Bangladesh: Use of religion by some Islamist parties and organisations in electioneering for city level elections

The Daily Star, June 12, 2013

City Corporation Elections 2013
Religion card used against AL favourites
Jamaat, Hefajat flout code of conduct for BNP-backed candidates
Wasim Bin Habib

Use of religion by some Islamist parties and organisations in electioneering for BNP- backed mayoral candidates in the June 15 polls to four city corporations has taken a turn for the worse.
They have been carrying out the smear campaign to portray the Awami League-led government as “anti- Islamic” and to urge the voters not to vote for AL-backed mayoral aspirants to “save Islam”.
As the electoral campaign began towards the end of last month, local leaders and workers of Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefajat-e Islam and some other Islamist parties started openly using people’s religious sentiment to gain political mileage in favour of candidates backed by the BNP-led 18-party alliance in the elections in Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet city corporations, according to locals.
Following complaints, the returning officers issued warnings not to hurt people’s religious sentiments in electioneering. Then these campaigners changed their strategy and continued the same practice at voter-to-voter level.
And this puts the mayoral candidates backed by the Awami League-led 14-party alliance in an embarrassing situation at times in the battle of ballots that seems to have become a prestige issue for both the alliances.
The situation is such that AL-backed mayoral aspirant in Sylhet Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran had to promise taking measures for development of Qawmi madrasas while announcing his 20-point election manifesto yesterday.
To face the Islamists’ campaign, AL-backed mayoral candidate in Barisal Shawkat Hossain Hiron resorted to a different tactic. He made local Hefajat man Nurur Rahman Beg a proposer for his candidacy.
Senior AL leader Amir Hossain Amu, who visited Rajshahi on Monday, alleged that opposition leaders are using religion as a tool against AL-backed mayoral candidate AHM Khairuzzaman Liton.
Abdul Latif Nejami, chief of Islami Oikya Jote and a Hefajatn adviser, however, said there is nothing wrong in informing people of the cities concerned about the government’s “anti-Islamic” activities.
There are now two camps–nationalist Islamic force and secular force– in the country. For the June 15 polls, “Islamic parties” are working for candidates sympathetic to Islamic values, Nejami told The Daily Star yesterday.
Contacted, Election Commissioner Shah Nawaz said yesterday said they are taking action immediately after getting any complaint in this regard. “We have also directed the returning officers to enforce strictly the electoral code of conduct to avert any such incident of hurting other’s religious sentiments in electioneering.”
But the EC’s action does not appear effective in stopping voter-to-voter campaign using religion.
In Khulna, leaders of the BNP and Jamaat last week distributed leaflets among voters which contained allegation against the government of killing ulema (Islamic scholars) and many Hefajat leaders and activists on May 5 in the capital.
While campaigning at madrasas and slums in the city, they showed through mobile phones photos of police charging batons and throwing teargas shells on Hefajat men on that day.
AL- backed candidate Talukder Abdul Khaleque complained to the returning officer about such campaigns. As the RO issued warning, BNP-Jamaat men stopped distribution of the leaflets but continued the campaign secretly.
The situation is similar in Rajshahi city. Hefajat activists are secretly working for BNP-backed mayor aspirant Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul. But Bulbul kept denying this.
Hefajat also hung posters in different areas of Rajshahi, terming the May 5 police action at the Hefajat rally “mass killing”.
Campaigning for Bulbul on May 29, Hefajat leader Abdus Samad cursed the AL- backed mayor candidate and sought his doom.
Bulbul, however, told The Daily Star it is not right that Hefajat is supporting him. Hefajat men are acting as per their own strategy.
[Our correspondents in Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet contributed to this report.]