Bangladesh: Student-led NCP ties up with radical Islamist Jamaat amid internal backlash

The National Citizen Party (NCP), a political outfit formed by leaders of the July student agitation, has entered into an electoral alliance with Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of Bangladesh’s general election scheduled for February 2026. The announcement was made on Sunday by Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, according to Bangladeshi media reports.

Rahman said the NCP and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had joined Jamaat’s existing eight-party bloc, expanding it into a 10-party alliance. He added that he had spoken to NCP Convener Nahid Islam shortly before the announcement and that the students’ party was expected to make a formal statement by Sunday night, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Resignations expose deep rift within NCP

The alliance has triggered sharp divisions within the NCP, leading to a wave of resignations. Several leaders, including senior figures, have stepped down in protest against the tie-up with Jamaat.

On Sunday afternoon, NCP Joint Convener Tajnuva Jabeen resigned, citing “deep frustration over the party’s policy-making process and its ongoing move to forge an alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami”, The Daily Star reported.

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Earlier, on December 25, Mir Arshadul Haque, a key leader of the anti-Jamaat faction within the NCP, also resigned. Haque had been serving as joint member secretary of the party and chief coordinator of its Chattogram city unit. The party has seen a flurry of resignations over the past week.

Conflicting claims on internal support

Reports on internal backing for the alliance remain contradictory. While the Dhaka Tribune reported that 30 NCP central committee members wrote to Nahid Islam opposing any electoral pact with Jamaat, The Daily Star said more than 170 central committee leaders supported the alliance.

Seat-sharing negotiations

According to Prothom Alo, the NCP initially demanded 50 seats in the 350-member Jatiyo Sangsad, a figure Jamaat-e-Islami reportedly considered unrealistic. Media reports suggest the party later scaled down its demand to 30 seats.

Abdul Kader, a prominent face of the anti-Hasina protests and a former coordinator of the NCP’s predecessor, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said negotiations had narrowed, with the NCP settling for 30 seats.

At the same time, some NCP leaders were exploring the possibility of reviving talks with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), particularly after the return of its Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman to Bangladesh after 17 years. They believed his return could galvanise support for the BNP.

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Political backlash and warnings

The NCP was formed by student leaders who had proposed Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as head of Bangladesh’s interim administration following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s exit on August 5, 2024. The party is widely seen as enjoying tacit backing from Yunus.

Reacting sharply to the alliance, Abdul Kader wrote on Facebook: “If everything goes according to plan, the announcement of this alliance may come tomorrow. Through this, the NCP will, in effect, be absorbed into the womb of Jamaat.” He warned that the move amounted to digging the “grave of youth politics” in Bangladesh.

Earlier on Sunday, NCP Senior Joint Convener Samantha Sharmin cautioned that Jamaat-e-Islami would not be a dependable political ally and warned that the seat-sharing deal could make the NCP “pay a heavy price”.

“Any cooperation or compromise with them, including alignment with their ideology, will come at a steep cost for the NCP,” Sharmin was quoted as saying by The Daily Star, adding that the party’s core principles fundamentally differed from Jamaat’s.

Shift from NCP’s earlier position

After its formation, the Yunus-favoured NCP had announced it would contest all 300 constituencies independently. It later launched the Democratic Reform Alliance with the Amar Bangladesh Party and the Bangladesh State Reform Movement, explicitly pledging to remain independent of both the BNP and Jamaat.

As the election drew closer, however, the NCP — which has reportedly gained far more traction online than on the ground — sought alignment with a larger political force. This churn effectively split the party into two factions: one pushing for an alliance with Jamaat and the other negotiating with the BNP.

Explaining the decision to partner with Jamaat, NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain said the tie-up was driven by agreement on reforms. “In considering any electoral alliance or understanding, my foremost priority is the question of reform, the politics of rebuilding the country, and the commitment to establishing a new state structure for Bangladesh,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Jamaat’s history and ideological concerns

Jamaat-e-Islami opposed Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, and several of its leaders were accused of assisting the Pakistani army in atrocities, particularly against Hindus. Many Jamaat leaders were later convicted, and some executed, for war crimes.

Earlier this month, NCP leader Hasnat Abdullah sparked controversy after threatening to isolate India’s “Seven Sisters” and offer refuge to separatists if Bangladesh was destabilised.

“If Bangladesh is destabilised, the fire of resistance will spread beyond borders. Since you are housing those who destabilise us, we will give refuge to the separatists of the Seven Sisters too,” Abdullah said at an election rally.

The student-led agitation that forced Sheikh Hasina’s exit was widely seen as having been infiltrated by Islamist elements, with attacks on minorities reported in its aftermath. Critics argue that the NCP’s alliance with Jamaat — despite earlier assurances to the contrary — suggests the party may have harboured Islamist influence from the outset, what Abdul Kader described as being “absorbed into the womb” of Jamaat.