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Minority lslam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh The Violent Road to a
New Brand of Secularism
MD Saidul lslam
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Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh: The
Violent Road to a New Brand of Secularism
MD SAIDUL ISLAM
Abstract
More than 85% of Bangladeshs 150 million people are Muslims. Bangladesh earns
its title as the third largest Muslim country of the world following Indonesia and
Pakistan because of its enormous size of Muslim population. Their religion, Islam, is
however becoming a minority day by day. While Muslims in the Westin spite of
being a minorityare enjoying their basic religious freedom, this basic right is
increasingly being denied to the Muslims in Bangladesh while it continues to
aspire to become a uniquely secular society. Based on a robust content analysis
and interviews, the study shows that the current regime in Bangladesh has taken
on a comprehensive policy of secularization with an aim to emasculate Islamic influ-
ence from political and social landscape of Bangladesh. Apart from undermining
basic religious freedom of Muslims, the policywhich turns out to be both aggressive
and violentis increasingly becoming hostile to democratic principles, rule of law,
freedom of movement, and political pluralism.
Introduction
Bangladesh, the third largest Muslim country in the world in terms of population, is cur-
rently undergoing a massive transition from predominantly a liberal Muslim society to a
uniquely secular society.
1
After two years of military-backed interim governments
rule, Bangladesh had a general election in December 2008 which brought the Bangladesh
Awami League (BAL)-led coalition to power with a two-third majority in the parliament.
Following the election, the people of Bangladesh and the international community
expected that this newly elected government would follow the path of democracy by
establishing the rule of law, cooperating with the opposition parties, and strengthening
the democratic institutions. However, reports in national and international newspapers
overwhelmingly show that the ruling regime has resorted to repression of the opposition
parties, particularly Islamic opposition, from the very beginning. As evident in, among
other sources, 2009 Human Rights Report: Bangladesh (US Department of State), the
regime has already created a reign of terror throughout the country wherein political ven-
detta, establishing torture cells in educational institutions, rapes, mounting violence, and
murders have become a regular phenomenon.
2
The rising expectations of the people have
turned into rising frustrations.
3
The process of secularization in Bangladesh therefore is
not smooth, but aggressive and violent.
Recently, Sabuj, a fourth year student of Social Work at Rajshahi University, was
severely beaten by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling
BAL, because he went to perform his prayer. Though he was not an activist of any of
their rival student organizations, his main offense was that he performs his basic reli-
gious dutiesprayers (salat).
4
In the same university, the Department of Sociology has
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 31, No. 1, March 2011
ISSN 1360-2004 print/ISSN 1469-9591 online/11/010125-17 2011 Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs
DOI: 10.1080/13602004.2011.556893
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banned female students for wearing hijab. The Department recently recruited four new
faculty members based on a condition that they would never show any religious
symbols and practices such as keeping a beard and wearing a panjabi outfit.
5
More
ironically, the reporters of this news are in constant threat from the BCL for revealing
these incidents.
6
Over the last few months, there have been many reports in which the women have been
detained, harassed, and expelled from dormitories solely for wearing hijab or carrying
Islamic books.
7
In Pirojpur, three young hijab-wearing girls were detained for more
than a month, harassed by the law enforcement authorities, and interrogated despite
having no allegation at all. They were only released with the interference from the
High Court.
8
Many others have been coerced to involve in illicit sexual service to the
male leaders of the ruling party,
9
and any refusal by those girls who were coerced into
such service has caused them detention, harassment, and assault after being branded
as fundamentalists by the government activists.
10
The above are just some of numerous other examples. In the context of the post-9/11
world, many countries are moving towards the process of secularization often limiting
and sometimes totally wiping out Islamic influence from the political and social land-
scapes. Perceiving and constructing Islam and its symbols as a political threat to the
local regimes and their relationship with the centre of the neo-liberal world, many
Muslim countries are aggressively trying to emasculate Islamic influence in politics.
The process of this emasculation often colludes with violent misrepresentation, discur-
sive construction of and labeling with derogative identities, and the discourse of secur-
ity.
