Author: IANS
Publication: Thaindian News
Date: December 12, 2008
URL: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/bangladesh-islamist-party-pledges-military-training-in-seminaries_100130003.html
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's
largest Islamist party, has pledged the enactment of a blasphemy law and military
training for students of Islamic seminaries (madrassas) in its manifesto for
the Dec 29 general election, media reports said Friday. The blasphemy law
is meant to prevent the criticism of religion in books, newspapers or electronic
media and punishment for those responsible.
"All will enjoy religious rights, but
criticism or making bad remarks about others' religions is not acceptable.
There is blasphemy law in the United Kingdom and nothing is wrong about it,"
Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami said Thursday as he announced the party's
manifesto.
Blasphemy law exists in Pakistan where non-Muslims
are brought before law, and there is no bail. The cases generally lead to
conviction. Some judges who acquitted the accused were later killed.
"Madrassas and mosque-based mass education
will be given priority. Mass education will also be introduced in all religious
institutions," the Jamaat manifesto reads.
Along with students at madrassas, arrangements
will be made to give military training to citizens aged between 20 and 30
gradually under the supervision of the defence forces, it added.
The Jamaat, a key component of the four-party
combine led by two-term prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
chief Khaleda Zia, also promised to strengthen the liberation war ministry
and the Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust and increase allowances for the freedom
fighters' families, The Daily Star newspaper said.
However, Jamaat had opposed the liberation
war of 1971 that led to separation from Pakistan and emergence of Bangladesh,
and its current top leaders stand accused of collaborating with the Pakistan
forces in the killing of unarmed civilians and the intelligentsia.
Former freedom fighters and many parties campaigned
against Jamaat's recognition as a political party to contest the forthcoming
election. However, the caretaker government and the Election Commission, having
promised an all inclusive poll, ignored the protests.
The Jamaat, which wants to establish a rule
in the country based on the ideals of Islam, said it would initiate measures
to spread the ideals of Islam through all mediums, including radio, television
and newspapers.
Measures will also be taken to ensure that
other religious communities can perform their religious activities freely,
Nizami said.
The manifesto, however, did not make it clear
how the party would tackle religious terrorism or the global financial crisis.
Western think tanks have alleged that Islamist
militancy has been on the rise in Bangladesh since 9/11. The Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen
Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami (HuJI) were proscribed after protests
at home and an international outcry.
On religious militancy, Nizami said Bangladesh
has proved that terrorism can be uprooted within the shortest possible time.
"Some militants had started their activities
in the country in the name of Islam, but the BNP-Jamaat alliance government
resisted them strongly during its tenure", he said, adding that the bans
on JMB and HuJI were imposed when his party shared power with Zia.