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This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
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Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP; Urdu: جماعت اسلامی پاکستان, romanized: Jamāt-e-Islāmī Pākistān) is a far-right[5] Pakistani Islamist[12] political party and pressure group. It is the Pakistani chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a global Islamic movement founded in British India in 1941.[13] JIP is a vanguard party, whose members are intended to be leaders spreading party beliefs and influence. JIP members are sometimes called Rafīq (meaning comrade in Arabic). Supporters not thought qualified to be members may become affiliates, and beneath them are sympathisers. The party leader is called an ameer.[14]: 70 Although it does not have a large popular following, the party is quite influential and considered one of the major Islamic movements in Pakistan, along with Deobandi and Barelvi (represented by Jamiat Ulema-e Islam political party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan party respectively).[15][16]
Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in Islamia Park, Lahore, British India in 1941 by the Muslim theologian and socio-political philosopher, Abul A'la Maududi.[17] At the time of the Indian independence movement, Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Islami actively worked to oppose the partition of India.[18][13][19] In 1947, following the partition of India, the Jamaat split into two organisations, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (the Indian wing).[20][21] Other wings of Jamaat include Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir, founded in 1953, Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir founded in 1974, and most notably Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, founded in 1979,[22] which remains the country's main parliamentary opposition.[23]
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan came under severe government repression in 1948, 1953, and 1963.[24] During the early years of the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, Jamaat-e-Islami's position improved, and it became seen as the regime's ideological and political arm, with party members at times holding cabinet portfolios of information and broadcasting, production, water, power, and natural resources.[25][26]
In 1971, during the Bangladesh Liberation War, JIP militarily opposed the independence of Bangladesh and participated in the genocide and other mass atrocities.[27] However, in 1979, it established Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami with Abbas Ali Khan as the first ameer.[22] Since the early 1980s, it has also developed close links with Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir and acted as the vanguard of the armed insurgency in that province.[28][29]
| Year | Members (Arkan) |
Sympathisers and workers (Hum-Khayal) |
|---|---|---|
| 1941 | 75 | (unknown) |
| 1951 | 659 | 2,913 |
| 1989 | 5,723 | 305,792 |
| 2003 | 16,033 | 4.5 million |
| 2017 | 37,000 | (unknown) |
| SOURCE: Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World (2004)[30] | ||
Jamaat-e-Islami's founder and leader until 1972 was Abul A'la Maududi, a widely read Islamist philosopher and political commentator, who wrote about the role of Islam in South Asia.[31] His thought was influenced by many factors including the Khilafat Movement; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's ascension at the end of the Ottoman Caliphate; and the impact of Indian Nationalism, the Indian National Congress and Hinduism on Muslims in India. He supported what he called "Islamisation from above", through an Islamic state in which sovereignty would be exercised in the name of Allah and Islamic law (sharia) would be implemented. Maududi believed politics was "an integral, inseparable part of the Islamic faith, and that the Islamic state that Muslim political action seeks to build" would not only be an act of piety but would also solve the many (seemingly non-religious) social and economic problems that Muslims faced.[31][32]
Maududi opposed British rule but also opposed the Muslim nationalist movement (nationalism being un-Islamic) and their plan for a circumscribed "Muslim state". Maududi agitating instead for an "Islamic state" covering the whole of India[31] – this even though Muslims made up only about one quarter of India's population.
Jamaat-e-Islami thus actively opposed the partition of India, with its leader Maulana Abul A'la Maududi arguing that the concept violated the Islamic doctrine of the ummah.[18][13][19] The Jamaat-e-Islami saw the partition as creating a temporal border that would divide Muslims from one another.[18][13]
Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in colonial India on August 26, 1941 at Islamia Park in the city of Lahore, before the Partition of India.[33] JIP began as an Islamist social and political movement. Seventy-five people attended the first meeting and became the first members of the movement. Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi, Maulana Naeem Siddiqui, Maulana Muhammad Manzoor Naumanai and Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Hasani Nadwi (although he left after a few years)[34] were among the founders of Jamaat-e-Islami along with Syed Abul Ala Maududi.[35]
Maududi saw his group as a vanguard of Islamic revolution following the footsteps of early Muslims who gathered in Medina to found an Islamic state.[31][32] JIP was and is strictly and hierarchically organised in a pyramid-like structure, working toward the common goal of establishing an ideological Islamic society, particularly though educational and social work, under the leadership of its emirs (commanders or leaders).[30] As a vanguard party, its fully-fledged members (arkan) are intended to be leaders and devoted to the party, but there is also a category of much more numerous sympathisers and workers (karkun).