11
Is the ruling regime in Bangladesh moving towards the same direction? If so,
what are the internal dynamics and socio-historical make-up of the regime? What policies
has the regime taken to establish a uniquely secular state, and what are the broader
implications of the policy? Based on a robust content analysis focusing more on the
local and international newspaper reports and other credible sources as well as interviews
with over five dozen Bangladeshi politicians and intellectuals on Bangladesh politics,
this paper will address these fundamental questions.
This paper is organized into five sections. Following this brief introduction, the section
below delineates the emergence of a new brand of secularism in Bangladesh, often
known as ultra-secularism, and how current geo-political interests of some dominant
regimes largely shape the triumph of this brand of secularism. The third section examines
the policy and politics of secularization in Bangladesh exposing the regimes interplay of
displacing Islamic forces from political and social landscape and reclaiming the empty
space by using varieties of apparatuses such as media, social, legal, educational, and
financial. The paper in the fourth section reveals some of the backup plans and prep-
aration of the regime to avert Islamic resistance and to address some possible disruptions
to be caused by its secularization policy. The paper concludes with a fifth section by
examining some implications of the policy and future direction of the nation.
Secularization: Brands and Geo-Politics
Secularism is a political ideology characterized by this worldly orientation and a separ-
ation of religion from the state.
12
Though the ideology wants the religious dictations away
from the state affairs, it does not necessarily negate or displace religion altogether. This
sort of political ideology emerged as a movement in Europe during the time of enlight-
enment because of dire corruption in the Christian churches and their conflict with
science that posed a hindrance to development and progress. Today, most secularists
126 Md. Saidul Islam
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in the West want this separation because of the religious obscurantism of the Church;
however, they want to confine religion in the private affairs rather than entirely discarding
or exterminating it. While many of them cherish a love for Christianity and its millions of
followers, they think that their religion does not have enough political and social
resources and philosophies to run a state in the era of modern democracy and pluralism.
Nevertheless, almost every country in Europe and North America has religion-based pol-
itical parties which have incorporated democratic principles. Notable amongst them is
the ruling party of Germany: the Christian Democratic Party. Ironically, the development
and philosophy of secularism in Bangladesh took entirely a different route.
The word secular is a very soothing and balanced term in the West as it stands for a
true secularism that allows the practices of each and every religion peacefully; however,
the brand of secularism advocated by the current regime of Bangladesh seems to be
entirely different. While there are some progressive secular people in the current govern-
mentalbeit as a minority in terms of influencewho are genuinely working for the
common good, most top policy makers and ministers today were once communists
during the Soviet influence and are committed to bringing back the Constitution of
1972 that guaranteed a Soviet-styled one party communist rule for perpetuity,
wiping out Islamic or other oppositions. This brand of secularism in Bangladesh is
often known as ultra-secularism
13
and sometimes neo-fascism.
14
The ultra-secularists in Bangladesh are often seen to maintain an extreme rebuff and a
total antagonism towards a particular religion, which in this case is Islam. Therefore, to
quote Abu Rawsab, the development of secularism in Bangladesh started through an
abnormal psyche, which is extreme opposition to and a deep-rooted desire of annihilating
Islam and its symbols.
15
Examining this unique brand of secularism, Abu Rawsab
further divulges,
[They] subscribe to their own brand of secularism not because Islam lacks pol-
itical and social resources to run a state, but because Islam is the only religion
that has the most comprehensive and humanistic political philosophies to run
a modern state into an exemplary welfare mode. This is why these secularists
devote their entire efforts not to propagate their political philosophy, but to
oppose Islam and its active followers. In their writings, speeches and other pol-
itical activities, they spend more time and energy in attacking Islam rather than
presenting their own brand of secular philosophies. Therefore, they are not the
secularists, but the ultra-secularists.
16
In the post-9/11 world where opposing Islam as a monolithic entity turns to be a good
market currency to gain dominant powers blessings and support, Abu Rawsab claims
that these ultra-secularists currently become very desperate to oppose and attack
Islam and Islamic political parties.
