The Shahbagh protests in Dhaka earlier this year demanded the banning of Jamaat-e-Islami and death sentences for all its war criminals. PHOTO: AFP.
DHAKA: A Bangladesh court is expected to rule on Thursday on a challenge to the legality of the nation's biggest Islamic party, which could bar the party from contesting future polls, lawyers said.
The High Court will announce its decision on the legality of Jamaat-e-Islami after a petition argued that the party's charter conflicted with the constitution.
A decision scrapping Jamaat's political registration could trigger fresh protests in the politically volatile country, already reeling from the deadliest violence in its history over war crime verdicts passed on Jamaat's top leadership.
The lawyer for the petitioner, Sheikh Rafiqul Islam, told AFP that Jamaat's charter violates the country's secular constitution adopted in 2010 as it calls for the rule of God and discriminates against minorities and women.
"If the court cancels Jamaat's registration, it cannot take part in any polls under the country's current election rules," Islam said.
Defence lawyer Tazul Islam said no clause of the party charter was in conflict with the constitution.
"If they scrap Jamaat's registration, 28 more parties will also face the same fate automatically," he said.
Secular protesters have long demanded that Jamaat be banned for its role in the 1971 war in which it opposed Bangladesh's breakaway from Pakistan.
Top Jamaat leaders are being tried for crimes during the war and four of them have been sentenced to death for murder, mass murder, rape and religious persecution during the struggle.
Protests over the verdicts have sparked violence in the country in which at least 150 people have been killed during street clashes.
Jamaat says the trials are a sham aimed at eliminating the party, which is also a key opposition force.
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Not a new problem! They were very much against the creation of Pakistan and followed the habit to go against the independence of Bangladesh and were banned by Ayub Khan. They say Pakistan is created in the name of Islam yet deadly against Pakistan's creation. Yet the real champion and interpreter of Islam!!!
Religious parties should be banned from politics all over the Islamic world.
Bangladesh progresses post independence and we regress....
@Raj - USA: Secularism, Socialism & Nationalism was in the DNA of original Awami League that founded Bangladesh just like it was in the DNA of original Indian National Congress. But just like India, over the years parties relying on fringe communal groups have cropped up in Bangladesh . BNP is the BJP of Bangladesh, while Jamaat can seen as Muslim version of RSS. In my view, banning Jamaat, will not have any impact on Secularism in Bangladesh, just as non-contestation of RSS in Indian elections makes no worthwhile contribution to Secularism of India. If Jamaat is banned to contest, BNP will be used as its proxy by Jamaat followers just as BJP is used as a proxy by RSS followers.
Please set some precedents for Pakistan too....where religious parties are mushrooming...
Ban them there and here.
JI has the unique (dis) honour of opposing the creation of both Pakistan and Bangladesh. They should be banned in Pakistan also. The seeds of terror sown by JI have bloomed into Talibans, a unintentional mutation maybe.
Please decide soon n hope we get some sense shortly n follow your foot steps.
A small developing country, though poor in tangible wealth and resources has the most intangible wealth of intellect and forward thinking in that part of the region. India should learn from Bangladesh and ban all religious parties, be they hindu, christian or muslim.
United Nations should give Bangladesh special honor and recognition for the unthinkable task it has undertaken.