With Eye on Elections Bangladesh’s Jamaat-E-Islami Offers Vague Apology

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Dr. Shafiqur Rahman has issued an unconditional apology for the party’s past mistakes.

“From 1947 to today (October 22), whoever has suffered because of us, we seek their forgiveness, unconditionally,” he told reporters in New York on October 22. However, the apology was vague. Rahman failed to state explicitly what he was apologizing for.

“From 1947 to 2025, if on an unspecified day, an unspecified crime was committed,” the apology was for that, he said.

The Jamaat has much to apologize for. It played a controversial role in the 1971 Liberation War. Not only did it collaborate with Pakistan in the war, but it also participated in the genocide. The shadow of that history still weighs heavily on the party’s shoulders. The Islamist party had collaborated with Pakistan in genocide during the 1971 Liberation War. But its chief avoided mentioning its horrific role.

During Sheikh Hasina’s rule (2009-2024), the Jamaat was subjected to considerable repression. Its top leaders were tried for war crimes and hanged. The party’s registration was canceled as per the High Court’s directives, and a ban was imposed on the party in the final days of the Hasina government. However, after the fall of Sheikh Hasina‘s government on August 5 last year, the ban on the Jamaat was lifted. It is now active in the political arena. Recently, its student wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir, scored landslide victories in elections to students’ unions at four major universities — Dhaka, Jahangirnagar, Rajshahi, and Chittagong.

With Bangladesh due to vote in national elections in February, the Jamaat has stepped up efforts to woo voters. In addition to forming an alliance with other Islamic parties, it is seeking to project a more progressive face. It has set up a committee to form a Hindu wing to draw minorities, and has sought to project interest in women’s issues. Recently, it held a campaign to create awareness about breast cancer.

It has also proposed to change the party’s logo.  The new design features a rising sun, a pen, and a balance scale placed on an open book against a green background. Previously, the logo was explicitly Islamic. It carried the word “Allah” in calligraphy and the Arabic word “Aakimuddin,” which means “establish Islam” along with the Jamaat’s election symbol, a scale.

But no matter how new the cover, the Jamaat’s content seems to be the same so long as it cannot free itself of the horrific crimes it engaged in during the Liberation War. It is for this reason that Rahman sought to distance his party from its past by offering an “unconditional apology.”

In the 1949 film “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” Hollywood actor John Wayne’s character says, “Never apologize and never explain — it’s a sign of weakness.” Jamaat leaders seem to have followed that advice for decades. But now they have come up with an apology that merits being called a blanket apology, where there is no specificity of the crime committed, and there is also a lack of taking responsibility. “I am asking for an unconditional apology for any suffering caused by us,” Rahman said, covering the specific crimes the Jamaat committed with a huge blanket.

Adding salt to injury, he also said, “We did not commit any crime; some people think the political decision was wrong.” That is, he does not think that the Jamaat committed any crime. The Jamaat thought that “Pakistan should remain united” in 1971, he said.

Political support for Pakistan is a different matter — but participating in murder, rape, and genocide alongside Pakistani soldiers is a crime. That crime cannot be erased by just saying “forgiveness.”

Al-Badr, Al-Shams, and Razakar were associates of the Pakistani Army during the 1971 war. These were the militias that mercilessly killed freedom fighters, intellectuals, women, and ordinary people, and they were formed by the Jamaat.

Such specific crimes on the massive scale they happened require a specific, unambiguous, and sincere apology, not vague calls for forgiveness. So, what is the point of this apology drama? Is it an admission of responsibility for the Liberation War, or a tactic to deal with public opinion about the party’s past? Is this a tactic to win the next election?

Willingness to apologize is almost absent in Bangladesh’s political culture. In other words, no one has expressed remorse. Not Ziaur Rahman (1977-81), Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1983-90), Khaleda Zia (1991-96 & 2001-06), or Sheikh Hasina. They are not in power now. But there are various allegations against them, including extrajudicial killings, suppression in the movements, and disappearances and murders during their time. After all these years, if these leaders apologize without mentioning clear and specific crimes, then will anyone accept that apology?  Of course not, because the responsibility is not specified.

For the same reason, Jamaat’s blanket apology is also not acceptable to the people. This makes people more skeptical — are they really repentant, or are they just showing the magic of language under the pressure of time?

If Jamaat really repents the role it played during the Liberation War, then they should clearly say — “We did wrong by cooperating with the Pakistani army in 1971, by unleashing horrific violence on the Bangladeshi people. We apologize to the nation for this.” Not verbal disingenuity, but the expression of true repentance can be the path to liberation for the Jamaat from its past.

Even today, countless families in Bangladesh carry the scars of 1971. It is said that millions of people were killed in that war. No vague apology can cover or repair that scar. Rather, statements like the one offered by the Jamaat chief open the scar even more.

Jamaat has an opportunity now. If they want, they can sincerely apologize to the nation by mentioning the specific crimes they committed and with an official party statement. Otherwise, 1971 will remain for them like a dormant volcano — it will erupt again one day, swallowing up their political future.
If the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the newly formed National Citizen Party form an alliance in the upcoming elections, they will inevitably remind voters of the atrocities the Jamaat committed in 1971. That will be a volcanic eruption for the Jamaat. It will be too late then for the Jamaat to issue a clear and unambiguous apology to Bangladeshis.

History cannot be deceived with words. “Blanket forgiveness” may provide temporary relief as a political strategy, but it cannot erase responsibility from the nation’s memory. If Jamaat really wants to survive in future politics, then their first task should be to apologize without excuses, specifically and sincerely in a political-organizational manner.

Even that may not result in families of the victims of the genocide forgiving them, although it may have some impact in the electoral field.


Siam Sarower Jamil is a
journalist and researcher
born in Dhaka.
Courtesy: The Diplomat