17
They are very vocal against Islamic fundamental-
ism, but their response to fundamentalism is even more fundamentalist in itself. They
posit themselves against fundamentalism; however, they themselves are imprisoned in
the shackle of an abhorrent fundamentalism. Bangladesh is now submerged in a horrible
impasse because of the deadly combination of these ultra-secularists and their method of
social genocide.
18
While Islam has always been a target of criticism by a cohort of secularists in Bangla-
desh, still people in general have enjoyed their basic religious freedom. Now, targeting
Islam, Islamic symbols, and Islamic personalities in the name of creating a secular
state is a state agenda of the ruling regime.
19
BAL, the party in power, is staunchly a
secular party and dreams of establishing Bangladesh as a model Muslim majority
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 127
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secular democratic state because not only of a party ideology, but also of a prescription
from India. At the very beginning of this regime, India expressed its expectation to see
Bangladesh as a secular state. It is because, among other reasons, Indias national
security interests dictate that Bangladesh is not permitted to be Talibanized.
20
More-
over, to reiterate, the grand alliance of the ruling regime consists of many hardcore
leftist communist parties that are often known as ultra-secularists.
21
The current aggressive secularization process undermining religious freedom can
easily be traced from the grand agenda devised by Sajib Wazed Joy, the son of the
current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and C. Ciovacco who jointly wrote a roadmap
of secularism in their article, Stemming the Rise of Islamic Extremism in Bangladesh
published in Harvard International Review (Nov 2008).
22
In the article, Islamic elements
within the army and the Islamic education (madrassa) system are perceived to be the
main obstacle in realizing the goal of secularizing Bangladesh. This article is believed
to be the blueprint for current governments plan of action, which they call a secular
plan for Bangladesh. With an ongoing war against Islamic politics which they call
Islamism, the article calls for secularizing madrassas (religious schools) as well as
the military and the whole administration. To them, secular schools devoid of any
religious teachings would be a deterrent to the monopoly on education that madrassas
currently enjoy. Relying on Saudi and Kuwaiti funding that dictates rote Koranic
memorization is counterproductive for a nation.
23
Though many assertions and
claims in the article are factually incorrect and not supported by any empirical proof,
the article provides both valid justification for, and a clear-cut road-map of, the state
intervention to emasculate Islam and its symbols from the political and social landscapes
of Bangladesh.
24
The Process of Secularization: Displacing and Reclaiming Spaces
Following the detailed mapping and strategies devised and orchestrated by Sajib Wazed
Joy and his American colleague who supported the US President George W. Bushs
relentless war on terror, the process of secularization in Bangladesh is now taking
various routes. All routes can be crystallized into two broad yet paradoxical approaches:
(1) displacing Islam and Islamic symbols from the political landscapes of Bangladesh, and
(2) reclaiming the entire space of Islam for BAL. The regime has taken the following
policies to displace Islam from political and social fabrics of Bangladesh.
Jongication of Islamic Political Parties
At the very beginning an aggressive attempt was taken by the current regime to link the
Islamic political parties with militancy (jongi). A massive propaganda was launched by
some ministers and some media portals at home and abroad to brand Bangladesh as a
Jongi State, perhaps to woo the Superpowers who are hostile to Islam and thereby to
earn an unequivocal support for the regimes action against Islamic political forces.
25
According to some analysts, some state-managed incidents of militancy were staged to
create a media-hype on this issue and to manufacture the consent of the public.
26
While there were some genuine elements of militancyalbeit as a fraction of the whole
spectrumin Bangladesh, the key strategy of the regime was not to address those but to
link those isolated incidents with broader Islamic political forces. Seeing it counter-
productive and damaging for the nations peace-keeping forces working under the
United Nations and migrant labors working abroad, the government has refrained
128 Md. Saidul Islam
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from this propaganda abroad, though propaganda within home (in Bangladesh) is still
going on in full swing.
One of the key impacts of jongification is what Abu Rawsab calls the social genocide.
What he means by social genocide is a systematic effort to targeting a particular pol-
itical community and deliberately ostracizing them through discursive concoction of lam-
poons and intentionally imposing negative and derogative connotations.
