HUNDREDS of thousands of supporters of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party rallied in the capital Dhaka on Saturday ahead of next year’s elections.

Th show of strength comes as the South Asian nation stands at a crossroads after the ousting of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the establishment of an interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. 

Jamaat-e-Islami, which sided with Pakistan during Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971, had many of its top leaders either executed or jailed that year on charges of crimes against humanity and other serious crime.

The party said on Saturday that it was demanding free, fair and peaceful elections, justice for all mass killings, essential reforms and the proclamation and implementation of a charter involving last year’s mass uprising. 

“Under Jamaat-e-Islami, this country will have no discrimination. All people will have their rights. Because we follow the path of the holy book, Koran,” said Mohidul Morsalin Sayem, a student.

The party’s chief, Shafiqur Rahman, said that the struggle in 2024 was to eliminate “fascism” from the country, but this time there will be another fight against corruption and extortion.

Hasina’s Awami League party has been banned by the Yunus-led administration and Ms Hasina has been in exile in India since August 5. She is facing charges of crimes against humanity.