Election fever is gripping Bangladesh ahead of the February 12 polls, but it’s marred by intensifying rivalries. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has gone on the offensive against Jamaat-e-Islami, charging it with fascist-style misinformation and voter coercion.
At a packed Dhaka presser, Mahdi Amin, BNP’s election spokesperson and senior advisor, tore into Jamaat’s narrative. Their portrayal of BNP as the ultimate corrupt entity? ‘A politically motivated sham,’ he retorted, light-years from truth.
Amin recalled Jamaat’s silence during BNP’s 2001-2006 government, when they wielded cabinet and legislative influence without protesting sleaze. ‘Election season brings out their fascist propaganda—rank hypocrisy,’ he stated, cited in The Dhaka Tribune.
Worse, Amin claimed, Jamaat is preying on piety: luring voters with paradise pledges, holy book vows, and monetary bribes. ‘Accused bribe-mongers have no business sermonizing on integrity,’ he jabbed.
BNP views this as a direct assault on electoral fairness and democratic norms, calling on the Election Commission for stringent intervention against disinformation and extremist politicking.
Undeterred, BNP will counter Jamaat’s ploys head-on, politically and legally. In Thakurgaon, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addressed a massive crowd at BD High School Ground, subtly targeting Jamaat’s 1971 baggage. Contesting Thakurgaon-1, he said via The Daily Star: ‘Those who collaborated with Pakistan’s army to the bitter end now seek power. Voting for them spells ruin.’
Fakhrul rallied around national pride: ‘1971 defines us—we broke free from oppression. Protect that independence; don’t betray it at the ballot box.’ As polls near, this BNP-Jamaat showdown underscores volatile undercurrents in Bangladesh’s democracy.