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| Bangladesh |
| High court rules on Jamaat registration with EC |
| 2009-01-28 |
| The High Court (HC) yesterday issued a rule upon the Election Commission (EC) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami to explain why the registration of Jamaat as a political party with the EC should not be declared illegal. Responding to a writ petition filed by Bangladesh Tarikat Federation's Secretary General Rezaul Haque Chandpuri and 24 others, an HC bench comprising Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice Md Abdul Hye issued the rule. The EC, Jamaat-e-Islami and its ameer and secretary general have been asked to reply to the rule within six weeks. The petitioners stated that Jamaat-e-Islami is a religion-based political party and does not believe in the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh which is against the Constitution of Bangladesh and the spirit of the Representation of People Order (RPO) Ordinance 2008. The constitution of this party contain provisions that do not allow any non-Muslim or any woman to hold the position of ameer in the party which is also against the provisions of the RPO since the RPO clearly states that all political parties will have to involve at least 33 percent women in its main committee by the year 2020, the petitioner said. They also said that as per the rules of the Constitution of Bangladesh, political parties cannot have a party office outside the country but Jamaat-e-Islami was floated in India and also has party offices in foreign countries. Considering some incidents involving the Jamaat workers and supporters at Baitul Mukarram Mosque, it seems that they are engaged in various communal activities, which the constitution of the republic clearly forbids, the petition said. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was granted registration as a political party by the EC on November 4 last year. The petitioners filed the writ petition with the HC on January 25 this year challenging the legality of EC's action. |
| Posted by:Fred |