US wooing Bangladesh’s Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of elections: Report

In a marked turn from its established stance against fundamentalism, the United States is reported to have been wooing the Jamaat-e-Islami party in Bangladesh ahead of the elections in the South Asian country that has been witnessing a churn since the student-led protests overthrew the Sheikh Hasina government last year. US diplomats in Dhaka are sending signals of their willingness to engage with the once-banned party, reports The Washington Post, citing audio recordings it obtained.

The Jamaat-e-Islami party, outlawed under successive governments in Dhaka, advocates Shariah-based governance. Jamaat-e-Islami had opposed the 1971 liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan and was barred from national politics for over a decade.

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Jamaat projecting itself as an anti-corruption force to broaden appeal

If elected to power, Jamaat, which is known for its pro-Pakistan tilt, has promised to reduce work hours for women and is projecting itself as an anti-corruption force to appeal to a broader electorate.

As per the report, in a closed-door discussion with female Bangladeshi journalists on December 1, a US diplomat in Dhaka described the country as “shifted Islamic” and predicted that Jamaat would “do better than it’s ever done before” in the February 12 elections. The report cites the audio recording of the discussion.

“We want them to be our friends,” the official said while asking the journalists whether they could bring members of the party’s “influential student wing”—Islami Chhatra Shibir—to their programmes.

Jamaat’s student wing won major student union elections in Dhaka and other universities last year.

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‘We would have 100 per cent tariffs put on them the next day,’ says US diplomat

The diplomat, whom The Post said it is not naming for security reasons, downplayed fears that Jamaat-e-Islami would force its interpretation of Islamic law on Bangladesh and said Washington had leverage it was prepared to use.

“We would have 100 per cent tariffs put on them the next day,” the diplomat said.

Monica Shie, spokesperson for the US Embassy in Dhaka, said that the December gathering was “a routine, off-the-record discussion between US Embassy officials and local journalists,” adding that “numerous political parties were discussed” and that “the United States does not favour one political party over another and plans to work with whichever government is elected by the Bangladeshi people.”

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Mohammad Rahman, Jamaat’s US spokesperson, said, “We choose not to comment on the context of remarks reportedly made during a private diplomatic meeting.”

The comments provide an insight into US diplomatic strategy in Bangladesh as the country undergoes a political transition.

US outreach to Jamaat could further strain ties with India

Analysts warn that the US outreach to Jamaat could potentially drive another wedge between the US and India, which has long viewed the party as a regional security threat due to its historic ties with Pakistan.

Dhaka’s relations with India are already strained following Hasina’s exile in India and a Bangladesh court pronouncing a death sentence in absentia. Recent communal violence against Hindus also added to tensions.

Jamaat’s main rival is the BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, who returned to Dhaka from self-imposed exile in London in late December.

Tarique does not plan to integrate the Jamaat into a potential coalition government, though Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman has indicated openness to working with the BNP, recalling the party’s junior role in a BNP-led government between 2001 and 2006.

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Jamaaat dismisses report as a ‘journalist’s observation’

Since Hasina’s removal, Jamaat has met with US officials in both Washington and Dhaka, including a virtual meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

The State Department described these interactions as “routine diplomatic work”, declining further comment.

Jamaat’s publicity chief, Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair, dismissed the report as merely a journalist’s “observation”.

“These are just the observations of a newspaper and one of its reporters. The country’s situation cannot truly be captured in a single report,” he said.