This paper examines the relationship between Islamist political parties in Bangladesh and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that criticize them as “fundamentalist” and advocate secularism. The paper traces the process of formation of bipolar oppositions through mutual reference and criticism between religious parties, which seek to realize Islamic values in the public sphere, and NGOs, which attempt to separate religion from the public sphere through various issues over social developments.
Islamism is generally regarded as a political ideology or movement that seeks Islamic transformation of state and society. It is widely used as an alternative term to “Islamic fundamentalism,” which contains Orientalist bias.
First, the author examines the problem of typology of Islamic movements with a variety of different characteristics, and the relationship between madrasa schools, which provide a base of support for Islamic political parties, and public schools in terms of the place of religion in public education.
Next, the author examines the background of the conflicting relationships between NGOs and Islamic groups in the 1990s through and the formation of bipolar politics between Islamic parties and NGOs through the issue of Brahmanbaria incident in 1998. Finally, the author discusses 2001 parliamentary elections, in which the united front of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) made a breakthrough and formed the first coalition government with an Islamic party in Bangladesh, and examines the implications of this bipolar politics.
