Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam's student front, Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), has secured a significant victory in the central students union elections at Jahangirnagar University (JU), following a similar win at Dhaka University. This outcome has surprised many, as these universities were not traditionally strongholds for the Islamist group.
A key leader of Bangladesh's National Citizen Party (NCP), Mahfuz Alam, has distanced himself from the party's alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, citing ideological differences and concerns over Jamaat's controversial history.
Deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a strong warning against threats to ban her Awami League party, calling the demands "audacious" and accusing Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus of being a "fraud" and "corrupt" for his role in the current interim government. Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 following a student-led uprising, claims Yunus assumed power through a "meticulous design" with funding from overseas and misled students and people. She asserts that her Awami League is the legitimate party, with a strong history of fighting for the people's rights, and accuses Yunus and his supporters of having no constitutional basis or people's mandate to rule the country.
Fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami activists on Saturday held violent demonstrations, exploding several homemade bombs, to protest a Bangladeshi court ruling that barred it from contesting future polls.
The clashes broke out this morning when protesters attending a non-cooperation programme to demand the government's resignation faced opposition from the supporters of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League activists.
Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen's wanted leader Nurul Islam alias Marjan and another unidentified extremist were killed by Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit in Mohammadpur Beribadh area of the capital.
A Hindu youth, who allegedly posted the 'blasphemous' content on his Facebook account sparking the outrage, is among those arrested.
'Religion and extremism is going to be a big force, a very important force, in Bangladesh's politics.'