The emir is obliged by the party constitution to consult an assembly called the shura. The JIP also developed sub-organisations, such as those for women and students.[30] JIP began by volunteering in refugee camps; performing social work; opening hospitals and medical clinics, and gathering the skins of animals sacrificed for Eid-ul-Azha.
JIP had a number of unique features. All members, including its founder Mawdudi, uttered the shahadah – the traditional act of converts to Islam – when they joined. This was a symbolic gesture of conversion to a new Islamic perspective, but to some implied that "the Jamaat stood before Muslim society as Islam before jahiliyah" (pre-Islamic ignorance).[36] After Pakistan was formed, it forbade Pakistanis to take an oath of allegiance to the state until it became Islamic, arguing that a Muslim could in clear conscience render allegiance only to God.[37][38]
Creation and early years Following the Partition of India, Maududi and JIP migrated from East Punjab to Lahore in Pakistan. There they volunteered to help the thousands of refugees pouring into the country from India[39] – performing social work; opening hospitals and medical clinics; and by gathering the skins of animals sacrificed for Eid-ul-Azha.
During the prime-ministership of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (September 1956 – October 1957), JIP argued for a separate voting system for different religious communities. Suhrawardy convened a session of the National Assembly at Dhaka and, through an alliance with Republicans, his party passed a bill for a mixed voting system.
In 1951, it ran candidates for office, but did not do well. JIP found it was more successful in promoting its cause in the streets.[40] The election also occasioned a split in the party, with the JIP shura passing a resolution in support of the party withdrawing from politics, but Maududi arguing for continued involvement. Maududi prevailed, and several senior JIP leaders resigned in protest. All this strengthened Maududi's position still further, and "a cult of personality began to grow up around him."[40]
In 1953, JIP led "direct action" against the Ahmadiyya, whom the JIP believed should be declared non-Muslims. In March 1953, riots in Lahore started, leading to looting, arson, and the killing of at least 200 Ahmadis and the declaration of selective martial law. The military leader, Azam Khan, had Maududi arrested and Rahimuddin Khan sentenced him to death for sedition (writing anti-Ahmadiyya pamphlets). Many JIP supporters were imprisoned during this time.
The 1956 Constitution was adopted after accommodating many of the demands of the JIP. Maududi endorsed the constitution and claimed it was a victory for Islam.[41] In 1958, JIP formed an alliance with Abdul Qayyum Khan (Muslim League) and Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (Nizam-e-Islam Party). The alliance destabilised the presidency of Iskander Mirza (1956–1958), and Pakistan returned to martial law. The military ruler, the president Muhammad Ayub Khan (1958–1964), had a modernising agenda and opposed the encroachment of religion into politics. He banned political parties and warned Maududi against continued religio-political activism. JIP offices were closed down, funds were confiscated, and Maududi was imprisoned in 1964 and 1967.[41]
JIP supported the opposition party, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). In the 1964–1965 presidential elections, JIP supported the opposition leader, Fatima Jinnah, despite its opposition to women in politics.[41]
In 1965, during the Indo-Pakistani war, JIP supported the government's call for jihad, presenting patriotic speeches on Radio Pakistan and seeking support from Arab and Central Asian countries. The group resisted Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Maulana Bhashani's socialist program of the time.
