It will be a “New Bangladesh” if the Jamaat-e-Islami party gets elected, as people from all faiths and religions will be considered “Bangladeshi” and women empowerment will be given priority, Mia Golam Parwar, Secretary General, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI), told StratNewsGlobal during an interview in their central office in Moghbazar, Dhaka.
“It is wrong to compare us with the Taliban when it comes to women-centric policies. Our policies are entirely different from them,” he said. “What the Taliban is doing on women’s education is not Islam. Islam does not restrict education for women or their empowerment,” Parwar, the senior-most leader of the BJI after supremo Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, said in his first interview to an Indian media outlet.
“We follow that Islamic ideology under which there is no restriction on women’s education, or on women’s empowerment, or how they live their lives.
“Islam only talks about the limits that a society needs to follow – be it for a man or a woman. Islam very clearly states that any decent society has to be based on moral values. Having a progressive society does not mean giving up your morals and becoming immoral. We cannot encourage immorality, obscenity because that is not the definition of a progressive society,” he added.
“On dress code too, for both men and women, again there is a limit, there is certain decorum that one has to follow. We already follow it in Bangladesh. Both men and women of our country know how to cover their bodies,” he added.
He said if elected, women will get free education till the post graduation level and free medical services will be provided for pregnant women.
“Jamaat-e-Islami has many women cadres working at various levels of the party. Bangladesh has several working women, they have no restrictions. We are proud of them. But it is the western countries that are spreading Islamophobia by talking about Islamic ideology in an incorrect way. And I firmly believe that safety of women is the responsibility of the state,” he said.
The Jamaat-e-Islami party is currently led by its Ameer (chief), Shafiqur Rahman, who has been in the role since 2019. The party faced massive backlash from its main contender the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and women’s rights activists following a controversial (now deleted) social media post by Rahman that allegedly compared working women to “prostitutes”.
The party is historically controversial due to its opposition to Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
The BJI has witnessed a significant comeback in the current political landscape of Bangladesh after the party’s registration was restored by the Supreme Court in June 2025. It is now competing against the BNP.
“We want a new Bangladesh, which will be a corruption free state, having a corruption free economy. There will be social justice, with a non-politicised administration, where there will be moral-based education for all and there will be a congenial atmosphere for business and trade. This is the basic vision of Jamaat-e-Islami,” he said.
The party is campaigning under the ‘Daripalla’ (Balance Scale) symbol, which was restored for their use by the Election Commission, recently.
Parwar said a “New Bangladesh” is needed to address the “hopes and aspirations of the Bangladeshi youth.”
If the BJI comes to power, it will lay down rules under which no government official will be able to purchase a house or car for their personal needs, on concession rates by virtue of being an MP.
“Government officials will not be allowed to own personal houses and cars on subsidised rates just because the person is an MP. Even purchase of lands at subsidised rates will not be allowed. We will not allow our MPs to enjoy personal benefits just because they are an MP,” he said.
Parwar added, “We will also strengthen the accountability and transparency of our MPs. This has always been the ethos of our party. This will be our first step towards ensuring a corruption-free country. Those who are going to be leaders of this country have to be free of corruption themselves and only then can they create a corruption-free state.”
“We will ensure jobs for the youth. Today we have jobless growth in Bangladesh. We have to see that the youth does not leave this country but stay here in Bangladesh and contribute towards the growth of the country… We will also create a congenial atmosphere for business and investment,” he said.
Allaying fears that under a Jamaat-led government, minorities, especially the Hindu community there will come under attack, Parwar said, “Everyone will be considered a Bangladeshi.
“We do not believe in majority or minority. We are all Bangladeshis. No one is a majority here and no one is a minority in this country. This is what we will follow and every citizen, irrespective of their religion will have constitutional rights.”
The party has many Hindu cadres working for them for many years. In the upcoming polls, the party has fielded Krishna Nandi, a Hindu businessman from Khulna region of Bangladesh.
Taking a jibe at the Awami League party, Parwar said Hindus were treated as minorities by those who wanted to garner their votes but “never stood beside them in times of need.”
“Hindus are being called a minority by those parties who did it for their own political gains by making them their vote banks. But after getting their votes, these parties never stood beside them or safeguarded their rights… I have myself got temples and crematoriums constructed and we have also helped several poor Hindu families,” he added.
On the 11-party alliance, Powar said it is an election alliance. He said these parties were together with Jamaat-e-Islami during the July-August 2024 Revolution.
“If we are elected, if we get the majority then of course we will form a government with all these parties together,” he said.
The most prominent party in this alliance is the one led by Nahid Islam of National Citizen Party (NCP), who was the main student leader of the July-August 2024 Revolution that led to the fall of the Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina.
During a recent election campaign by Rahman, the Ameer announced that if the alliance wins, then Nahid Islam will get a prominent ministerial berth.
The BJI will be keen to work with India if they come to power but New Delhi should put an end to its “big brotherly attitude” and work on the basis of “fairness and equality.”
“India is not just our closest neighbour but also our biggest neighbour. To govern a country we can change its governance structure or policies but you cannot change your neighbour. Geographically India is our great neighbour. Therefore, our foreign policy will be to have friendly ties with all countries. Friendship with all and animosity towards none will be the basis of our foreign policy.”
“We consider Indians as our friends. But the Indian government discriminates against us,” he said, adding that if they come to power, they will take up issues such as border India recently said it has reached out to the Jamaat-e-Islami party in order to have a working relationship with them.…Read more by Nayanima Basu