Bangladesh's influential Islamists promise sharia as they ready for polls

Hefazat-e-Islam prepares for elections, pushing for sharia law and Islamic values in Bangladesh's political landscape.

Bangladesh's Islamists are readying to make political gains after being crushed for years by the government that was overthrown in a mass uprising last year, rallying hardline loyalists for eagerly anticipated elections.

"We are pretty confident about entering the parliament in the next election," Muhammad Mamunul Haque, joint secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam, an influential coalition of Islamic schools, told AFP in an interview.

The coalition will hold a mass rally in the capital Dhaka on Saturday (May 3, 2025) in what is expected to be one of their biggest public shows of strength for years as religiously fuelled activism gains popularity.

Mr. Haque, 52, said the group will push to implement sharia, or Islamic law, and believes the group's network of tens of thousands of seminaries -- claiming to have some 500,000 members -- means they will do well if the vote "is free and fair".

Hefazat-e-Islam is an alliance of different parties and Muslim organisations, including Mr. Haque's Khilafat-e-Majlish party.

A hugely influential pressure group, it has been courted by political parties since it was founded 15 years ago.

No date has been set for elections but caretaker leader Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who heads the interim government, has promised polls will be held by June 2026 at the latest.