27
The
combined effects of jongification as colluded with social genocide generates the culture
of extreme hatred, division, tension and retrogressive politics which are continuously
driving [the] nation towards backwardness, and posing a great hindrance to development
and progress.
28
The ultra-secularist element within the regime is demanding an outright
ban on religion-based politics on the ground that they all are linked to militancy. It is
interesting yet ironic to see how the mainstream liberal Islamic political parties are rep-
resented by, and constructed with the image of, the worst deviated militants despite
having no relation with the militants at all.
Bangladesh witnessed some elements of militancy from some under-ground groups
such as Jamate Mujahidin Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat-ul-Jihad (HUJI) and both of
themare currently banned in Bangladesh, and their leaders were executed by the previous
regime. The mainstream Islamic political parties include Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam
(BJI, or Jamaat)
29
and Islamic Oikko Jote (IOJ) that formed coalition government with
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) during 20012006. While these two Islamic political
parties strongly denounced and condemned the militancy of JMB and HUJI and did not
have any record of militancy of their own, the ultra-secularists are trying to put
the same label of militancy on these mainstream liberal Islamic political parties. The
ultra-secularists are working mercilessly and violently with a dream of, what Abu
Rawsab calls, a total extermination of a religion and its symbolsfirst step of which is
banning the religion-based politics.
30
Discourse of War-criminals
To intimidate and eventually obliterate BJI (Jamaat), the largest mainstream liberal
Islamic party of the country, BAL along with its ultra-secularist alliance partners came
up with a plan to try the war criminals of 1971 and accordingly have created a discourse
in which they have selectively targeted only the leaders of the Jamaat. The regime has
already formed a special war crime tribunal to try and execute the so-called war crim-
inals. It is true that war crimes, alongside grievous oppression of civilians were committed
in the 1971 war
31
by the Pakistani forces, as well as widespread killing of ethnic Bihari
Muslims (who sided with Pakistan) by Bengali Muktibahini [Freedom Fighters] led by
BAL. News reports of NBC, telecasted on 30 and 31 December 1971, shows how the
Muktibahini has taken the law into their own hands committing mass genocide.
32
More than 30,000 Biharis were starving to death at the Adamji Jute Mill near Dhaka,
only because they wanted to remain with Pakistan in 1971.
33
Within years, more than
half a million were annihilated by the BAL and other Muktibahinis.
34
The recently
formed tribunal will not, however, try any of these proven war criminals. The top
Jamaat leaders who politically supported a united Pakistan but did not have any record
of committing war crime or crime against humanity have been targeted by the tribunal.
Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, 195 Pakistani army officers (and
not a single person fromJamaat) were identified as war criminals in the preliminary inves-
tigation by the then Bangladesh government. Following the Simla Treaty signed on July
2, 1972 between Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 129
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President of Pakistan a number of agreements were signed between India and Pakistan
regarding repatriation of the POWs. On 9th April 1974, an Agreement was signed
between Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan in New Delhi in which, among other issues,
the question of trial of the 195 POWs was raised and finally it was decided that they
would be repatriated to Pakistan along with the other prisoners without trial. Paragraph
15 of the 1974 Agreement is quoted below:
In the light of the foregoing and, in particular, having regard to the appeal of the
Prime Minister of Pakistan to the people of Bangladesh to forgive and forget the
mistakes of the past, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh stated that the Govern-
ment of Bangladesh had decided not to proceed with the trials as an act of clem-
ency. It was agreed that the 195 prisoners of war may be repatriated to Pakistan
along with the other prisoners of war now in process of repatriation under the
Delhi Agreement.
35
Thus 195 POWs (identied as war criminals) were repatriated to Pakistan, and their trial
as war criminals was nally abandoned. Had Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then Head of
the State and the founding father of BAL, continued the trial, it would have set a good
example for other perpetrators who commit similar cases elsewhere. On 24 January
1972, the government of Bangladesh enacted another law to try those who did not side
with the liberation war or politically opposed the call of liberation war or willingly
cooperated with the Pakistan Army or committed criminal acts. It was called the Collab-
orators Act, 1972. More than a hundred thousand persons were arrested under that Act.
