Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, has scored major wins in student council elections at two of the country's major public universities.

ICS won 20 out of 25 seats in the Jahangirnagar University Central Students' Union (JUCSU) election — just days after the ICS-backed United Students' Alliance secured 23 of 28 seats in Dhaka University, including the top positions of vice president, general secretary and assistant general secretary, according to local reports.

The student elections were the first polls to take place in the Muslim-majority nation following a student-led uprising that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.

Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir had been banned by Hasina's government under an anti-terrorism law. But last year Bangladesh's interim government revoked the ban, saying it did not find evidence of its involvement in "terrorist activities."

Islamists back on the scene after years of exclusion

Jamaat-e-Islami had sided with Pakistan during Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971. The independence movement was led by Awami League, Sheikh Hasina's party, which at the time was led by her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Later, during Hasina's tenure, top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami were either executed or jailed on charges of crimes against humanity and other serious crimes in 1971.

The party was banned from contesting national elections for nearly a decade. But it has recently been allowed to organize again after Hasina fled the country following her ouster. The current interim administration has banned Awami League's activities.

"You can call it a historical transition," Altaf Parvez, a political analyst based in Dhaka, told DW. "But this turn of events has not happened in a day. It happened over time."

"The Awami League has exploited the sentiments surrounding Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence in a way that undermines the spirit of inclusiveness," Parvez added.

Litmus test of national elections?

The leader of Bangladesh's interim government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, last year called for national elections to be held in February 2026.

Since then, the country's major political parties and blocs have shown a keen interest in the student union polls, considering them a litmus test of public sentiment ahead of next year's vote.

After winning the two student union elections, Jamaat-e-Islami's top leaders suggested that the result would be replicated in the national elections.

However, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which did not secure any of the 28 seats in the Dhaka University student poll, said that their performance will not be reflected in the upcoming national polls.

"I don't think this is a representation of what we are going to see in the national elections," Rokhsana Khondker, a Dhaka-based Supreme Court lawyer, told DW. "If you look at the history, student unions always reflected anti-establishment emotions. The ruling party supported candidates mostly lost in the important positions."

However, Rokhsana said that the student union election results can't be ignored "because it creates a perception which might have an impact. And this is a special situation." 

Political analyst Altaf Parvez thinks the results could have a hegemonic effect.

"It is clear that the votes or sentiments towards the Islamists have increased over time," he said.

Youth and electoral dynamics

In Bangladesh's 1991 national elections, Jamaat-e-Islami secured its highest-ever share of the vote, about 12%. Since then, its support has waned, dropping to just 4.7% in the 2008 general elections, the last time Jamaat was allowed to participate.

The party has been absent from the electoral scene ever since.

A recent national youth survey by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) estimates that nearly 22% of voters under 35 now support Jamaat-e-Islami, while 39% back the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition party.

With Bangladesh's median age at just 26, according to the UN, and a quarter of its population aged 15–29, young voters are set to play a decisive role in shaping the February 2026 election result.

SANEM estimates that almost half of young voters remain undecided — leaving significant room for political realignment in the months ahead.

Edited by: Keith Walker