Recent political unrest in Bangladesh ahead of the January 7 election has brought to the fore among other things the role of Islam in the polity. The course of Islamisation of politics was initiated by Bangladesh’s first military ruler Ziaur Rahman, who is also the founder of the right wing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His successor Hussain Muhammad Ershad heightened the process culminating with the declaration of Islam as the state religion in 1988. Both the military dictators resorted to Islamisation of the polity in their bids to gain legitimacy for undemocratic rule in a country that has a resilient civil society.
Bangladesh has long been experiencing Islamic radicalisation. The leading Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami is the fountain head of religious fundamentalism for several years. Jamaat’s retrogressive ideology and militancy of youth activists are mainly responsible for its growing marginalisation in the polity. The fundamentalist party seeks to establish an Islamic state which is totally opposed to the secular provisions of the country’s Constitution. A High Court ruling in August 2013 cancelled Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission and barred the party from contesting the parliamentary elections as its manifesto adheres to radical Islamic views. Reports say the party tried to restore its registration through an appeal but it did not succeed due to strident legal opposition from Bangladesh’s moderate and liberal Islamic groups.
The Jammat poses a potent threat to peace, democracy and political stability in Bangladesh. In a desperate attempt to make it relevant in the polity, the Jamaat tried to raise its ugly head by regrouping the party’s militant youth activists. Recent intelligence inputs reveal that the radical Islamist party organised four hit squads through clandestine means to unleash large-scale violence and mayhem in its attempts to thwart the scheduled parliamentary election. The four hit squads include: Azam Squad, Raojan Squad, Al Hazrat Squad and Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya. Intelligence sources also unearthed that the Jamaat has managed to float a covert Kashmir-style Jihad Council. The initiative has been designed to enlist much needed support of Pakistan-based jihadi elements and global Islamic terror networks.
The threat of the resurgence of Islamic radicalisation looms large in a politically volatile country like Bangladesh. Reports suggest that the ruling Awami League (AL) has attempted to woo Islamists during electioneering even though the party claims to be secular and defender of the ideals of the Liberation War of 1971. The Sheikh Hasina government restored “secularism” to the preamble of the Constitution in 2011 in its bids to prove the party’s longstanding secular credentials. Most of the mainstream political parties of Bangladesh resort to political Islam and some Bangladeshi authors maintain that both the AL and the major opposition BNP, which forged electoral alliance with the Islamist Jamaat in the past, use Islamic culture and values in politics.
The authors insist that there has been no political leader in the country in the post-independence era who has not favoured the majority religion in domestic as well as foreign policy making. They also argue that there is no secular party in Bangladesh in real terms. In its 2018 election manifesto, the AL highlighted that “Allah Sarbasaktiman” (God is all Powerful) and “Allah is Great”. In the 1996 general election also the AL tried to lure voters using religious sentiments to return to power after remaining in the political wilderness for long 21 years. Wearing black head scurf, party President Hasina made impassioned appeal to the Bangladeshis for vote and sought pardon for its previous mistakes.
Analysts say the Hasina government in its bids to reach out to the right-wing voters, had been courting the Islamic hardliners in recent years. Such attempts include hobnobbing with religious fanatics like Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, changing contents of school text books to make way for insertion of religious ideals, opening of Saudi-funded mosques and mushrooming of madrassas across the country boosting the political clout and influence of the orthodox clergy. Critics say the AL regime was also trying to create rift among the Muslims of Bangladesh for electoral gains. It was targeting the religious extremist groups to split the mainstream Islamist groups and secure some dummy candidates for the 12th parliamentary polls boycotted by the main opposition BNP.
The BNP leaders also accuse the ruling AL of roping in ultra conservative Islamist groups into the party’s leadership fold and making them members of parliament and advisers. They are providing funds and other facilities to the religious extremist entities and floating new Islamist parties. Reports say the Bangladesh Election Commission has recognised six such political parties in recent times. The AL regime has gone out of its way in an uncharacteristic fashion to woo the Islamic hardliners out of electoral compulsions. Bangladeshi observers say in the prevailing political dynamics of the country, it is virtually impossible for the ruling AL to mobilise public opinion on a more secular plank and counter the anti-liberation, far-right and reactionary elements head on.
Acknowledging the political realities on the ground, the ruling party often co-opts the anti-secular and obscurantist forces for political benefits. Though the AL has prevented the religious extremist groups to occupy the centre stage of the polity, it seems the party does not have enough courage and political will to curb the growing influence of the Islamists in a traditional Muslim society like Bangladesh. The top leadership of the ruling party is quite aware that any further pro-secular push will not go down well with the voters who are dissatisfied with spiraling price rise, rampant corruption and nepotism. Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country and catering to the orthodox religious bodies and their supporters and sympathisers brightens the electoral prospects for the ruling party. The AL leadership believes that it is the appropriate strategy to fight the BNP-Jamaat combine, consisting of far-right and pro-Pakistani elements to ensure electoral victory in a politicised country like Bangladesh.
The AL regime has undergone a major metamorphosis to cling on to power. A senior Indian journalist and an avid Bangladesh watcher has noted that the secularists and progressive elements within the AL have been systematically marginalised by an Islamist lobby led by pro-Pakistan business tycoon named Salman F Rahman. He is also all powerful adviser to Prime Minister Hasina. Citing the ruling party insider sources, the veteran journalist also added that Rahman exercises full control over Hasina and is being dubbed as the de facto prime minister. His main company Beximco and its subsidiaries arranged large paid advertisements for observing Pakistan Independence Day on August 14, infuriating Bangladesh’s sensibilities over the 1971 genocide.
The radical Islamist groups of Bangladesh are known to maintain close linkages with Pakistan-based jihadi outfits and terrorist organisations operating in India. Bangladesh’s religious fundamentalist groups, which violently resisted the country’s liberation from Pakistan in 1971, have been engaged in communal carnage in recent years in their nefarious designs to disturb peace, political stability and security and derail the warm and cordial ties existing between Dhaka and New Delhi. The rise of majoritarianism in South Asia especially India has also influenced Bangladesh politics and sharpened the ideological schisms in the country. This phenomenon has amplified religious antagonism in a country which otherwise is considered as a moderate Muslim nation.
