Jay

Hundreds of opponents of Bangladesh's minority Muslim Ahmadiyya community have clashed with police during a march in the capital Dhaka.

The clashes occurred as supporters of the hardline Islamic group Khatme Nabuwat Movement tried to march to a mosque used by the Ahmadis.

The hardliners want the Ahmadis to be declared non-Muslims.

The Ahmadis, who number 100,000 in Bangladesh, do not believe Mohammed was necessarily the last prophet.

Rights report

Police used batons and lobbed tear gas to disperse the supporters of the Khatme Nabuwat Movement.


Witnesses said at least 10 people, including some policemen, received minor injuries during the clash that followed a noisy demonstration outside the main mosque in Dhaka.

Police said they retaliated after the activists threw bricks.

Friday's demonstrations were the latest of a series of protests against the Ahmadiyya community.

The hardliners demand that the government enact a law to declare the Ahmadiyya non-Muslim.

The sect has been subjected to a number of attacks across Bangladesh.

In June, the New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report accusing the Khatme Nabuwat and its allies of attacking Ahmadiyya mosques and beating and killing Ahmadis.

Last year, the government banned the publications of the Ahmadiyya but refused to declare it non-Muslim.

Junior Religious Affairs Minister Mosharref Hossain Shajahan said the government was aware about the fresh demands made by the hardline group but that they were not acceptable.

He told the BBC a few misguided people had chosen to take a hard line against the Ahmadiyya and they would be dealt with through administrative and legal measures.

Mr Shajahan also denied allegations from rights groups that the government was too soft against those targeting the Ahmadis.

"We believe Bangladesh is not a place for any extremist views. We are taking measures to resist them," he said.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4556318.stm

Great!! Pakistan under compulson had to declare them non-muslims and now Bangladesh!!

Bangladesh is treading a dangerous path towards extremism!!

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A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

Ray

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"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

Ray

Ray

Ray

Ray

Bangladesh : Islamists Press their Agenda Displaying Strength through Bomb Blasts

By Anand Kumar

Bangladesh is not new to bomb blasts carried out by Islamist extremists. But what happened on August 17 was unprecedented. Never before the country had witnessed serial blasts spread over almost all the districts. Life in the country came to a grinding halt as most of the government offices, schools colleges and courts were shut down after the incident. These serial blasts have put the Bangladesh government in a tight spot which has always been denying the existence of Islamists in that country. The Islamists on the other hand, with their growing strength have become impatient and they want to establish Islamic rule a reality without delay.

About 460 time bombs exploded in Bangladesh within a span of about half an hour in a well orchestrated countrywide attack. These blasts which were not intended to kill people but to convey the message of Islamists left two persons dead and over 150 injured. These attacks took place just two hours after the country’s Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia departed for China on a five-day official tour. Surprisingly, one of the time bombs went off on the stairs inside Zia International Airport , showing a gaping hole in the security system.

The attack that rocked the entire country was launched just four days after the home ministry gave directives to build a foolproof security measure across the country ahead of the SAARC summit slated for November 12-13. The summit was earlier scheduled for last February, but could not be held then as India was concerned about the deteriorating security situation in Dhaka . One point to be noted– has the security situation improved now?

The main targets of these attacks were government establishments, mainly the offices of the local district administrations and courts. Extremists exploded bombs at 28 different sites in the capital itself at Dhaka . Their targets included the high-security Bangladesh Secretariat, Supreme Court complex, the Prime Minister's Office, Dhaka Judges Court, Dhaka University, Dhaka Sheraton Hotel and Zia International Airport, Air Port rail station, a location close to the US embassy, police headquarters at Ramna, Hotel Sonargaon, Jatiya Press Club, New Market and the Bangladesh Bank. Similar blast also took place in Rajshahi, Barisal , Chittagong , Khulna and Sylhet. In Sylhet, among the bombed sites figured five small and roadside shrines.

One of the banned Islamist groups, Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, has claimed the responsibility for the attacks through its leaflets. These leaflets were circulated on the blast sites. Through these leaflets, the outfit has demanded establishment of Islamic rule in the country failing which they threatened to go for counteroffensive against the authorities. The leaflet read, "We're the soldiers of Allah. We've taken up arms for the implementation of Allah's law the way Prophet, Sahabis and heroic Mujahideen have done for centuries."