Of them, 37,471 persons were charged. Another 30,623 could not be prosecuted for lack
of evidence. A total of 2,848 were brought to trial. Of them, 752 were found guilty. The
remaining 2,096 accused persons were found not guilty and therefore freed. Not a single
Jamaat leader was amongst any of the above categories. Taking into account the overall
situation (of discontent) obtaining in the country, in November 1973 the Government of
Bangladesh under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared a general amnesty
to close this dark chapter forever.
36
It goes without saying that the architect of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the
father of the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, thought it fit to wipe the state
clean of all conflicts, adversities and contradictions that cropped up during the liberation
war, by declaring a general amnesty. By virtue of the general amnesty, those accused or
convicted for minor crimes under the Act were all set free. But those accused of rape,
murder, arson or plunder were not pardoned. In other words, the general amnesty
kept the scope of prosecution and trial of those accused of such serious crimes under
the Act. On December 31, 1975, the Collaborators Act was repealed by a Presidential
order. After the amnesty, the Act remained in force for a little over two years. In that
period, no case was filed for the said four serious offences. Perhaps that was the logic
behind repeal of the law in 1975 by the government. Thus, the chapter of war crimes
and crimes against humanity was closed for good.
37
Though Jamaat politically supported a united Pakistan, none of the Jamaat leaders and
activists was ever convicted of war crimes. The attempt of the Bangladesh government for
trials of war crimes after 39 years is, however, according to many, a politically motivated
act.
38
It is claimed that the government is conducting a hate campaign against some
individuals before any charge has been brought against them, let alone be proved in
the court of law. Many apprehend that the tribunal will thus simply be a kangaroo
court. A list of 36 war criminals has already been announced even before the trial has
started and among them majority of them are from Jamaat. Few of them in the list
130 Md. Saidul Islam
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were even between 4 and 8 years old during the war in 1971.
39
It is further claimed that
while the issue of war crimes was resolved internationally (through Simla Agreement) and
nationally (through Collaboration Act), bringing it up again shows that it is highly politi-
cally motivated. Moreover, Bangladesh judiciary is now being subjugated by the current
regime, which Justice T.H. Khan calls, hydraulic pressure of the judges fromthe govern-
ment
40
and therefore a fair judgment is absolutely unexpected from this politically
motivated trial.
41
So far, the top five leaders of Jamaat including the Ameer (Chief)
Maulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid,
and Nayeb-e-Ameer (Deputy Chief) Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi have been
arrested by the regime before even forming any charges. It has been reported that they
have been blind-folded and tortured by the law enforcement authorities in the weeks-
long remand. Their basic rights including access to legal aids and medical treatments
have also been denied.
The skepticism and doubts about a free and fair trial remain largely intact. The law
under which those people (the opposition political leaders) are set to be tried is called
The International Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973. The tribunal will simply be a Kangaroo
Court because of the following reasons:
. The Evidence Act 1872 (I of 1872) and the Criminal Procedure Code 1898
(V of 1898) application have been excluded by section 23 of the International
Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973. Therefore, newspaper reports and hearsay evi-
dence will be accepted.
42
. International Bar Association (IBA) has found out at least 17 loopholes in The
International Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973. The act does not guarantee any free
and fair justice and protection for the convicted ones.
43
. Most of the judges and prosecutors are former party men of ruling coalition
and supporters of the current regime, according to various authentic reports.
44
. The tribunal will try crime against humanity rather than war crime.
Crimes against humanity described in section 3(2) (a) are very easy to
prove through producing false witness-evidences in a domestic perspective
and international community may be deceived. On the other hand, section
3(2) (d) describes war crimes which will be very difficult to prove, as all
players including India, Pakistan, Mukti-bahini all will come under the
purview of the established (and clear) international standard of law. War,
insurgency, civil war and other related terms would play a huge legal
role in case of war crime. It is easy to manipulate a witness for crime
against humanity than for war crime.
45
. According to various sources, the key architects of this tribunal the Ghatok
Dalal Nirmul Committee as well as War Crime Fact Findings Committee
have already produced concocted evidences through inducements and
threats. All these false but professionally prepared evidences will be
accepted in this tribunal.
