DHAKA
\nBangladeshi police said Tuesday that they had arrested the chief of the country\u2019s largest religious party, days after it announced it would join the main opposition in protests to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Counter-terrorism officers arrested Jamaat-e-Islami party emir Shafiqur Rahman in Dhaka, metropolitan police spokesman Faruq Ahmed said, without elaborating on the charges.
\nA spokesman for Jamaat \u2014 the country\u2019s third-largest political party, which has been banned from contesting elections since 2012 \u2014 condemned the 64-year-old\u2019s arrest, saying it was intended to \u201cscuttle the opposition\u2019s anti-government movement\u201d.
\n\u201cThis is just another episode of the unjust oppression continuing against the party for the last 15 years,\u201d Matiur Rahman Akand, Jamaat\u2019s publicity secretary. said.
\nFor years, Jamaat was a major ally of the right-of-centre main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and their coalition ruled the country between 2001-2006.
\nBut after Hasina came to power in 2009, Jamaat\u2019s entire leadership was arrested and tried for war crimes dating back to the country\u2019s 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
\nFive of its top leaders were hanged between 2013 and 2016 after they were found guilty by a war crimes court.
\nThe party called the trials politically motivated and part of a wider vendetta against its leaders.
\nHundreds of party activists were shot dead and tens of thousands detained after they staged violent protests against the executions.
\nThe fresh arrest of Jamaat\u2019s chief came days after two of the BNP\u2019s leaders were arrested on charges of inciting violence on the eve of a giant anti-government rally on Saturday.
\nThe BNP has demanded Hasina step down and let a caretaker government hold a free and fair election.
\nThe opposition says a credible vote under Hasina is impossible after she was accused of rigging the past two general elections in 2014 and 2018.
\nJamaat and several left-leaning and centrist parties have supported the BNP\u2019s demands. They also announced they would hold protests jointly with the BNP.
\nPolice last month also arrested Rahman\u2019s son, Rafat Sadik Saifullah, on extremism charges and remanded him in custody under the country\u2019s harsh anti-terrorism laws.
\nProtests sparked by an ongoing economic crisis — which has seen power cuts and fuel price hikes – have erupted across the country in recent months.
\nThousands of opposition activists have been arrested.
\nWestern governments, along with the United Nations, have expressed concerns over the political climate in Bangladesh, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DHAKA Bangladeshi police said Tuesday that they had arrested the chief of the country\u2019s largest religious party, days after it announced it would join the main opposition in protests to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Counter-terrorism officers arrested Jamaat-e-Islami party emir Shafiqur Rahman in Dhaka, metropolitan police spokesman Faruq Ahmed said, without elaborating on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-301054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n