Syed Md Abdul Momen, ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Khagrachhari district unit, has held the post for nearly 28 years at a stretch, since 1998. Jamaat has 79 organisational units across the country at district and city levels.
Prothom Alo examined 43 of these units and found that, as in Khagrachhari, the same person has served as the top leader in many units for years.
Information collected from Jamaat leaders and Prothom Alo’s district correspondents shows that 19 units have had no change in the post of ameer for 10 years or more.
In another 11 units, the same person has held the post for between five and nine years. In one district, a leader has served as ameer for a total of 22 years, with a break in between.
On 14 October, crude bomb explosions and vandalism took place on the premises of Jamaat-e-Islami’s Cumilla city office over the formation of a committee. The personal car of Mahbubur Rahman, secretary of the city Jamaat unit, was also vandalised.
Responsible sources within Jamaat say there has been discussion within the party about the same individuals holding top positions for extended periods.
Kazi Din Mohammad served as ameer of Cumilla city Jamaat for 28 years. Following the clashes over the committee, he was relieved of his post on 16 October, and the committee was dissolved.
Some party members see the incident in Cumilla as an expression of simmering discontent within Jamaat’s organisational politics.
Following the incident, a former publicity secretary of a Jamaat unit from another district wrote on Facebook, “Allah knows how far the ‘Lu’ wind from ‘Ku’ will spread. It is important to take the discontent of subordinates seriously at the centre.”
Some within Jamaat have also questioned whether the party is failing to develop new leaders or whether a section of its long-serving leaders are clinging to their positions.
Responsible sources within Jamaat say there has been discussion within the party about the same individuals holding top positions for extended periods.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, several Jamaat leaders said many full-timers tended to cling to their positions. District and city ameers are also given priority when the party nominates candidates for national parliamentary elections.
According to Jamaat-e-Islami’s constitution, the central committee and the post of ameer have a term of three years, while district and city committees serve two-year terms. In both cases, the ameer is elected by secret ballot among the party’s rukons (members).
Jamaat therefore describes its leadership selection process as “fully democratic”. However, the party does not disclose detailed information about the number of voters, the votes received by candidates or the level of competition.
As a result, it remains unclear why the same individuals have continued to lead for so long and how effectively the leadership selection process fosters competition.
Full-time party workers
It is nothing new for the same person to hold a top position for many years in Bangladesh’s mainstream political parties. However, other positions below the top leadership tend to change hands in those parties.
In Jamaat-e-Islami, however, there are also instances of the same person holding the second-highest position for an extended period.
According to Jamaat’s internal sources, Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan has served as district ameer in Lakshmipur for 23 years, Hafizur Rahman in Jhalakathi for 22 years and Fazlur Rahman Sayeed in Joypurhat for 20 years.
According to sources within Jamaat, the party covers the expenses of senior leaders on the central committee as well as district and city committees who devote themselves to party work full-time.
In some cases, they are provided with cars and other necessary facilities. They are known within Jamaat as “full-timers” (salaried party workers). Some full-timers are appointed to senior positions in institutions run with party funding, where they receive salaries.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, several Jamaat leaders said many full-timers tended to cling to their positions.
District and city ameers are also given priority when the party nominates candidates for national parliamentary elections. This, too, has encouraged them to hold on to top positions, limiting opportunities for newcomers to take up leadership roles.
Central Jamaat leaders, however, are reluctant to accept these allegations. They maintain that ameers are elected on the basis of their qualifications, organisational skills and dedication to the Islamic movement, and that personal ambitions or expectations are not the deciding factors.
Muazzam Hossain Helal, Jamaat’s regional director for Barishal, described the process of electing leaders in different party units as “democratic”.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said rukons (oath-taking party members) elect the ameer by voting for their preferred candidate. He added that the party also removes people from their positions when it deems necessary.
Districts where same faces served for years
According to Jamaat’s internal sources, Ruhul Amin Bhuiyan has served as district ameer in Lakshmipur for 23 years, Hafizur Rahman in Jhalakathi for 22 years and Fazlur Rahman Sayeed in Joypurhat for 20 years.
Nurul Islam became Rajbari district ameer in 2009. Before that, he served as acting ameer for two years and district secretary for three years. Altogether, he has held the post of ameer for 19 years.