By the end of 1969, the Jamaat-e-Islami was spearheading a major "campaign for the protection of the ideology of Pakistan," which it believed was under threat from atheistic socialists and secularists.[42]
JIP participated in the 1970 general election. Its political platform advocated political freedom of the provinces and Islamic law based on the Quran and Sunnah. There would be separation of the powers (judiciary and legislature); basic rights for minorities (such as equal employment opportunities and the Bonus Share Scheme allowing factory workers to own shares in their employers' companies); and a policy of strong relationships with the Muslim world.[citation needed] Just before the election, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan left the alliance leaving JIP to run against the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Awami League.[citation needed] The party had a disappointing showing when it won only four seats in the National Assembly and four in the provincial assemblies after fielding 151 candidates.[43]
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto won the 1970 election campaign and was strongly opposed by JIP, which believed he and his socialist ideology were a threat to Islam.[44]
JIP opposed the Awami League East Pakistani separatist movement.[45] Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba organised the Al-Badar to fight the Mukti Bahini (Bengali liberation forces). In 1971, during the Bangladesh liberation war, JIP members may have collaborated with the Pakistani army.[46][47][48][self-published source?]
In 1968, Maulana Maududi took leave from Emarat of the Jamaat, and Maulana Naeem Siddiqui became the Ameer of Jamat e Islami for one year. In 1969, Maulana took Charge of the Jamaat again. In 1972, Maududi resigned, citing poor health, and Maulana Naeem Siddiqui refused to become the Ameer of the Jamaat due to his research activities. Thus, in October 1972, the Majlis-e-Shoura (council) elected Mian Tufail Mohammad (1914–2009) as the new leader of JIP. Naeeem Siddiqui was chosen as the general secretary.[citation needed]
After Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1973–1977) was elected, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami (Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba) burned effigies of him in Lahore and declared his election a "black day". In early 1973, the Amir of the JIP even appealed to the army to overthrow Bhutto's government because of "its inherent moral corruption."[49]
JIP "spearheaded" the anti-Bhutto political movement under the religious banner of Nizam-i-Mustafa (Order of the Prophet). Bhutto attempted to suppress JIP through the imprisonment of JIP and Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba members. There were electoral irregularities at the 1975 elections, with JIP members being arrested in order to prevent them from lodging their nomination papers.[50] However, by 1976, JIP had 2 million registrants.
In the 1977 election, JIP won nine of the 36 seats won by the opposition Pakistan National Alliance. The opposition considered the election rigged (Bhutto's PPP won 155 out of 200 seats) and Maududi, who had been arrested, called on Islamist parties to commence a campaign of civil disobedience. The Sunni-led government of Saudi Arabia intervened to secure Maududi's release from prison, warning of revolution in Pakistan. JIP assisted the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) to oust Bhutto and met with Zia-ul-Haq for ninety minutes on the night before Bhutto was hanged.[51]
Initially, JIP supported General Zia-ul-Haq (1977–1987).[52] In turn, Zia's use of Islamist rhetoric gave JIP importance in public life beyond the size of its membership.[53] According to journalist Owen Bennett-Jones, JIP was the "only political party" to offer Zia "consistent support" and was rewarded with jobs for "tens of thousands of Jamaat activists and sympathisers", giving Zia's Islamic agenda power "long after he died."[54]
However, Zia failed to deliver timely elections and distanced himself from the JIP. When Zia banned student unions, Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba and pro-JIP labour unions protested. However, JIP did not participate in the Pakistan Peoples Party's Movement for the Restoration of Democracy. JIP also supported Zia's Jihad against the Soviet–Afghan War and its sister party Jamiat-e Islami led by Burhanuddin Rabbani became part of the Peshawar Seven that received aid from Saudi Arabia, the United States, and other jihad supporters.[55] Such conundrums caused tension in JIP based on conflict between ideology and politics.[53][56]
In 1987, Mian Tufail declined further service as head of JIP for health reasons, and Qazi Hussain Ahmad was elected.
In 1987, when Zia died, the Pakistan Muslim League formed the right-wing alliance, Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).[57] In 1990 when Nawaz Sharif came to power, JIP boycotted the cabinet on the basis that the Pakistan Peoples' Party and the Pakistan Muslim League were problematic to equal degrees.
In the election of 1993, JIP won three seats. This year, JIP was a member of the newly formed All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which promotes the independence of Jammu and Kashmir from India.[58]Beforeo this, JIP had allegedly set up the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, a Kashmir liberation militia to oppose the Kashmir Liberation Front which fights for the complete independence of the Kashmir region. [59]
Ahmad left his position in the Senate in protest against corruption.
