Zakir Hossain in Dhaka
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, rallied at Dhaka’s historic Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday in a dramatic show of strength ahead of general elections expected next year. The rally marked Jamaat’s first major assembly at the venue since 1971, signaling a growing shift in Bangladesh’s post-Hasina political landscape.
The gathering comes as Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus leads an interim government following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024 after student-led protests. While elections are tentatively set for April 2025, pressure from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies may push them forward to February.
Jamaat, once aligned with Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War, declared its intention to mobilize one million people, and came close, as crowds swelled at the capital’s university campus and surrounding areas through Friday night into Saturday.
A New Islamist Vision: “We are here for a new Bangladesh where Islam would be the guiding principle of governance, where good and honest people will rule the country, and there will be no corruption,” said Iqbal Hossain, 40, one of the participants.
Party chief Shafiqur Rahman presided over the rally, flanked by other top leaders, including Nayeb-e-Ameer Mujibur Rahman, Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, and Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar. Leaders of the July 2024 uprising also joined the stage, signalling Jamaat’s close coordination with the student movement that toppled Hasina.
The crowd waved Jamaat flags, wore headbands with religious slogans, and chanted “Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar” and “Zindabad Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.” Jamaat hired four special trains to ferry supporters from Mymensingh, Chattogram, Sirajganj and Rajshahi. Many spent the night in Dhaka before the rally.
Seven-Point Demand and Political Ambition: Jamaat presented a seven-point charter, demanding: Justice for all mass killings, Implementation of the July Proclamation and Charter, Reforms including a proportional representation (PR) system, Voting rights for expatriates, Rehabilitation of July Uprising victims, A level playing field for elections.
“If Jamaat-e-Islami decides there will be no election in this country without change, they have the power to carry it through,” said Hindu leader Gobinda Chandra Pramanik at the rally, endorsing the Islamist party and calling for separate minority elections.
Post-Hasina Shift and Anti-India Overtones: With Hasina and her Awami League banned and the former PM in exile in India facing charges of crimes against humanity, Jamaat is now attempting to contest all 300 parliamentary seats and is building alliances, including with the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP). Both groups also promote anti-India rhetoric.
The scale and symbolism of Saturday’s rally suggest a new chapter in Bangladesh’s politics, where Islamist forces are rapidly gaining ground amid the decline of secular and liberal parties.