In response to this month’s deadly nationwide unrest, Bangladesh’s largest religious party, Jamaat-i-Islaami, and its student wing, Shibir, will be banned.
Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader announced the decision on Tuesday.
Representatives of Bangladesh’s governing coalition “unanimously decided to ban Jamaat and Shibir, considering their past and present activities,” stated Quader, who also serves as the general secretary of the ruling Awami League.
Though Jamaat is already barred from contesting elections, the new order will outlaw the party entirely and prevent it from holding public gatherings.
Party leader Shafiqur Rahman criticized the order as “illegal, beyond jurisdiction, and anti-constitution.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the “use of excessive” force against protesters in Bangladesh after days of violence left at least 206 people dead, according to police and hospital data.
The violence began after student rallies against civil service job quotas.
The death toll includes several police officers. Critics argue that the quota system is used to stack public jobs with loyalists of the ruling Awami League party.
Borrell expressed concern over the deaths of officers and the “torture, mass arrests, and damage to property.” He called for an investigation and accountability for the excessive and lethal force used by law enforcement against protesters.
More than 10,000 people have been arrested following the unrest, leading to criticism from rights groups. Amnesty International’s Smriti Singh described the mass arrests as a “witch hunt” to silence government critics.
Troops continue to patrol urban areas, and a nationwide curfew remains in force, although it has been
progressively eased.
Protests began this month over the reintroduction of a quota scheme reserving more than half of all government jobs for certain groups. With around 18 million young Bangladeshis unemployed, the move deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis.
Critics claim the quota system fills public jobs with Awami League loyalists.
The Supreme Court reduced the number of reserved jobs after the unrest but did not fully meet protesters’ demands to scrap the most contentious aspects of the system.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January, in a vote without genuine opposition.