Khelafat Majlish
 |
Khelafat Majlish খেলাফত মজলিস | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Md. Ishaq(since 2012) |
| Secretary-General | Ahmad Abdul Qadir |
| Inaugural Amir | Abdul Gaffar(1989) |
| Second Amir | Azizul Haque(1989–2012) |
| Founder | Azizul Haque |
| Founded | December 8, 1989 |
| Headquarters | 16 Bijoy Nagar Road,Dhaka |
| Ideology | Islamism |
| Chairmen inUnion Councils | 1 / 4,554 |
| Election symbol | |
| Wall clock | |
TheKhelafat Majlish,also speltKhelafat Majlis(Bengali:খেলাফত মজলিস,romanized:Caliphate Council), is afar-rightIslamistpolitical party inBangladesh.The party was founded inDhaka,the capital of Bangladesh, in 1989 byDeobandischolarAzizul Haquealong withAhmad Abdul Qadirand former leaders of theNational Awami PartyandTamaddun Majlish.Since its founding, it has only ever gained one seat in the country'sNational Parliament.[1]The party split into two in 2005, with Azizul Haque's faction taking the nameBangladesh Khelafat Majlish.
History[edit]
The party was publicly established on 8 December 1989, during a national conference was held at theIEB AuditoriuminDhaka.It was founded byAzizul Haque,who had left theKhilafat Andolanafter the death of its founder,Muhammadullah Hafezzi.The party was founded as a union betweenIslami Jubo ShibirleaderAhmad Abdul Qadir,a splinter group ofAbdul Hamid Khan Bhashani'sNational Awami PartyandTamaddun MajlishfounderProfessor Masud Khan.Abdul Gaffarwas selected as the party's inauguralamirwith Masud Khan serving as general secretary and Ahmad Abdul Qadir as vice-secretary. Azizul Haque headed the party's Central Guardian Council, and shortly replaced Abdul Gaffar asamir,withA. R. M. Abdul MatinandAbdur Rab Yusufibecoming the next secretary-generals. Among the party's early activities were participating in the1990 Mass Uprising in Bangladeshagainst PresidentHussain Muhammad Ershad.[2]
On 22 December 1990, Azizul Haque founded theIslami Oikya Jote;a political alliance of six Islamic parties consisting of his Khelafat Majlish, theIslami Shashontantra Andolanparty led bySyed Fazlul Karim,theNizam-e-Islam Party,theJamiat Ulema-e-Islamled byAbdul Karim Shaykh-e-Kouria,theKhilafat Andolanled byAhmadullah Ashrafand theFaraizi Jamaat.[2]The alliance participated in the1991 Bangladeshi general election,gaining one constituency (Sylhet-5) underObaidul Haqueof the Khelafat Majlish.[1]
As a result of the 1992Demolition of the Babri MasjidinAyodhya,India,the Majlis organised a march fromDhakato Ayodhya on 2 January 1993 and demanded its restoration. The protestors, led by Azizul Haque, reached the border nearKhulna,where theGovernment of Bangladeshblocked off the boundaries and suppressed the march. In the same year, Azizul Haque declared on behalf of the Majlis that India's prime ministerNarasimha Raoshould not visit India and gave orders to besiege thenational airport.Haque was coincidentally arrested for this reason on 9 April 1993, though he was later released on 8 May.[2]
In 2005, the party split into two as Azizul Haque did not agree with joining theBNP-ledFour Party Alliance.On 22 May 2005, the CentralMajlis-ash-Shurasession was held at the Hotel Ruposhi Bangla inPaltan,where theNaib-e-AmirMd. Ishaqwas elected as the party'samir,andAhmad Abdul Qadiras the general-secretary. Azizul Haque's party was registered asBangladesh Khelafat Majlish,and took on therickshawas its symbol.
In conjunction with other Islamist parties Khilafat Majlis held street protests in the capitalDhakacondemningIsraelfor its role in the2006 Lebanon War.[3]In February 2010, police inKhulnabaton-chargedKhilafat Majlis activists who were holding street protests, and arrested five. Khilafat Majlis activists were reportedly protesting the arrest of a central party leaderMaulana Shakhawat,who had been arrested by the government.[4]In 2021, the Majlis officially quit theBNP Alliance.
Aim[edit]
The Khelafat Majlis seeks the establishment of anIslamic state,[5]modelled on theCaliphate,a multi-national religioussupranationalstate.[citation needed]The party seeks the full enforcement of the Sha'riah.
Pact with Awami League[edit]
On January 22, 2006Sheikh Hasina Wajed,the president of the reputedlysecularBangladesh Awami Leagueand the currentPrime Minister of Bangladesh,signed a controversialmemorandum of understandingwith Khelafat Majlish to form a political alliance for the then scheduled 2006 general election.[5][6][7]The terms of the pact were reportedly to be designed to give the Awami League, one of the two main political parties in Bangladesh, a share in the vote bank of religious Muslim voters, who formed an important bloc of voters in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.[5]In turn, an Awami League-led government would enact the Majlish agenda of declaring theAhmadiyyacommunity as non-Muslim, passing ablasphemy law(outlawing expressions of criticism of Islam) and makefatwas(decrees from Muslim clerics) legally binding.[5]However, Sheikh Hasina later claimed that the Khelafat had approached her about forming an alliance, and had promised to support a secular policy.[6][7]
The pact was severely criticized within Bangladesh and by various leaders of the Awami League, includingpresidiummemberAmir Hossain Amu,who criticized Sheikh Hasina for signing the pact without discussing it with other party leaders.[6][7]By 2007, the pact had been scrapped after Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh from the exile imposed by theinterim government(2006–2008).[6][7]Defending her actions, Sheikh Hasina said that the pact was signed for a "certain period" to resist the "communal-fundamentalist forces" led by the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.[6][7]Hasina claimed she was authorised by party leaders to make any decisions to ensure election victory for the Awami League.[6][7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ab"BANGLADESH: parliamentary elections Jatiya Sangsad, 1991".Inter-Parliamentary Union.Retrieved2 January2019.
- ^abc"খেলাফত মজলিস".Onushilon(in Bengali).
- ^"Protests in city against Israeli attacks".New Age.Dhaka. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-10-25.Retrieved2010-08-27.
- ^"Police batoncharge Khelafat Majlish protesters in Khulna, 5 held".The New Nation. 2010-02-20. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-02-25.Retrieved2010-08-27.
- ^abcdNicholas Schmidle (2010).To Live Or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan.Macmillan. pp. 100–117.ISBN978-0-8050-9149-6.
- ^abcdefRuhin, Ofiul Hasnat (2007-06-24)."Hasina, Amu trade blames".New Age.Dhaka. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-04-10.Retrieved2010-08-27.
- ^abcdef"Hasina warns of plot against AL".New Age.Dhaka. 2007-06-24. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-04-10.Retrieved2010-08-27.
