Julfikar Ali Manik
Corruption, alleged links to militancy and campaigns about the role in genocide of 1971 led to voters' humiliating rejection of Jamaat's religion-based politics in the parliamentary polls, say political analysts and civil society leaders. "The voters have rejected misuse of religion in politics through their ballots," political analyst Prof Imtiaz Ahmed told The Daily Star. The people didn't like distortion of religion for political gains, he added.
Human rights activist and former adviser to caretaker government Sultana Kamal said, "This result is the reflection of peoples' secular mind. They have proved again through ballots that they don't like communalism, chauvinism and fascism."
Veteran freedom fighter and former army chief Lt Gen (retd) M Harun-ur-Rashid believes the new generation rejected Jamaat when they learned for the first time about the party's role in 1971.
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