Bangladesh: Islamic principles bar women from top Jamaat post, party says ahead of polls

Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami has said women are not permitted to hold the party’s highest leadership position, arguing that its organisational structure is guided by Islamic principles that reserve the role for men.

The statement comes days before Bangladesh heads to the polls on 12 February, amid renewed scrutiny of women’s representation in politics.

Speaking to journalists at the Election Commission in Dhaka on Sunday, Jamaat’s Women’s Wing secretary, Nurunnisa Siddika, said the party operates strictly in line with its interpretation of Islamic teachings, which, she argued, do not allow women to serve as ameer, or party chief.

She said the party’s position was based on Quranic guidance that places men in a leadership role over women, describing this as a religious obligation. On that basis, she added, women are excluded from the top post in any Islamic organisation affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami.

Addressing questions about the absence of female Jamaat candidates in parliamentary elections, Siddika said the issue was an internal organisational matter. She urged a broader discussion that goes beyond leadership titles to examine whether women’s rights, dignity and security are being adequately protected in Bangladeshi society.

Bangladesh has been led by women prime ministers for much of the past five decades, she noted, but argued that this had not automatically translated into improved conditions for women. “Have women’s problems been solved? Has violence against women decreased? Have women’s rights been established?” she asked.

Siddika maintained that meaningful progress depends on the character and conduct of leaders rather than their gender, saying Jamaat prioritises what it describes as just and humane leadership over symbolic appointments.

Separately, Jamaat Women’s Wing chief Habiba Chowdhury said women make up nearly half of the electorate but have historically faced obstacles in exercising their voting rights. She claimed that at least 15 incidents involving attacks on female Jamaat activists in different districts had been reported to the Election Commission, alleging political motivation behind the violence.

Earlier on Sunday, a six-member Jamaat delegation, led by assistant secretary general advocate Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair, met chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin to raise concerns related to the electoral process.

With IANS inputs