On 20 July 1996, Qazi Hussain Ahmed announced to start protests against the government, alleging corruption. Qazi Hussain resigned from the Senate on 27 September and announced the start of a long march against Benazir Bhutto's government. The protest started on 27 October 1996, by Jamaat-e-Islami and opposition parties. On 4 November 1996, Bhutto's government was dismissed by President Leghari primarily because of corruption.[14] JIP then boycotted the 1997 election, and therefore, lost representation in Parliament. However, the party remained politically active, for example, protesting the arrival of the Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in Lahore.
In 1999, Pervez Musharraf took power in a military coup. JIP, at first, welcomed the general but then objected when Musharraf began to make secular reforms and then again in 2001, when Pakistan joined the war on terror, alleging Musharraf had betrayed the Taliban. JIP condemned the events of 11 September 2001, but equally condemned the US when Afghanistan was invaded.[14]: 69 Some members of Al-Qaeda, for example, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were arrested in Pakistan.[60][61]
In the 2002 election, JIP allied with religious parties called Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) (lit. 'United Council of Action') and won 53 seats, including most of those representing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.[62] JIP continued its opposition to the war on terrorism, particularly the presence of American troops and agencies in Pakistan. JIP also called for the restoration of the judiciary.
In 2006, JIP opposed the Women's Protection Bill saying it did not need to be scrapped but instead, be applied in a fairer way and be more clearly understood by judges. Ahmed said, "Those who oppose [these] laws are only trying to run away from Islam. ... These laws do not affect women adversely. Our system wants to protect women from unnecessary worry and save them the trouble of appearing in court."[63]
Samia Raheel Qazi, MP and daughter of Ahmed, stated,
At least during the time of Ahmad, the position of JIP on revolutionary action was that it was not ready to turn to extra-legal action but that its objectives are definite (qat'i) but its methods are "open to interpretation and adaptation (ijtihadi)" based on the "exigencies of the moment".[64]
On 23 July 2007, Qazi Hussain Ahmad tendered his resignation from the National Assembly to protest against the Army operation at Lal Masjid.[65]
In 2008, JIP and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf again boycotted the elections. Ahmad declined to stand for re-election due to health issues, and Syed Munawar Hassan was elected as the ameer.[66]
On 30 March 2014, Siraj-ul-Haq, serving as senior minister in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and the party's deputy chief, was elected as the new ameer. He replaced the incumbent Munawer Hasan and the party's general secretary, Liaqat Baloch.[67] 25,533 office bearers of the party out of a total of 31,311 voted in these elections. It was the first time that the party had voted out an ameer after just one term. He, therefore, resigned from his role as senior minister. This coincided with a drone attack on a madrassa in Bajaur Agency.
In 2016, Siraj-ul-Haq led funeral prayers for Mumtaz Qadri, who had been executed for assassinating Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer while serving as his bodyguard. Siraj-ul-Haq called for nationwide protests against the execution of Qadri.[68]
Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman was elected as the Ameer of Jamaat e Islami on 4 April 2024, with his term lasting until April 2029.[69][70]
JIP provides unions for doctors, teachers, lawyers, farmers, workers, and women, for example, Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT), Jamiat Talaba Arabia, and Islami Jamaat-e-Talibaat (its female branch)[71] a Students' union and JI Youth Pakistan, a youth group.
