Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ ইসলামী ছাত্রশিবির, lit. 'Bangladesh Islamic Student Camp'), popularly known as Chhatrashibir or Shibir, is an Islamiststudent organisation based in Bangladesh.[1] It was established on 6 February 1977.[2] The organisation functions as the de factostudent wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, with numerous former leaders advancing to hold prominent leadership roles within the party.
Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir was established on 6 February 1977 at the Dhaka University central mosque.[5] Their stated mission is "to seek the pleasure of Allah (SWT) by moulding entire human life in accordance with the code, bestowed by Allah (SWT) and exemplified by His Messenger".[5][3]
The organisation was under pressure from the previous administration led by the Awami League and its student wing Chhatra League.[5][3] It, along with Jamaat-e-Islami, were fully banned by the Awami League regime on 1 August 2024.[6][7] However, the ban was withdrawn by the interim government on 28 August 2024.[8][9]
Funding
Shibir members, who are students of many educational institutions are expected to donate monthly in the name of Baitul Maal (party fund).[10][11] There are also several publications that it sells in educational institutions.[11]
In February 2014, US-based defence think tank IHS Jane's published a report titled "IHS Jane's 2013 Global Terrorism & Insurgency Attack Index", where Shibir ranked third in a list of most active non-state armed groups in 2013.[17]
The organisation protested the study findings, condemning the ranking. Describing Shibir as a non-armed organization, it questioned the source behind the study, and said: "They did not mention any single incident in the report that could prove our involvement with any armed attack."[18]
Crackdowns
Since 2010, Shibir has been targeted by repeated crackdowns.[19] The former Awami League led government insisted that it is necessary to maintain public order and stop attacks on police, but Amnesty International sees them as political crackdowns.[20] Since 2010, raids on student residences have been carried out at random and any Shibir supporters found have been detained. In 2010, Government agencies received orders to conduct operations necessary to identify Shibir elements in educational institutions all around Bangladesh and uproot their influence.[21] Arbitrary arrests as police have made no efforts at the time of arrest to separate ordinary student members of the Chhatra Shibir from those suspected of involvement in the attacks and were denied Legal counsel.[20]
On 4 November 2018, police raided the Chittagong city headquarters of Chatra Shibir and later filed case against 90 Chittagong Shibir men over recovery of explosives.[22] It was the biggest police crackdowns against Shibir in recent times. Although the organisation denied any link to the incident and protested strongly against the case.[23]
On 5 February 2012 approximately at 1:00a.m., Al Mukaddas (22), fourth-year student of the Department of Al Fiqah and Mohammad Waliullah (23), a master's candidate of Dawah and Islamic Studies Department of Islamic University, were allegedly arrested and disappeared by some people who identified themselves as Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Detective Branch (DB) of Bangladesh Police from Savar, Dhaka.[24][25][26] Both were later found to be members of Shibir,[27] and were allegedly detained by members of the RAB and the DB of the police on 4 February. They have not been heard from since and their whereabouts are unknown. The RAB has denied detaining the two men in a statement to a Bangladeshi newspaper. However, reports from several sources and a pattern of disappearances thought to have been conducted by RAB in recent months cast doubt on RAB's denial.[28][29][30]Amnesty International along with other rights organizations expressed their concern over this issue and called for urgent action.[31]
On 5 April 2013 at around 2:25 a.m., RAB arrested Mohammad Anwarul Islam and Mosammat Nurjahan Begum of Angariapara village in Chapainawabganj from Rajpara Thana in Rajshahi District. Later, when family members contacted the RAB office, RAB notified that Anwarul had never been arrested by them. An allegation of enforced disappearance was brought against the members of RAB by Anwarul's family members. Upon inquiry, it was found that Anwarul was a last year master's student of Mathematics department of Rajshahi College. Moreover, he was the Office Secretary of the district Shibir of Rajshahi.[32]
On 21 October 2024, family members of six Shibir leaders filed complaints against RAB and DB in the International Crimes Tribunal over allegations of enforced disappearances. The Shibir leaders mentioned in the complaint are Shah Md. Waliullah, Md. Mokaddes Ali, Hafez Zakir Hossain, Zainal Abedin, Rezwan Hossain, and Md. Kamruzzaman. Shibir’s Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs, Amanullah Al Jihadi, stated that on 6 August, family members went to the RAB headquarters seeking information on the missing leaders but have yet to receive any information.[33][34]
