Bangladesh student leaders 'divided over election alliance with Jamaat'

New Delhi: The proposed electoral alliance between Bangladesh's student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) and the radical group Jamaat-e-Islami has revealed the divisions among student leaders regarding Jamaat's ideology, people aware of the matter told ET.

Thirty leaders of NCP have submitted a letter of protest to party convener Nahid Islam, objecting to the reported move to join the Jamaat-e-Islami-led eight-party alliance, the people cited earlier said.

The letter, sent on Saturday, highlighted Jamaat-e-Islami's political history, particularly its anti-independence role during the 1971 Liberation War, its alleged hand in genocide and its stance on war-time crimes, describing these as fundamentally incompatible with the democratic spirit of Bangladesh and the core values of NCP.


The letter, titled 'Principled objections to a potential alliance in light of the accountability of the July Uprising and party values', was sent amid reports that seat-sharing talks between NCP and Jamaat-led alliance are nearing completion.

Some of the top leaders of NCP were earlier in the Jamaat's student wing, Chattra Shibir, and have tried to forge a closer alliance with the group and indulged in anti-India rhetoric. Some student leaders who sought alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami have also shown inclination for promoting radical views, claimed persons tracking developments in Bangladesh.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, a traditional ally of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, sought electoral partnership with NCP instead of BNP, which had tried to take a centrist position over the last few months.

In August last year, students, backed by pro-Pakistan Jamaat and BNP, had brought down the Sheikh Hasina-led government through street protests.