Mahdi Amin Wants Jamaat, Shibir to Renounce Violent Politics

Bangla Press Desk: Prime Minister’s Adviser Mahdi Amin on Tuesday urged the biggest opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and their student organisation, Chhatra Shibir, will abandon their “covert and violent” political activities in favour of open, positive, and constructive political engagement.

Mahdi Amin made the remarks in the wake of a violent clash between Chhatra Dal, the ruling BNP’s student wing, and Shibir at Chattogram Government City College earlier in the day.In a Facebook post, he highlighted the contributions of Chhatra Dal in anti-fascist movement over the past 16 years, saying these overshadow the sacrifices made by all other groups combined.

The full Facebook statement is as follows:

“The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been the political party most subjected to attacks, cases, enforced disappearances, killings, and human rights violations during the 16 years of fascist rule. Ignoring the so-called ‘helmet’ and ‘hammer’ groups, the student organization that repeatedly stood up against the Chhatra League by virtue of its own name and identity is the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal.

“Because of students’ involvement with this organization, many could not stay in dormitories, many were unable to sit for exams, and others were barred from entering classrooms. Yet, despite enduring limitless repression and persecution, they continued their political activities with pride under the banner of Chhatra Dal. Whether covertly or openly, no political party or organization has disclosed the true number of their martyrs in the mass uprising or during the 16 years of fascist rule. This is because the history of sacrifice, struggle, blood, and tears associated with Chhatra Dal surpasses, even collectively, that of other political parties and their affiliated bodies.

Thus, it has been observed that during the July Uprising, the highest number of martyrs from a single organization—142—were affiliated with Chhatra Dal. On the very first day of the uprising, 16 July 2024, Wasim Akram of Chhatra Dal was martyred as was Abu Sayeed. In that same Chattogram, Chhatra Shibir today engineered a bloody conflict over the writing of “covert”.

“In a Bangladesh free from fascism, with a democratic BNP government in charge of running the state, freedom of speech, human rights, and the rule of law have been established—something reflected in the government’s track record over the past two months. At least during this period, all student organizations, including Chhatra Shibir, should be able to engage in politics openly under their own names and identities. In the past, they expanded covertly within the Chhatra League, and even to this day, many of them may still be active under different identities—which runs counter to healthy and transparent political practice.

“The public expects that, abandoning the politics of violence and conflict, opposition parties and their student wings will move away from covert practices and advance toward open, positive, and constructive political engagement.”