Bangladesh Elections: Jamaat-e-Islami's Rise Threatens State's Secular Fabric

• Bangladesh votes for a new government, but the real power struggle involves radical Islamist groups, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami.
• Interim leader Muhammad Yunus lifted the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing it to entrench itself in the country's political and governmental structures.
• Experts like Deep Halder suggest Jamaat is becoming a 'deep state,' aiming to control the state apparatus regardless of election outcomes.
• Jamaat, a transnational Islamist movement founded in Pakistan, seeks to establish a Sharia-based state, rejecting nationalism, secularism, and democracy.
• Concerns are rising about increased radicalization, restrictions on women's rights, and violence against minorities since Sheikh Hasina's ouster, mirroring past periods when Jamaat was in power.