Islamic Democratic League

The Islamic Democratic League was a political organization in Bangladesh that brought together various Islamist parties on a single platform. The alliance was formed ahead of the second national election of 1979, where it succeeded in winning 6 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad. This marked the first major effort at uniting Bangladesh’s Islamist political groups under one banner. However, soon after its formation, disagreements emerged among the member parties regarding the alliance’s future direction and leadership. As a result, the coalition was unable to maintain unity and eventually disbanded.

History

The Islamic Democratic League was established in 1976 by Abdur Rahim and Siddique Ahmad. The party had former members of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Following the Independence of Bangladesh, religion based political parties, like Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, were banned. In the 1979 election, for the 2nd Jatiya Sangsad, six members of the party were elected to Parliament. In the same year, the government of Bangladesh revoked the ban on religion based parties which legalized Jamaat-e-Islami. Many members of Islamic Democratic League returned to their former party.