Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has reinstated the registration of the Islamic opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami, overturning a decade-old High Court verdict and clearing the way for the group to contest upcoming parliamentary elections.
The four-member Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, ordered the Election Commission to restore Jamaat’s registration and resolve pending administrative issues.
Jamaat’s registration had been revoked in 2013 after a legal campaign arguing that its charter violated Bangladesh’s secular constitution. The ban came during the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose government also issued an executive order formally banning the party in 2023.
That executive order was later reversed in August 2024 by the transitional government of Muhammad Yunus, who assumed office following Hasina’s ousting in a popular uprising. Hasina subsequently fled to India.
Jamaat’s lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir told reporters outside the court: “With the verdict, a multiparty democracy and inclusive election has been acknowledged.” He described the previous ban as politically motivated.
The verdict marks a turning point in the political rehabilitation of Jamaat-e-Islami, whose history in Bangladesh has been tumultuous.
The party was first banned after the country’s independence in 1971, as several of its senior leaders fled to West Pakistan. Jamaat’s leader at the time, Ghulam Azam, was stripped of his Bangladeshi citizenship and lived in exile for years, raising funds abroad and claiming that Muslims in Bangladesh were being persecuted.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
Following the assassination of the then-president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, Jamaat was gradually allowed to re-enter political life under President Ziaur Rahman. Azam was eventually permitted to return and resume political activities. However, protests against Jamaat’s wartime record intensified in the 1990s, led by author and activist Jahanara Imam, whose son was killed during the 1971 war.
In the 2008 parliamentary elections, Jamaat won fewer than five seats out of 300. The following year, the High Court began proceedings against the party’s registration, and in August 2013, the court ruled Jamaat unfit for national elections, citing its charter’s prioritisation of divine sovereignty over democratic process.
During this period, several of Jamaat’s senior leaders were tried and executed for alleged war crimes, including Motiur Rahman Nizami, who was hanged in 2016 after being convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal. The party’s political partner, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), suffered losses as a result of Jamaat’s marginalisation.
In February 2013, following the sentencing of Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, protests erupted across the country. Clashes with law enforcement left dozens dead and led to attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and businesses.
Amid rising student protests in 2023 and 2024, Sheikh Hasina’s administration reimposed a full ban on Jamaat and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, on August 1, 2024. The ban was officially lifted less than a month later on August 28.
With Sunday’s ruling, Jamaat is now eligible to participate in the upcoming 13th parliamentary elections, expected to be held later this year. The decision could reshape the country’s political landscape and revive longstanding debates about war crimes, accountability, and religious parties in Bangladeshi democracy.
