DHAKA – Bangladesh banned the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing and other associate bodies, terming the party as a “militant and terrorist” organisation as part of a nationwide crackdown following weeks of violence that left more than 250 people dead and thousands injured, reported TRT World.
The announcement comes after the ruling Awami League party-led coalition accused the Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing of “carrying out violence” during the student protests. However, the Jamaat-e-Islami denied the allegations, describing the government announcement as an “illegal move.”
The government is blaming the opposition in an attempt to “hide its killing of the students,” the party said in a statement posted on social media.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political partners blamed Jamaat-e-Islami, its Islami Chhatra Shibir student wing and other associate bodies for inciting violence during recent student protests over a quota system for government jobs.
In an official circular seen by The Associated Press, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Home Affairs said Thursday the ban was imposed under an anti-terrorism law.
Bangladesh was rocked by violent student protests demanding reforms in public jobs. The protests have subsided since the government imposed a nationwide curfew and deployed the military.
Rough estımates put the death toll at over 250 and thousands of injured.
According to the Daily Star newspaper, over 10,000 people have been arrested in the last 12 days, including many members of opposition parties.
The government has now reduced the quota in public jobs to 7 percent, with 5 percent reserved for the children of war veterans. The protests began after a court restored the quote to 56 percent, including 30 percent for relatives of those who fought in Pakistan’s 1971 war of liberation.
The Bangladesh Election Commission has already cancelled the party’s registration in 2013 during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League-led government.
