BNP not to sever ties with Jamaat

BNP leaders have said their ties with Jamaat-e-Islami will not be hampered and it is strictly a political tie, not an ideological one.

The leaders on Saturday said as long as there are similarities regarding various political issues, the alliance will continue.

The BNP leaders made the comments a day after a top Jamaat leader, Barrister Abdur Razzaq, resigned from the party citing its failure to apologize to the people of Bangladesh for its anti-independence role during the Liberation War of 1971.

Razzaq, who held the position of assistant secretary general of Jamaat and defended a number of top Jamaat leaders in court as chief defence council, also cited Jamaat’s failure to adopt successful models of reform that have been implemented in other Muslim majority countries.

However, sources within BNP said entering into an alliance with Jamaat, a party that sided with Pakistan during the Liberation War in 1971, was already a political liability for them.

But, despite pressures from different quarters, they failed to cut ties with Jamaat because of Jamaat’s formidable vote bank, they said.

Jamaat, which is no more a legal political party registered under the Election 

Commission, is a core component of the BNP-led 20 Party Alliance.

BNP leaders also said political ideology or any decision or opinion need not match that of Jamaat to keep them in the alliance.

When asked on whether they think Barrister Razzaq's resignation and the reasons he cited were correct, some BNP leaders said that in politics, relationships with someone or any party are never permanent. However they refused to comment on Barrister Razzaq’s resignation.

BNP Standing Committee Member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said: “BNP is not run under the ideology of Jamaat.”

“They will take their decisions, but the alliance with Jamaat has been formed based on the issues which we have agreed with them. So, as long as the same issue can be carried out, this alliance will continue,” he added.

BNP Standing Committee Member, Nazrul Islam Khan, who is also the coordinator of the 20 Party Alliance, while speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, said the tie is completely political, not ideological. “They are just a partner in our alliance, so there should not be any problems with it,” he said.

“However if required, the central command of the party can always take any decision on whether to continue the coalition with Jamaat or not,” Nazrul added.