the Election Commission is declared illegal and void. It is hereby declared illegal."

Chief Election Commissioner, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, on August 1, 2013, stated, "Let us get the certified copy of the verdict first. We will take a decision after scrutinising the verdict. After the execution of the verdict, anybody from the party [Jamaat] will be able to take part in elections individually. Nobody can take part in the polls from the party platform."

The JeI was registered with the Election Commission (EC) on November 24, 2008, by making some provisional changes in its original charter. Significantly, the military-backed Caretaker Government (CG) had introduced the registration system before the December 29, 2008, parliamentary polls.

At the time of its registration as a political party, JeI had promised to further amend its Charter by January 24, 2010, in line with the 2008 Representation of the People Order (RPO), disallowing the registration of a communal outfit as a political party. However, JeI did not deliver on its pledge and, even after the expiry of the deadline, continued to ignore the EC's repeated calls to amend its Charter.

According to the EC's findings, a number of provisions in JeI's Charter, including the call for establishing rule of Islam through organized efforts and the refusal to accept Parliament's plenary power to enact laws, were not in conformity with the country's Constitution and the RPO. Indeed, JeI was founded in undivided India in 1941 by its first ameer (chief), Maulana Abul A'la Maududi, with the goal of developing an Islamic community of devout believers guided by and subordinated to 'Islamic law' alone.

On July 24, 2013, moreover, the EC had finalised proposed amendment to the Electoral Rolls Act 2009, in order to drop convicts of any offence under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 from the voters' list.

Condemning and protesting the exclusion of war crimes' convicts from the electoral rolls, a JeI delegation, in a written statement to the EC on July 28, 2013, declared, "According to electoral law 2009, every citizen reserves right to be included in the voter list who are 18 years old of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. But EC has been determined to remove the convicted Jamaat leaders from the voter list. This is contrary to human rights and constitution." On the same day, JeI 'acting secretary general' Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan alleged, "The government is trying to come to power again in the illegal way. The country will prevent strictly this kind of conspiracy."

It is significant, here, that the International Crimes Tribunals (ICTs) have, thus far,indicted 12 high-profile political figures, including 10 JeI leaders and two Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders. While 11 persons had been indicted earlier, the JeInayeb-e-ameer (deputy chief) and alleged founder of the infamous Razakar Bahini, A.K.M. Yusuf, was indicted by the ICT-2, on August 1, 2013, on 13-counts, including seven charges of genocide, one charge of looting and arson attacks on Hindu houses, and five charges of abduction, torture in confinement and murder in the Khulna region.

Thus far, six of the 12 persons indicted, all from the JeI, have been awarded sentence, four death penalties and two to extended terms of imprisonment. ICT-2 sentenced to death JeI leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar on January 21, 2013; ICT-2 awarded life imprisonment to JeI 'assistant secretary general' Abdul Quader Mollah on February 5, 2013; ICT-1 awarded death sentence to JeI nayeb-e-ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee on February 28, 2013; ICT-2 handed over a death sentenced to JeI 'assistant secretary general' Muhammad Kamaruzzaman on May 9, 2013; ICT-1 sentenced to 90 years in prison former JeI ameer Ghulam Azam on July 15, 2013; and ICT-2 awarded the death sentence to JeI 'secretary general' Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed on July 17, 2013.

Meanwhile, protests, hartals (general strikes) and street violence, which have become the order of the day in Bangladesh, escalated after the HC verdict banning JeI. The JeI, its affiliates and supporting political formations, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have been engaging in violent street mobilization since the constitution of the ICT on March 25, 2010, to investigate and prosecute suspects for the crimes committed during the Liberation War of 1971. Since the latest cycle of violence erupted, at least 30 persons have been injured. Moreover, according to partial data collected by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), the country has recorded 139 fatalities, including 70 JeI and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS, the students' wing of JeI) cadres, 60 other civilians, and nine Security Force (SF) personnel (all data till August 2, 2013) since March 25, 2010, in street violence unleashed by the JeI-ICS combine backed by BNP, as well as other extremist groups such as Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI, 'Protectorate of Islam'), who are opposing the War Crimes trials.

However, as SAIR noted earlier, strong resistance is, now building up against the repeated hartals called by the Islamist combine.

Against this backdrop, there are apprehensions that the cycle of violence will escalate, even as JeI's linkages with other dormant Islamist formations within and outside Bangladesh are restored. For instance, the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which came into the limelight after it carried out near simultaneous blasts in 63 out of 64 Districts of Bangladesh on August 17, 2005, has historical links with JeI. On July 13, 2010, the 'chief' of the JMB Maulana Saidur Rahman, who was arrested on May 26, 2010, had exposed the connections between JeI and JMB, revealing that he and several other members of the group had earlier been members of the JeI. Rahman is still under trial for the serial blast, though the group's other leaders, including Abdur Rahman, Abdul Awal, Khaled Saifullah, Ataur Rahman and Hasan Al-Mamun, were executed on terrorism charges on March 30, 2007.

Similarly, linkages between the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) and JeI were exposed on July 11, 2010, when HuT 'adviser', Syed Golam Maola, arrested on July 8, 2010, told interrogators that JeI 'Publicity Secretary' Tasneem Alam coordinated a meeting in 2008 to discuss a joint campaign against the National Women's Development Policy, 2008.

JeI links with Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) were exposed on March 29, 2013, when Detective Branch (DB) personnel arrested 13 extremists, including former JeI leader Farid Uddin Ahammad, along with Afghan war veteran Farid Uddin Masud who was a leader of HuJI in Pakistan, from Dhaka city. Nazrul Islam Mollah, Deputy Commissioner of DB, on March 31, 2013, stated, "The detained militant leaders directly and indirectly support the anti-government movement and they were working against the war crimes trial. Farid Uddin Ahammad opted for reviving HuJI as there are similarities in the ideologies of the HuJI in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Deputy Leader of the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament), Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, warned against a extremist-terrorist revival on July 25, 2013: "They are trying to raise heads once again. they are conspiring again. We must get united as we'll have to resist JeI. we'll have to be tougher. we the freedom fighters will have to annihilate them in our lifetime. We'll have to resist those who still dream of turning the country into Pakistan. We'll never let the country slip into the hands of Pakistan. We'll have to move forward with the Liberation War spirit."

As the country's General Elections approach, the Sheikh Hasina Wajed Government will be confronted with a rising challenge to stem escalating violence and to provide an environment of security and safety for an ordered exercise of the people's democratic rights.

First published in South Asia Intelligence Review, Weekly Assessments & Briefings, Volume 12, No. 5, August 5, 2013

S. Binodkumar Singh, Research Associate, Institute for Conflict Management