Jama'atul Mujahideen first came into focus on February 13 when seven bombs exploded at one of its hideouts in the Chhoto Gurgola area of Dinajpur town while its cadres were making bombs. Later it was found that this group had planned to set off blasts in different towns in northern Bangladesh . Two arms and explosives cases were filed and seven were arrested. But all of them were released later.

In August 2003, cadres of the JMB along with its top leaders Bangla Bhai and Shaikh Abdur Rahman were locked in a clash at a secret training camp with the police at Khetlal of Joypurhat. Most of the militants managed to escape leaving behind huge documents showing their subversive plans. Eighteen militants were arrested, including Rahman's brother. But a few days later, they were not only released, but the government transferred several police officials involved in the Khetlal operation.

At present, the group is believed to be headed by Islamic extremist Asadullah Ghalib, who is now in jail on charge of bombing some NGO offices including BRAC and Grameen Bank.

Last year, Bangla Bhai had claimed that his group has been active underground since 1998 and has three tiers of workers. He further claimed that the outfit has 10,000 full time workers across the country on whom Taka 7 lakh per month was spent. He estimated the total number of activists to be around one lakh.

Bangla Bhai also said he wanted to establish a Taliban-like rule. He reportedly said, "We don't believe in the present political trend. We want to build a society based on the Islamic model laid out in the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith."

Militants arrested by the Bangladesh police at different times have also spelt out the names of Bangla Bhai, Abdur Rahman, Asadullah Al Galib and some other leaders. Earlier this year, they had revealed that an explosion in Jamalpur was orchestrated by Abdur Rahman himself. Abdur Rahman's father late Moulana Abdullah Ibne Fazal was a member of Jamiatul Ahle Hadith which is now led by Galib. Moulana Fazal is accused of collaborating with the Pakistani forces in 1971.

Despite the unprecedented level of attacks and clear involvement of Islamists the Bangladesh government has still tried to absolve them. Although leaflets of banned Islamist militant organization Jama'atul Mujaheedin, Bangladesh (JMB) were found at all the explosion sites, State Minister for Home Lutfozzaman Babar refrained from putting blame on the militant organization for the act. In fact, he hinted towards the possibility of involvement of opposition in the serial blasts. He asked the agencies to launch countrywide raids to arrest the terrorists but restrained them from raiding madrasas and mosques unless there was specific information.

The BNP leaders of North Bengal , who allegedly promoted infamous Bangla Bhai have also refused to admit that Bangla Bhai and Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have increased their strength as the government deliberately overlooked their existence. The Member of Parliament from Natore, Nadim Mostafa reportedly said, "I believe this was done to sabotage the upcoming SAARC summit. Those who did it, did it to prove Bangladesh as a den of militants to the foreign countries. But I don't believe there is any extreme militant force in the country." Another ruling party MP, Deputy Minister for Land Ruhul Quddus Talukder said, "I don't think they (JMB) have such a strong network. Awami League must have done this using fake leaflets to destroy Bangladesh 's image internationally."

Similarly, leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, a coalition partner of the ruling BNP, have also blamed Awami League for these blasts. Jamaat leaders at a rally in Dhaka alleged that the Awami League conducted the unprecedented blasts as part of a blue print to make the country politically unstable.

Though, the intelligence and law enforcing agencies failed in their job, they also obliquely referred to the Awami League for being responsible for the bomb blasts. Many officials of the law enforcing agencies said a 'certain quarter' seeking political benefit from chaos and anarchy organized the bomb attacks. They alleged that this quarter wants to destroy Bangladesh 's image abroad. It also wants to create a rift in the BNP-Jamaat alliance and that is why the name of JMB has been used.

The bomb blasts were actually an attack on the democracy of Bangladesh . The leaflets found at the blast sites called for the establishment of Islamic rule. They called the present democratic system a creation of 'kafer' (infidels) producing two groups--the government and the opposition, dividing the nation thereby. The leaflet says, "Those who want to give institutional shape to democracy are the enemies of Islam…but if you, being scared of Bush-Blair clique, don't have the courage to establish Islamic rule, quit the evil politics of democracy."