The party has a number of publications from affiliated agencies such as Idara Marif-e-Islami, Lahore, the Islamic Research Academy, Karachi, Idara Taleemi Tehqeeq, Lahore, the Mehran Academy, and the Institute of Regional Studies. Its print media publications number 22, including the daily Jasarat, weekly Friday Special, weekly Asia, monthly Tarjumanul Quran and fortnightly Jihad-e-Kashmir,[72] with Jasarat in particular having a circulation of 50,000.[73]
The Islami Nizamat-e-Taleem, led by Abdul Ghafoor Ahmed, is an educational body that includes 63 Baithak schools. Rabita-ul-Madaris Al-Islamia supports 164 JIP madrasas. JIP also operates the Hira Schools (Pakistan) Project and Al Ghazali Trust. The foundation administers schools, women's vocational centres, adult literacy programs, hospitals and mobile chemists and other welfare programs. In this respect, JIP interacts with the general market.[74]
In total, there are around 1000 registered madrasas affiliated with the JeI in Pakistan, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa having most of them, with some 245 or nearly a quarter of the total.[75]
An independent wing of Jamaat-e-Islami in Azad Kashmir was started in 1974. According to journalist Arif Jamal, it was done to slow the spread of secular ideas in Azad Kashmir. It had its own amir, Maulana Abdul Bari, who had previously participated in the First Kashmir War (1947) as well as the Operation Gibraltar (1965).[76][77]
The main activity of the Azad Kashmir wing is noted as the sponsorship of jihad in Indian-administered Kashmir. Bari said that he was called for a meeting with President Zia ul-Haq in 1980, and asked to make preparations. He travelled to the Kashmir Valley and eventually persuaded the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir. However, despite having several groups of Islamist youth trained in militancy, the Kashmiri Jamaat was hesitant to take the plunge. Pakistan's ISI then used the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) to initiate operations in July 1988.[78][79][80] A year later, Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir sent operatives to Indian-administered Kashmir to bring all the Islamist groups under an umbrella group called Hizbul Mujahideen as a counter to the JKLF. Jointly with Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, it also persuaded the Kashmiri Jamaat to take charge of Hizbul Mujahideen by June 1990, and a Jamaat leader called Syed Salahuddin was appointed as its chief.[81]
Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir also has a student wing called Islami Jamiat-i-Tulaba (IJT). It gained popularity after the founding of Hizbul Mujahideen.[77] Many of its members are said to join the ranks of Hizbul Mujahideen in due course.[82]
Due to its popularity as an only non sectarian organisation, Jamaat e Islami has been linked to various conpiracies including links with terrorist organisations. Jama'at was said to have close links to many banned outfits of Pakistan. The most notable of them was where a former sympathiser of Jamaat e Islami formed Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi. This militant organisation was introduced by Sufi* as an offshoot of Jamaat e Islami and was founded by Sufi Muhammad in 1992 after he left Jamaat-e-Islami.[83][84][85] When the founder was imprisoned on 15 January 2002, Maulana Fazlullah, his son-in-law, assumed leadership of the group. In the aftermath of the 2007 siege of Lal Masjid, Fazlullah's forces and Baitullah Mehsud's Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) formed an alliance. Fazlullah and his army reportedly received orders from Mehsud.[86] After the death of Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone attack, Fazlullah was appointed as the new "Amir" (Chief) of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan on 7 November 2013.[87][88][89] In a May 2010 interview, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus described the TTP's relationship with other militant groups as difficult to decipher: "There is clearly a symbiotic relationship between all of these different organisations: al-Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, TNSM [Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi]. And it's very difficult to parse and to try to distinguish between them. They support each other, they coordinate with each other, sometimes they compete with each other, [and] sometimes they even fight each other. But at the end of the day, there is quite a relationship between them." [88][90]
According to another source, TNSM and Jamaat-e-Islami (JIP) seem to have been locked in a turf war in the Malakand District of Pakistan, and the Jamaat-Ulema-e-Islam, JIP, and TNSM are in conflict with each other in the tribal areas for power and influence.[91]
| No. | Name[92] | Term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abul A'la Maududi | 1941–1972 |
| 2 | Mian Tufail Mohammad | 1972–1987 |
| 3 | Qazi Hussain Ahmad | 1987–2009 |
| 4 | Syed Munawar Hassan | 2009–2014 |
| 5 | Siraj-ul-Haq | 2014–2024 |
| 6 | Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman | 2024–present |
Ideologically these are the parties of the far-right who have always collaborated with the exploiting classes.
The Jamaat e Islami was already known as a violent political party of the far right in Pakistan, bent on attacking minorities and creating an Islamic state.
Ever since Maududi had founded the Jamaat-i-Islami in 1941, JI had been demanding an Islamic Pakistan. ... The fact is, Pakistan's public psyche and discourse are controlled by Islamist intolerance for everything non- Islamist and secular. Far-right Islamist views prevail.
