COALITION-BUILDING AND ISLAMIST PARTICIPATION IN POPULAR UPRISINGS: EVIDENCE FROM JULY 2024 IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

The July 2024 uprising in Bangladesh marked a major episode of mass mobilization, as student-led protests against government job quota reforms rapidly evolved into a nationwide challenge to the Awami League. This study investigates the role of Islamist actors—including Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir, Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, and Islami Andolan Bangladesh—in shaping the movement’s trajectory. Using a qualitative research design, the study triangulates data from in-depth interviews with student leaders, political party representatives, journalists, human rights workers, government officials, law enforcement personnel, political scientists, legal advocates, and Islamic scholars, alongside media reports, organizational statements, and relevant scholarly literature. The analysis explores how Islamist groups navigated the interplay between religious ideology, political opportunity structures, and grassroots mobilization during a rapidly shifting political crisis. Findings indicate the emergence of strategic coalitions among Islamist organizations, secular opposition parties, and student networks, demonstrating how coalition-building enhanced the political visibility and legitimacy of Islamist actors within the broader protest movement. Islamist participation proved instrumental in sustaining protest momentum, expanding geographic reach, and reframing the uprising as a wider struggle against authoritarianism and structural injustice. The study contributes to scholarship on social movements, Islamist politics, and coalition dynamics in hybrid political contexts.