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OPINION DECEMBER 11, 2020 | The Indian Eye 14

Hefajat-e-islami and the Politics

of islamism in Bangladesh

Court in 2010 declared the Fifth
smruTi s. PaTTanaik Amendment to the Constitution

fter the death of Allama that made sweeping change to
Shah Ahmed Shafi, the the 1973 secular constitution, as
A Amir of Hefajat-e-Islami illegal. There were apprehen-
sions, that, as a result of this de-
(HeI), on September 18, 2020, cision, the government may re-
the new leadership of Juniad store the 1973 Constitution and
Babunagori and other hardline place a ban on religious political
Islamists dominate the Shura
of HeI. Shafi, a firebrand Isla- parties. While the government
mist, had brought the Awami restored secularism and some
League (AL) government to other original articles through
the 15th Amendment, fearing
its knees by demonstrating his backlash from the Islamists, it
organisation’s street power in allowed the continuation of Is-
2013. However, he unhesitat- lam as the state religion.
ingly cooperated with the gov- the fundamentalists occupy a lot of space in country's politics now
ernment after that, till his death. Realising the potential of the
What does Ahmed Shafi’s death gala was one of the first plat- madrassas. Rather, the students group to disrupt, especially at a
time when the Shahbag protests
mean for ulema politics in Ban- forms that brought together the of these madrassas focus on the were going on and war crime tri-
gladesh? Will Juniad Babuna- ulemas in the United Bengal conservative Dars Nizami that als against those who collaborat-
gori, who succeeded Shafi after province, it lost its lustre after deals with Islamic jurisprudence. ed with Pakistani regime against
a major power tussle to take partition. Even though the Ja-
over the Hathazari madarassa, maat-ul-Islam Pakistan (JuIP) Politics of Hei the liberation were being con-
continue with his legacy? dabbled in politics and later While Hefajat claims it is ducted, the government tried to
some ulemas joined with other apolitical, as they do not partic- win the Hefajat over to its side.
ulema politics It arrested bloggers under Sec-
political parties to demand im- ipate in electoral politics, they tion 54 of the Code of Criminal
HeI mostly consisted of plementation of Nizam-e-Mus- are at the forefront of accumu- Procedure of the Information
erstwhile ulema political par- tafa, ulema politics has always lating religious capital and have and Communication Technolo-
ties whose political visibility remained fragmented. emerged as important players
reduced after the AL assumed in Bangladeshi politics. HeI, gy Act of Bangladesh, 2006, for
power. This was especially so in After Bangladesh re-en- which literally means ‘protec- “hurting religious sentiments”.
the context of the weakening of tor of Islam’, was established in The government sought help
from the party-affiliated Ulema
the Bangladesh Nationalist Par- tered into democratic pol- 2010 as a reaction to the Draft League and Anjumaan-e-Bai-
ty (BNP), the main ally of the itics military rule in 1990, National Women’s Develop- yanat, to counter the HeI.
ulema political parties, and the ment Policy Bill, proposed by
Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), the dom- the ulemas became active the military-backed caretaker In 2017, when the govern-
inant religious political party but still could not succeed government in 2008. The wom- ment introduced the same text
committed to Sharia rule. This en’s bill was finally passed by books that are taught in the
regular schools for the madras-
was after the BNP-led alliance electorally. The ioJ, for in- the Awami League government sas, Hefajat asked for removal
lost the 2008 election. The dom- stance, managed to get in 2011, providing equal rights of certain poems and other es-
inant ulema group, the Islami to women in property ‘through
Oikyo Jote (IOJ), left the BNP- two seats in 2001. earnings, inheritance, loan, says from the secondary school

led four-party alliance in 2012. land and market management’. textbook. Appeasing the HeI,
The HeI emerged in 2010 and Organisations formed and Taking into account the protest the government removed 17
made its mark as a united front led by the ulema though have of ulemas and other religious popular poems and stories by
non-Muslim and secular writers.
of the ulemas in Bangladesh. been at the forefront of the Is- political parties, Prime Minis- These included Darwin’s theo-
Ulema politics in the coun- lamisation drive in Bangladesh, ter Sheikh Hasina assured that ry of evolution, as Hefajat con-
try largely remained confined both in the social and political these rights will be subjected to siders such writings to promote
to regulation of madrassas, sphere. They control the coun- Shariah law.
shaping the attitude of the gov- try’s vast Quami madrassas The ulemas also feared that atheism.The government was
ernment towards religion and that do not follow the govern- the Hasina government may en- in fact forced to change many
preservation of Islam. Though ment-approved syllabus taught gage in "anti-Islam[ic] activities", Christian and Hindu-sounding
the Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Ban- in the government-run Aliya especially after the Supreme Continued on next page... >>

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