With next month's Bangladesh general election approaching, the United States appears to be exploring the possibility of future cooperation with Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat), the country's largest Islamist party.
On the 22nd, The Washington Post (WP) reported that a diplomat with the U.S. Embassy in Bangladesh met with reporters in the capital, Dhaka, in December and outlined this plan. According to a transcript obtained by the newspaper, the diplomat said, "Bangladesh is tilting in an Islamist direction," and noted that "Jamaat is expected to post a record performance in this election."
The Jamaat party traces its roots to a hardline Islamist group founded in 1941 by thinker Syed Abul Ala Maududi, when the Indian subcontinent was under British colonial rule. Related organizations are active in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan, and they call for governance based on the Islamic law Sharia and for making the veil mandatory for women.
Previously, the Jamaat party remained on the fringes of Bangladeshi politics. During Bangladesh's 1971 independence process, the party formed a paramilitary group that supported the ruling country, Pakistan, and killed thousands of civilians, which led to a ban on its activities for about seven years immediately after independence.
When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began her second term in 2009, the party's room to maneuver narrowed further. Immediately after taking office, the prime minister established a war crimes tribunal and imposed heavy penalties on key figures who had opposed independence in the past, including the Jamaat party, which stifled its activities. At the time, the party's top leader, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, was sentenced to death, and Jamaat's party registration was canceled on the grounds that its charter was unconstitutional.
But with the collapse of the Hasina administration in 2024 and the launch of the Mohammad Yunus interim government, the party found an opening to operate. In the general election on the 12th next month, the Jamaat party is set to run for the first time in 17 years. Party chief Shafiqur Rahman has expressed willingness to form a coalition government with the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and has moved to broaden its appeal by downplaying religion-related agendas.
As voters weary of the long rule of the former ruling Awami League (AL) are expected to look for an alternative, the Jamaat party is projected to win a record number of seats. According to Al Jazeera, the party has as many as 20 million supporters, about 250,000 of whom are full members.
Political experts also see a strong possibility that the Jamaat party will enter the mainstream in this election. Mubashar Hasan, a political science professor at Western Sydney University with deep knowledge of the Bangladesh situation, said, "Jamaat is no longer a fringe force," adding, "During the campaign period, the party appears to have built substantial momentum."
In response, the United States is expanding its contacts with the Jamaat party. Last year, party leaders held several meetings in Washington with U.S. government officials, and more recently they held a virtual meeting with a senior official at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
However, there are concerns that these contacts could further worsen already strained relations between the United States and India. The Indian government has regarded Jamaat as a security threat linked to Pakistan and has supported the former AL administration, including by accepting Prime Minister Hasina's asylum.
Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said, "With relations with India already frozen, the U.S. government appears to be seeking channels to 'manageable' Islamist political forces," but warned that "a close alignment with the Jamaat party could make already deteriorated bilateral relations even more difficult."