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Islami Andolan Secretary General Yunus Ahmad said the initiative aims to expand dawah-based and organisational activities among women.

“Half of the country’s population is women. This initiative stems from the idea that female students should become highly educated and help carry out dawah activities,” he said.

He said work on the constitution, policy framework and organisational structure is underway to accommodate the change in policy.

Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Ameer Mamunul Haque, in a Facebook post on May 23, announced the launch of the party’s women’s and student divisions.

He said the party is advancing with a four-stage vision of establishing Islam, from personal practice to state-level implementation of Islamic principles.

Mamunul said divisions were formed to enhance women’s rights, responsibilities and religious consciousness.

Party Secretary General Jalaluddin Ahmad said a policy decision was taken at the central committee meeting in April, and membership recruitment is underway.

“Initially, women and female students will be organised under one platform, with the possibility of separate wings later depending on capacity,” he told The Daily Star.

He said online and offline programmes are raising awareness among women about dawah, social responsibility and political participation, and the structure will be formalised as membership grows.

Meanwhile, Khelafat Majlis Secretary General Ahmad Abdul Qader said the initiative stems from the need to engage a large section of the population in dawah and organisational work.

“There are millions of women in the country. It is necessary to expand Islamic work among them,” he told this newspaper.

Past structural limitations had previously restricted such engagement, but the environment is now conducive, he said.

Speaking on the matter, political analyst Altaf Parvez said Islamist parties are focusing more on female voters and students to build support bases and expand ideological influence.

“While political awareness among women has grown through education, technology and internet access, their participation in party structures remains limited.”

He added that the move could aid organisational expansion and ideological outreach and reflects a broader effort by right-leaning forces to reorganise.

North South University professor AKM Waresul Karim said some believe Jamaat received a higher share of women’s votes in the last election. “It can be assumed that other parties are also taking similar initiatives to counter or respond to that.”

He added that many students are enrolled in madrasas outside mainstream educational institutions. “A large portion of them are female students. Therefore, these parties may feel the need for representation there and to build capacity to compete with Jamaat.”