Author:
Publication: www.faithfreedom.org
Date:
URL: http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/MuktoMona40531.htm
To whom it may concern
We the free spirit, secularists,
and humanists Bangalees and other South Asians who belong to
Mukto-mona ( www.mukto-mona.com
), a cyber forum that promotes secular humanism throughout the world, are
unified to bring before you the news of an ominous development in Bangladesh.
These are facts that we culled from the newspapers published from Bangladesh
in recent weeks:
For the last several months (March
through May 2004) a group of Muslim extremists by the name Jagrata Muslim
Janata or JMJ (Awakened Muslim Masses) under the leadership of person who
goes by the name "Bangla Bhai" (Bengali Brother) is terrorizing the masses
in the western and southwestern parts of Bangladesh. This vigilante group
has taken law in their hands as they identify anti-social elements as per
their narrow definition and mete out vigilante justice. In most cases,
they kill the villagers in gruesome way often mutilating the victims' body.
In a particular case, one of the villagers was beaten dead by vigilante
outfit and then hanged upside down from a roadside tree. Another act of
cruelty of the gang of Bangla Bhai came to light last Friday as the three
pieces of sliced body of a villager was dug out of a grave near the Islamist
outfit's main camp in Naogaon.
The police had condoned the barbaric
acts of "Bangla Bhai" and JMJ cadres because they wrongly held the view
that this Islamic vigilante force is hunting down a group of outlaws who
belong to communist party. Starting from a lowly police constable and going
all the way up to Deputy Inspector General of Police, the law enforcement
folks in Bangladesh have aided "Bangla Bhai" and his vigilante force to
carry out innumerable vicious attacks on rural people. Often they have
targeted the Hindu minorities by labeling them as the sympathizers of the
outlaw communists. The police not only refused to act on the marauding
Islamic thugs but have given them a glowing encomium to hunt the communists.
The thugs took the advantage of villagers' aversion towards outlaw communist
cadres but their real goal is to enforce their dominance and spread ultra
Wahhabi doctrine among rural folks.
Reportedly two members of the parliaments
belonging to the ruling party who are from northwestern Bangladesh had
abetted the JMJ cadres as they ushered in a reins of lawlessness in the
affected areas.
Under pressure from newspapers'
write-up and donor agencies, the government finally issued the arrest of
"Bangla Bhai" but the arrest order took over two weeks to reach the distance
of hardly 100 kilometers. Surprisingly, the government is yet to declare
the Islamic outfit an outlaw organization.
The coalition partner of the present
government is avowed Islamists belonging to Jamaat-i-Islami party. They
have distanced themselves from JMJ but the truth to the matter is JMJ is
linked to Jamaat. The JMJ leadership and cadres aspire to make Bangladesh
a truly Islamic country by enforcing Sha'ria laws. Furthermore, the JMJ
men fought with the police on August 14, 2003 in Joypurhat under the banner
of Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB). After the government had outlawed
JMB outfit, the same group now took the name Jagrata Muslim Janata.
On May 21, 2004 the JMJ cadres staged
a boisterous rally in Rajshahi, the largest town in western Bangladesh.
The police, according to newspaper reports, had escorted the Islamists
to keep them harm's way from rival groups. However, hardly 5- 6 days later,
the same police said that JMJ men have gone underground and none of the
cadres can be traced never mind the leader "Bangla Bhai." The newspapers
now report that the JMJ thugs have levied tax (read protection money) on
villagers. Those who refused to pay the sum are subjected to physical abuse
and property damage.
The government of Khaleda Zia and
the home mister had essentially given impunity to "Bangla Bhai" and his
cadres for the crimes they have committed in which many innocent people
have lost their lives.
On May 28, 2004 several thousand
Muslim activists of the International Khatme Nabuwat Movement tried to
storm a minority sect Muslim (Ahmadiya)'s mosque in at Chittagong during
a planned demonstration. The police under pressure from wide publicity
generated by newspapers' report were able to halt the aggression but the
Islamists had defaced the mosque as they wrote slanderous remarks on the
signboard against Ahmadyyas.
All in all, the spate of attacks
by Islamists in Bangladesh has risen to a dizzying height. The writings
are on the wall that this nation of 140 million impoverished people is
on the way to become a hotbed of Islamic radicalism. Please use your good
office to persuade the Prime Minister to take strong actions against the
Islamists. If she kowtows Islamists to hold her coalition intact, the consequence
could be disastrous and pernicious. We feel time is running out; therefore,
strong actions are needed to stop the onslaughts of Islamists on innocent
people. The secular fabric of the nation should be preserved at all costs.
Lest we forget, the Bengalis fought with their lives in 1971 to establish
a secular nation, which they did. Sadly, a handful of army generals and
politicians have worked against the will of the people to make Bangladesh
an Islamic Utopia. Please lend your helping hand so that their evil design
is not materialized. The establishment of an Islamic nation in South Asia
will be fraught with fear. History is replete with examples of what could
go wrong if secular demeanor of a nation is compromised. And we do
not want to see Bangladesh take a retrogressive journey, which the present
government is preparing the nation to undertake.
Sincerely,
Mukto-monas