'Pakistan's political landscape includes a significant number of religiopolitical parties. Out of the 167 parties registered with the Election Commission, roughly 25 have Islamist or sectarian names, reflecting their religious affiliations. 'Notable among them are the JUI-F [Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam – Fazl], the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the Majlis-iWahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM), the Pakistan Rah-i-Haq Party, the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League, and the Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Nazriati, all of which actively participated in the February 8 [2024] polls.'110
The Jama'at -i-Islami was founded in 1941. Maulana Maududi, being the founder of the organization, strongly opposed the idea of creating Pakistan, a separate Muslim country, by dividing India, but surprisingly, after the creation of Pakistan, he migrated to Lahore. Again, in the beginning, he was opposed to and denounced the struggle for Kashmir as un-Islamic, for which he was imprisoned in 1950, but later on in 1965, he changed his views and endorsed the Kashmir war as Jihad. Maulana Maududi took an active part in demanding discriminatory legislation and executive action against the Ahmadi sect, leading to widespread rioting and violence in Pakistan. He was persecuted, arrested, and imprisoned for advocating his political ideas through his writings and speeches. During the military regime from 195,8 the Jama'at-i-Islami was banned and was revived only in 1962. Maududi was briefly imprisoned. He refused to apologize for his actions or to request clemency from the government. He demanded his freedom to speak and accepted the punishment of death as the will of God. His fierce commitment to his ideals caused his supporters worldwide to rally for his release, and the government acceded, commuting his death sentence to a term of life imprisonment. Eventually, the military government pardoned Maulana Maududi completely.
{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Islam in Pakistan is divided into three tendencies: the Jamaat, which is the Islamist party and which, although it does not have extensive popular roots, is politically influential; the 'deobandi', administered by fundamentalists and reformist ulamas; and the Barelvi, which recruits from popular and Sufi Islamic circles.
In the debate over whether Muslims should establish their own state, separate from a Hindu India, Maududi initially argued against such a creation and asserted that the establishment of a political Muslim state defined by borders violated the idea of the universal umma. Citizenship and national borders, which would characterize the new Muslim state, contradicted the notion that Muslims should not be separated from one another by these temporal boundaries. In this milieu, Maududi founded the organization Jama'at-i Islamic. ... The Jama'at, for its first few years, worked actively to prevent the partition, but once partition became inevitable, it established offices in both Pakistan and India.
... Zia rewarded the only political party to offer him consistent support, Jamaat-e-Islami. Tens of thousands of Jamaat activists and sympathisers were given jobs in the judiciary, the civil service, and other state institutions. These appointments meant Zia's Islamic agenda lived on long after he died.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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Exercise Delawar (Persian: دلاور, lit. 'Courageous') was a joint military exercise in 1964 conducted by the United States and Iran under the auspices of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). It took place in southwest Iran. Some 6,800 American military personnel from three military branches took part in this war game, including 2,300 paratroopers. U.S. naval forces, as well as Marines were also deployed in the Persian Gulf and performed amphibious operations, supported by close-air-support of F-100s. According to Čūbīn and Zabih, by this war game, Washington "partially reassured" Tehran of its continued interest in the region.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 12 February 2026 to elect members of the Jatiya Sangsad. It was the first general election since the July Uprising of 2024 that ended the 15-year-long rule of Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, won a landslide victory in the election, securing two-thirds of seats; Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secured the second most seats and a constitutional referendum on the July Charter was held alongside the election. More than 127 million people were eligible to vote in the election, making it the "biggest democratic exercise of the year". 2,028 candidates contested for the 299 seats in the election. Major parties contested; however, Hasina's Awami League—the winner of the previous four elections—was banned and could not participate in the election. This made the election a "bipolar contest" between the BNP and the 11 Party Alliance led by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party. The election took place under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, which had governed the country since August 2024. Key campaign issues and agendas included unemployment, corruption, extortion, proportional representation (PR), and promises to the youth and the minority voters. A professor at SOAS University believed that the election was decided "less by ideology and more by promises of governance". For the first time in the country, postal ballots were used for the votes of expatriates, polling officials, and detainees. The election was also considered to be the world's first "Gen Z-inspired" election after the series of Gen Z protests around the world.
