DHAKA –
Long vilified for opposing independence and barred from electoral politics for over a decade, Bangladesh’s biggest Islamist party is reinventing itself and attracting new support ahead of parliamentary polls next month, unsettling moderates and minority communities.
Jamaat-e-Islami began its overhaul soon after a youth-led uprising in the Muslim-majority nation of 175 million people toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
With Hasina’s Awami League banned, Jamaat is betting on its anti-corruption image, welfare outreach, and what analysts describe as a more inclusive public stance to deliver the party’s best-ever performance.