Sociology has long asserted that family history and nurtured environments exert a far-reaching influence on human behavior and mindset. Political ideology, strategy, and values are often transmitted from one generation to another, from one group to another—not through blood, but through the continuity of thought and the alignment of political interests. Five decades after Bangladesh's War of Independence, this issue seems to have regained fresh relevance. Today, the arrogant presence of the ideological successors of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Ghulam Azam is noticeable in various parts of the country.

Nearly 99 percent of the Muslim population in Bangladesh belongs to the Sunni denomination. While Jamāʿat-e-Islami and its affiliate organizations claim to be the sole "true representatives" of Sunni Islam, their past and present political actions directly conflict with the core framework of Sunni values. In the past, Jamāʿat and its allies refused to recognize the Ahmadiyya (Qadiani) and Ismaili (Aghakhani) communities as Muslims; they even led movements to socially and politically ban Bahá'ís or Munkar-e-Hadith groups by declaring them outside the fold of Islam. Yet, in recent times, a striking shift in the political tone and posture of Jamāʿat and its allied forces has been observed—raising major questions about this principled transformation driven by their specific interests.

Particularly since 2024, the influence of Muhammad Ali Jinnah's political and ideological followers has become visible in Bangladesh. Events such as installing Jinnah's portrait at DUCSU or observing his birth and death anniversaries serve as clear indications. A review of history reveals that Jinnah himself was a master at shifting positions, ideologies, and strategies to achieve political goals. Thus, analyzing his family history, religious beliefs, and political character easily highlights the behavioral similarities shared by his ideological successors.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah's ancestral home was in Gujarat, one of India's major commercial hubs. His father, Jinnahbhai Poonja (c. 1850–1902), was a successful British-Indian merchant and founder of 'Jinnahbhai & Co.' and 'Grahams Shipping and Trading Company'. Poonja was born into a Hindu Kshatriya Rajput family in Paneli Moti village of Gujarat's Gondal state; later, in 1874, he married Mithibai of the Khoja community (a branch of Shia Muslims) from Dhafa village. According to Indian historian D. N. Panigrahi, despite belonging to the Khoja community, Poonja's family retained a deep influence of Hindu customs and culture.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born into this family on December 25, 1876. After completing his legal studies in Karachi and London, he began his career as a lawyer in Bombay. Initially working for Hindu-Muslim unity through the secular politics of the Indian National Congress, he joined the Muslim League in 1913 and intensified the movement for a separate state, "Pakistan," based on the Two-Nation Theory in the 1940s. In 1947, he became Pakistan's first Governor-General.

Despite not being a Sunni Muslim, Jinnah—the founding father of the Sunni-majority nation of Pakistan—lived a modern, secular, and Western lifestyle in his personal life and married outside his religion. By birth, he was a follower of the Nizari Ismaili branch of Shia Islam, prioritizing allegiance to the living Imam, the Aga Khan, over traditional prayers, fasting, and pilgrimage; later, he embraced the 'Twelver' (Imami) Shia school of thought. In the 1920s, he strongly opposed the Khilafat Movement. Even in his historic address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947, he explicitly stated that religion would have no role in the operation of the state and that citizens of all faiths would enjoy equal rights. Yet, at the final hour of his political career, he mobilized public support using the slogan "Islam in danger." At the time, Abul A'la Maududi and Jamāʿat-e-Islami sharply criticized Jinnah's vision for the state, labeling it "not Islamic rule, but the politics of Muslim power."

A review of political history reveals allegations that Jamāʿat-e-Islami in Bangladesh has, at various times, infiltrated its leaders and activists into the JSD, the Communist Party, the BNP, and even the Awami League to ensure its survival and power. A party that declared Qadianis and Shias non-Muslims is today using the very same Jinnah as its political shield—a man whose personal lifestyle and secular stance stood in direct opposition to their declared Islamic principles.

On one hand, the politics of religious bigotry; on the other, repeated shifts in principles and ideology for personal and party gain—is this persistent opportunism observed within Jamāʿat and its affiliates merely a historical and moral lapse, or is this hypocrisy ingrained within their political character? This question today looms large before conscious citizens.

Niharika Roy, Development Worker, Political Analyst, and Columnist