Dhaka, Feb 11 (IANS) With Bangladesh heading for polls on Thursday, election rules strictly prohibit exploiting religious sentiments for gaining electoral advantage, yet the parties and candidates from across the political spectrum ran paid ads and unpaid social media content portraying the rival camps as “bad Muslims,” local media reported on Wednesday.

An analysis of 50 sponsored ads between December 23, 2025, and February 6, 2026 reveals that both Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami candidates traded slurs, each labelling the other a “munafeq” – an Islamic term for someone who outwardly professes faith but is in fact a nonbeliever.

Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, reported 55 similar religiously provocative posts from 33 social media pages, groups and profiles, 30 of which appear to support the BNP and the Jamaat.

BNP supporters and anti-Jamaat activists promoted the claim that Jamaat leaders are offering “tickets to Jannah (paradise)” in exchange for votes.

On the other hand, Jamaat and its 11-party alliance partners are accusing their opponents of being “seasonal Muslims” adopting Islamic attire, donning beards and skullcaps during election season, to “deceive voters”.

Reports suggest that on January 28, the official page of Sharif Uddin, the BNP-nominated candidate for Rajshahi-1 and former defence advisor to former BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, ran a political ad on social media describing Jamaat’s tactics as deceptive.

“Asking for votes in the name of religion or promising tickets to Jannah is clear hypocrisy (Munafiqi); Allah has commanded us to stay away from such deception,” The Daily Star quoted Sharif as saying.

Just days later, on February 3, the social media page “Kazipur Daripalla Supporters”, which appeared to support Jammat Sirajganj-1 candidate Maolana Shahinur Alam, ran an ad in which Alam called those individuals who accused Jamaat of “selling Jannah tickets” as “seasonal muslims”.

“Bangladeshi politics has undergone a rightward turn. There is a demand-side factor. This shift has pushed Jamaat further to the right in order to cater to voters. In the absence of any strong left or centre-left alternative, the BNP had a chance to move left. But it did the opposite. To capture right-wing votes, it mobilised religiosity to counter Jamaat,” said Asif Shahan, who teaches Development Studies at the University of Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s elections are unfolding amid escalating political conflict, with critics warning that a shift in power could fuel Islamist extremism.

–IANS

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