At a time when the United States claims to champion peace and democratic stability, its reported outreach to Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh represents a dangerous strategic miscalculation.

By signalling openness to an Islamist force with a violent past and deep ideological affinity with Pakistan, Washington is effectively sidelining more mainstream political actors such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), further weakening Bangladesh’s already fragile secular balance.

A Jamaat-influenced or Jamaat-led political outcome would not only endanger minorities and internal stability in Bangladesh but also open India’s eastern flank to renewed Pakistani interference and terror networks. If this trajectory continues, President Donald Trump must intervene before the damage becomes irreversible.

Recent revelations about American diplomatic manoeuvring in Bangladesh have sent shockwaves across the region. The US, it now appears, is seeking to cultivate ties with Jamaat-e-Islami, an organisation that opposed Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation from Pakistan and has long served as fertile ground for Pakistani strategic interests.

According to a report by The Washington Post, US diplomats recently met Jamaat leaders at the party’s regional office in Sylhet, one of several engagements with Islamist elements ahead of Bangladesh’s........

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