DHAKA, Bangladesh — The opposition Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party reopened its Dhaka office on Tuesday, over a decade after it was shut down, following the resignation and flight of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, 76, known for her stringent governance, faced accusations of politically motivated legal cases against her rivals. The Jamaat-e-Islami party, part of the student protest movement leading to Hasina’s downfall, reopened its head office in Mogbazar, which had been forcibly closed in 2011 despite a court order.
Jamaat spokesperson Ataur Rahman Sarkar confirmed the reopening. Shafiqur Rahman, the head of Jamaat-e-Islami, and the party’s student wing, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, also resumed operations from their headquarters.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin held discussions with all political parties and announced the release of political detainees arrested since July. Hundreds were granted bail, including Khaleda Zia, the main opposition leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption in 2018.
Jamaat, banned from politics in August for alleged violence during student protests, has been a key BNP ally since the 2001 national election. Six top Jamaat leaders were executed for crimes during the 1971 liberation war under Hasina’s tenure.
Army chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman announced the formation of a transitional government and an investigation into deaths from the recent protests. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been suggested as a potential head for the new government.
The weeks-long protests resulted in around 400 deaths, with additional violence following Hasina’s departure.–News Desk