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO; Persian: سازمان مجاهدین خلق ایران, romanised: Sâzmân-e Mojâhedin-e Khalgh-e Irân), is an Iranian dissident organisation. It was an armed group until 2003, afterwards switching focus into political activity. Its headquarters is currently in Albania. The group's ideology has been historically influenced by Islamic and revolutionary socialist philosophies, particularly through a re-interpretative approach to Shia Islam. After the Iranian Revolution, the MEK opposed the new theocratic Government of Iran, seeking to replace it with its own government. At one point the MEK was Iran's "largest and most active armed dissident group", and it is still sometimes presented by Western political backers as a major Iranian opposition group. The MEK was founded in 1965 by leftist Iranian students affiliated with the Freedom Movement of Iran to oppose the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The organisation contributed to overthrowing the Shah during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. It subsequently pursued the establishment of a democracy in Iran, particularly gaining support from Iran's middle class intelligentsia. The MEK boycotted the 1979 constitutional referendum, which led to Khomeini barring MEK leader Massoud Rajavi from the 1980 presidential election. The MEK organised the 20 June 1981 Iranian protests against Khomeini and the ousting of President Abolhassan Banisadr. The protests were violently suppressed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which shot into the crowds, killing 50, before executing 23 further protesters who had been arrested, including teenage girls. On 28 June, the MEK was implicated in the blowing up of the headquarters of the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) in the Haft-e Tir bombing, killing 74 officials and party members. A wave of killings and executions led by Khomeini's government followed, part of the 1981–1982 Iran massacres. Rajavi fled to Paris and during the exile, the underground network that remained in Iran continued to plan and carry out attacks. It allegedly conducted the August 1981 bombing that killed Iran's president and prime minister. In 1983, the MEK began meeting with Iraqi officials. In 1986, France expelled the MEK at the request of Iran, forcing it to relocate to Camp Ashraf in Iraq. In 1987, it founded the National Liberation Army of Iran (NLA), with the sole objective of "toppling the Islamic Republic through military force from outside the country". During the Iran–Iraq War, the MEK then sided with Iraq, taking part in Operation Forty Stars, and Operation Mersad. Following Operation Mersad, Iranian officials ordered the mass execution of prisoners said to support the MEK. The group gained significant publicity in 2002 by announcing the existence of Iranian nuclear facilities. In 2003, the MEK's military wing signed a ceasefire agreement with the U.S. and was disarmed at Camp Ashraf. Between 1997 and 2013, the MEK was on the lists of terrorist organisations of the US, Canada, EU, UK and Japan for various periods. The MEK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Iran. Critics have described the group as exhibiting traits of a "personality cult", while its backers describe the group as proponents of "a free and democratic Iran" that could become the next government there.
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP; Urdu: جماعت اسلامی پاکستان, romanized: Jamāt-e-Islāmī Pākistān) is a far-right Pakistani Islamist political party and pressure group. It is the Pakistani chapter of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a global Islamic movement founded in British India in 1941. JIP is a vanguard party, whose members are intended to be leaders spreading party beliefs and influence. JIP members are sometimes called Rafīq (meaning comrade in Arabic). Supporters not thought qualified to be members may become affiliates, and beneath them are sympathisers. The party leader is called an ameer. Although it does not have a large popular following, the party is quite influential and considered one of the major Islamic movements in Pakistan, along with Deobandi and Barelvi (represented by Jamiat Ulema-e Islam political party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan party respectively). Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in Islamia Park, Lahore, British India in 1941 by the Muslim theologian and socio-political philosopher, Abul A'la Maududi. At the time of the Indian independence movement, Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Islami actively worked to oppose the partition of India. In 1947, following the partition of India, the Jamaat split into two organisations, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (the Indian wing). Other wings of Jamaat include Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir, founded in 1953, Jamaat-e-Islami Azad Kashmir founded in 1974, and most notably Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, founded in 1979, which remains the country's main parliamentary opposition. Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan came under severe government repression in 1948, 1953, and 1963. During the early years of the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, Jamaat-e-Islami's position improved, and it became seen as the regime's ideological and political arm, with party members at times holding cabinet portfolios of information and broadcasting, production, water, power, and natural resources. In 1971, during the Bangladesh Liberation War, JIP militarily opposed the independence of Bangladesh and participated in the genocide and other mass atrocities. However, in 1979, it established Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami with Abbas Ali Khan as the first ameer. Since the early 1980s, it has also developed close links with Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir and acted as the vanguard of the armed insurgency in that province.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
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