A resolution has been introduced at the US House of Representatives seeking to curb the activities of Jamaat-e-Islam, the party that committed war crimes during Bangladesh’s liberation war.
US Congressman Jim Banks introduced the resolution on February 28.
Titled ‘Expressing concern about the threat posed to democracy and human rights by theocratic groups operating in South Asia’ the resolution also asked Pakistan to act on the party.
It stated, “The United States should more actively engage with the Government of Bangladesh regarding shared interests in safeguarding human rights, religious freedom, and secular democracy in Bangladesh, while preventing the growth of religious extremism and militancy."
The resolution “calls on the Governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan to deny, disrupt, and dismantle the ability of Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliates to continue posing an immediate and ongoing threat to religious freedom and regional stability”.
It also “calls on the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and other relevant agencies, to halt all partnerships and funding arrangements with groups affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami and its domestic affiliates, including the Islamic Circle of North America, ICNA Relief, Helping Hand for Relief and Development, and the Muslim Ummah of North America”.
In late October of last year, five years after the High Court ruled that Jamaat should be repealed as a political party, the Election Commission executed it in a gazette.
Amid calls for banning the party now, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had in early February this year said it all depends on the court with which a case relating to it is still pending.