A police officer is beaten by a mob during a clash between anti-quota supporters, police and Awami League supporters at the Rampura area in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Image: AFP)
Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir were reported to have clashed with police and instigated violence leading to deaths and injuries to protesters and police.
Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islaami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir will be banned this week, minister of the Sheikh Hasina-led government said on Tuesday.
The road transport minister Obaidul Quader and law minister Anisul Haque addressed journalists on Tuesday and said that the Bangladesh government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina “…unanimously decided to ban Jamaat and Shibir, taking into consideration their past and present activities”.
Anisul Haque citing the student protesters said that the student leaders who were protesting against the job quota rules said they had no role in the violence.
“Those who participated in the quota movement said that they have no involvement with this violence. The government has information that the militants of Jamaat, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Islami Chhatra Shibir and Chhatra Dal have done this (violence). If the party (Jamaat) is banned, the law and order and politics of the country will also improve a lot,” Haque was quoted as saying by Prothom Alo.
The decision to ban Jamaat-e-Islami and its student-wing Chhatra Shibir was taken in Ganabhaban – Sheikh Hasina’s residence. The newspaper citing people present in the meeting said that Hasina told attendees of the meeting that Jamaat and its youth wing sabotaged the protests and carried out arson attacks on police officials, citing reports from Bangladesh intelligence agencies.
“Jamaat-Shibir trained people from different districts of the country, then they were gathered in Dhaka. They are the ones who committed these crimes,” Hasina said.