Emran Hossain, ameer of Jamaat’s Khulna district unit, has held the same position for 18 years, while Abdul Jabbar in Barishal has served for 17 years. SM Abdus Salam Azad in Bandarban and Abdul Alim in Rangamati have each been district amer for 16 years.
Before the 13th national parliamentary election, Jamaat’s ameer said at a reception for elected student union representatives on 7 November 2025, “The young will sit in the cockpit and run the country. We will provide support from behind.”
Shahinur Alam in Sirajganj has held the post for 14 years, while Jahangir Alam in Gazipur has served for 13 years. The same individuals have been ameers of the district and city units in Bogura and Mmensingh for 11 years.
The current ameers in Tangail, Meherpur and Pabna are completing their 10th year in office.
Mohammad Azizur Rahman of Kurigram served as ameer for 22 years at a stretch, from 1996 to 2018. He was principal of Bhurungamari Degree College, now Bhurungamari Government College.
He stepped down as ameer when the issue of nationalising the college came to the fore. In December last year, he was appointed district ameer again.
Five district ameers became members of parliament after being nominated by Jamaat in the 13th national parliamentary election.
They are Ataur Rahman of Narail, Mohammad Ruhul Amin of Chuadanga, Mohammad Tajuddin Khan of Meherpur, Ali Azam Mohammad Abubakar of Jhenaidah and Professor Abu Taleb Mondal of Pabna.
Sources within Jamaat say defying party decisions and engaging in clashes over positions could emerge as new challenges for the party in the coming days. This is why the party has taken the incident in Cumilla seriously.
Before the 13th national parliamentary election, Jamaat’s ameer said at a reception for elected student union representatives on 7 November 2025, “The young will sit in the cockpit and run the country. We will provide support from behind.”
However, some former leaders of Islami Chhatra Shibir believe that young people are not advancing into leadership as they should because many Jamaat leaders at the district level tend to cling to their positions.
Muhammad Shahjahan, Jamaat’s regional director for Chattogram, told Prothom Alo that leadership passes to those whom district ameers groom as leaders. Therefore, he said, it is not true that new leaders are not emerging.
Pressure mounts after becoming main opposition
With 76 seats in the current parliament, Jamaat-e-Islami has taken its place as the main opposition party. This marks the party’s greatest success in parliamentary politics.
Its influence and political activities have grown since 2024 mass uprising, and it has attracted new leaders and supporters. Among them is former BNP MP Akhtaruzzaman, who joined Jamaat.
Jamaat’s senior leaders often describe it as a disciplined organisation whose leaders and activists do not act against the central leadership’s directives. However, after the party announced its candidate for the Cumilla-7 (Chandina) constituency in the last parliamentary election, local activists expressed anger. Supporters of the two sides were also involved in scuffles and clashes.
Party leaders believe that, overall, internal competition for positions and influence has also intensified.
On 12 October, Ahad Ali, president of Jamaat’s youth wing at the union level, announced his candidacy for chairman of the Uthali Union Parishad in Jibannagar upazila of Chuadanga, going against the party’s decision.
Ahad Ali declared his candidacy in defiance of the party after it nominated another candidate. He was later expelled from the party.
Jamaat’s senior leaders often describe it as a disciplined organisation whose leaders and activists do not act against the central leadership’s directives.
However, after the party announced its candidate for the Cumilla-7 (Chandina) constituency in the last parliamentary election, local activists expressed anger. Supporters of the two sides were also involved in scuffles and clashes.
In the last election, Golam Sarwar, also known as Sarwar Tushar, joint convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), was named the candidate of the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat for the Narsingdi-2 constituency.
However, Jamaat leader Amjad Hossain contested the election going against the decisions of both his party and the alliance.
Jamaat had also ceded the Chattogram-8 constituency to NCP’s Jubairul Hasan, the candidate of the 11-party alliance. However, Jamaat’s Abu Naser neither withdrew his nomination papers nor stepped aside from the election.
Sources within Jamaat say defying party decisions and engaging in clashes over positions could emerge as new challenges for the party in the coming days. This is why the party has taken the incident in Cumilla seriously.
However, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Abdul Halim believes that an incident like the one in Cumilla will not happen anywhere else.