Jamaat-e-Islami and Awami League face calls for historical reckoning

The launch of the posthumous memoir ‘Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami: Its History and Politics’ by late barrister Abdur Razzaq has highlighted internal tensions and historical accountability within Bangladesh’s political landscape.

Former US Deputy Chief of Mission to Dhaka, Jon F. Danilowicz, noted during the book launch that both Jamaat-e-Islami and the Awami League must engage in self-scrutiny and reckon with their respective roles in the country’s recent history. Danilowicz encouraged readers to study the text to better understand the political thought and history of the nation.

The memoir reveals that Jamaat-e-Islami leadership repeatedly resisted issuing a formal apology for opposing the 1971 Liberation War. According to Razzaq, who served as the party’s Assistant Secretary General from 2003 to 2019, multiple drafts of an apology were prepared between 1994 and 2016, but influential figures within the party establishment blocked them. Razzaq noted that some senior members feared an apology would displease Pakistan.