Bangladesh bans Jamaat-e-Islami party following violent protests

Activists clash with the police as they stage a march to remember victims of the recent countrywide deadly clashes, in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Rajib Dhar/AP)

Bangladesh has banned the Jamaat-e-Islami party, its student wing and other associate bodies, terming the party as a “militant and terrorist” organisation as part of a nationwide crackdown following weeks of violent protests that left more than 200 people dead and thousands injured.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her political partners blamed Jamaat-e-Islami, its Islami Chhatra Shibir student wing and other associate bodies for inciting violence during recent student protests over a quota system for government jobs.