The terrorists have clearly stated that they reject the Constitution and all the laws formed under it. In most of the cases, the targets of the blasts were government establishments like court buildings and offices of the deputy commissioners. The fact that in each district administrative offices and courts were bombed makes it abundantly clear that their target is the very foundation of the state.

In an appeal to bureaucrats and judges, the JMB called for stopping administrative and judicial activities under what they called evil laws of democracy, constitution and the government that did not establish Islamic rule. The leaflet also carries a call for all members of the armed forces, including army, BDR, police and RAB, to protect the laws of Allah instead of "evil laws" now prevailing in the country under the present constitution.

Earlier too, there have been attempts to wipe out opposition. The militants have targeted and killed a number of prominent opposition leaders. They managed to nearly assassinate opposition leader Sheikh Hasina. Jamaat leaders have also earlier talked of Islamic rule as their ultimate objective.

Islamic extremists, who were once hated in Bangladesh , have been gathering force for over a decade and half. They have not only increased their cadre strength but also gained political legitimacy by being part of the government. They are important constituent of the present ruling coalition. But being in government has not taken them away from their violent or extremist activities. The increasing strength of Islamists in Bangladesh has caused concern among the international community. But the leading party in ruling coalition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has always tried to underplay the existence of Islamists in the country. However, the latest series of blasts flies in the face of this claim. Islamists through these blasts, actually displayed their strength and countrywide network, which the BNP has been always more than eager to deny.

Concerned at the increasing strength of Islamists, the international community wanted Bangladesh government to take action against them. But the Bangladesh government always tried to deny their existence. To exert pressure on the government the donor community of Bangladesh called a meeting in Washington before the Bangladesh Development Forum meeting.

This decision of donors made the Bangladesh government take some action grudgingly. It banned Jama'atul Mujahideen (JMB) and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) in February 2005. But in the same breath, the government said that it took these actions to satisfy donors, though in reality no extremist organization exists in Bangladesh .

The Prime Minister, on March 15 denied any existence of Taliban and al-Qaeda. In her speech in the Jatiya Sangsad on that day she termed the reports about their activities nothing by the opposition's propaganda aimed at causing a rift within the four-party alliance. The PM said Islamic organisations have long been working to spread the message of Islam and its ideology. "They've also made an important contributions to maintaining social integrity and harmony. There's no allegation against them."

Similar comments were also made by the Industries Minister Nizami in parliament and at a public meeting in Dhaka . He had claimed that neither Jamaat-e-Islami nor any of the known Islamic organisations had a link to militancy.

But, the series of explosions in Bangladesh has made clear that the government can no longer deny that there is a problem of growing Islamic extremism in the country. By openly taking on the government with impunity Islamists would be now able to recruit cadres in greater numbers. The latest countrywide serial bomb blasts were not meant to kill people in large scale. They were only meant to convey the agenda of Islamists of establishing an Islamic rule in the country to the government. They also wanted to tell the government about the reach and strength of Islamist organizations in the country. The incidents were intended more to show the capacity to do harm rather harm at the moment. The militants just wanted to tell the authorities that they can strike anywhere at will if their demands were not met. These blasts also indicate the danger posed by the Islamists to the political system of the country in the coming days. But the impact of this Islamic extremism would not remain limited to Bangladesh and is bound to affect other territories which the world has seen in recent times.

http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers16%5Cpaper1506.html

(The author can be reached at anandkrai@yahoo.com)

Ray

indianguy4u

Ray Sir,
Being a bengali, i want to ask why the communist still have been in power, alive & well, when their ideology have been resoundingly defeated & thrown into garbage dumps.

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Hala Madrid!!

Ray

indianguy4u

After seeing the bihar experience, i am sure atleast booth capturing can be done away. The current EC has done such an yoeman's job, salute to them for making the impossible possible in bihar, & i am sure the commie dadagiri would/could be brought under tight leash. TAKE DOWN COMMIES!!!