The Bangladesh Tarikat Federation (; BTF) is a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

political party in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

founded by Syed Najibul Bashar of the

Maizbhandaria The Maizbhandari (), or sometimes Maijbhandari (), order or '' tariqa'' of Sufism within Sunni Islam was founded in the late 19th century by the Bengali Sufi saint Ahmad Ullah Maizbhandari from Chittagong. It is the only Sufi order to have or ...

tariqah A ''tariqa'' () is a religious order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking , which translates as "ultimate truth". A tariqa has a (guide) who plays the r ...

and some Pir-Mashaikh of Bangladesh.

Formation

The Bangladesh Tarikat Federation was founded in 2005 following Syed Najibul Bashar's resignation from the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

, as the party had allied with the

Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. The origin of the party can be traced back to the original faction founded by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi in 1941. The predecessor of Jamaat which is known as Jam ...

which Bashar accuses of supporting terrorists.

Elections

During the

2008 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awam ...

s, the federation had 45 candidates across the country but was unable to gain any seats. Following the

2014 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the term of the Jatiya Sangshad on 24 January 2014. ...

s however, the federation managed to gain two parliamentary seats; with Bashar in Chittagong-2 and the party's erstwhile secretary-general M. A. Awal in Lakshmipur-1. In 2017, Awal attempted to form a coalition of Islamic parties which would include the

Islami Oikya Jote The Islami Oikya Jote (, ''Islami Oikko Joţ'', "Islamic Unity Front") is a political party in Bangladesh and allied with the former Four Party Alliance. History During the legislative elections of 1 October 2001, the party won 2 out of 30 ...

along with the Khilafat Andolan, Faraizi Andolan and the Imam-Ulama Parishad. However, this attempt was opposed by Bashar, the chairman of the federation. On 17 April 2018, Bashar replaced Awal with Syed Rezaul Haq Chandpuri as secretary-general. The party sought 30 seats to contest the

2018 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was another landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance (Bangladesh), Grand Alliance led by Sheik ...

under the Grand Alliance. The party managed to only keep the Chittagong-2 constituency, which is also the headquarters of the

order.

Views

In reaction to the

July 2016 Dhaka attack On the night of 1 July 2016, at 21:20 Bangladesh Standard Time ( UTC+06:00), five terrorists took hostages and opened fire on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan Thana jurisdiction in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The terrorists entered the bakery with c ...

, Bashar claimed that the

Qawmi Madrasah Qawmi Madrasah (, ) is an adjective describing one of the two major madrasah educational categories in Bangladesh. The Qawmi madrasahs are not regulated by the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board. As private charitable organizations, Qawmi madra ...

system was to blame for the emergence of

Terrorism in Bangladesh {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Terrorism in Bangladesh , image = Bangladesch_Bombenexplosionen_JMB_2005.svg , caption = The bomb blasts carried out by Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh on 17 August 2005. ...

Election results

Jatiya Sangsad elections

References