46
. Media trial of some people, particularly Jamaat leaders, has been con-
ducted through constant propaganda. A list of war criminals has already
been prepared before any investigation began. The list is comprised of
people mostly from BJI and ironically includes some people who were even
48 years of age in 1971!
47
. The tribunal will try neither the actual war criminals, the 195 Pakistani army
officers who were identified as war criminals but got released after a tri-party
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 131
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agreement between Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, nor the Awami League
cadres or freedomfighters, who also committed war crimes, including brutally
killing many innocent people particularly Bihari Muslims in 1971. The tribu-
nal will try only some collaborators targeting only Jamaat leaders whosupporteda
united Pakistan; but belong to neither the cohort of 195 identified war crim-
inals nor of 752 guilty ones identified under the Collaborators Act, 1972.
48
. Finally, the current regime itself has a long record of crime against human-
ity (such as 151 extra-judicial killings in 2009) as well as the manipulation of
the legal apparatus and therefore expectation of a fare and free trial is a mere
dream from this regime.
49
The government is dictating the tribunal and it literally has power to determine which
offence allegation it will take into consideration depending on investigation. It will cer-
tainly be a sham trial to prosecute the political opponents, as apprehended in Holiday
International:
The whole move of the government so far seems to be interpreted by the inter-
national communities as nothing but an extreme political vendetta and is
intended to subdue the opposition party/parties. This is called victors
justice, which is a questionable justice. The regime has already started a
nation-and-worldwide campaign for this trial and obstructed the free movement
and overseas travel of the BJI leaders. If this highly disputed trial is conducted
unfairly, Bangladesh will certainly enter into another dark chapter of political
chaos, uncertainties, and most likely a civil war.
50
Recently a US Senator-elect John Boozman has urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to
bring necessary changes to the International Crimes Tribunal act in order to prosecute
war criminals for crimes committed during the war of liberation in 1971. US Senator-
elect made the call in a letter sent to the Prime Minister on December 7, 2010:
Many in the international justice movement commend the countrys precedent
setting efforts to create a war crimes tribunal, but wish to remove the strong sus-
pension that the Tribunal is being used as a tool for political revenge because of
its denial of fair trial standards to the accused. I encourage your government to
make necessary changes to the Act in order to comply with international stan-
dards as ratified in the Rome statute of the Internal Criminal Court.
51
Referring to the concerns raised by several international organizations, including Human
Rights Watchs Asia Division, the War Crimes Commission of the International Bar
Association and the War Crimes Project and Amnesty International that the Act does
not meet internationally recognized fair trial standards, the two-page letter said the Act
prohibits persons charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or other
crimes under international law to challenge any law providing for their prosecution and
punishment on the grounds that it is inconsistent with any provisions of the Constitution.
Thus, the Act cannot be challenged because it violates constitutional rights that apply
to other criminal proceedings. This renders the Act fundamentally at odds with the rule of
law that ensures equal treatment of persons before the law. It is therefore vital the Act be
updated to make the process compatible with international standards, said the US
Senator-elect in his letter.
52
It said since the Act should be amended to update the provisions to comply with the
Rome statute of the international Criminal Court, ratified in 2002, of which Bangladesh
132 Md. Saidul Islam
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is a signatory. Without the necessary updates, the Bangladesh Tribunal will continue to
be politically volatile and controversial, the letter said. John Boozman also said, I am
concerned that unless the law is updated to be consistent with international law it will
be impossible to adequately protect the human right of the accused.
53
Reverting to the Constitution of 1972
Along with the Jangification of Islamic Political Parties and the discourse of war crime tri-
bunal, the regime took varieties of other approaches to ban religion-based politics. The
current overall situation in Bangladesh essentially follows the inherent characteristics
and ideology of the main ruling party (BAL) that established a perpetual one-party auto-
cratic regime in 1972 by virtue of the first Constitution that was modeled after commun-
ism. As soon as BAL and its ultra-secular communist alliances re-embarked on power in
2008, they declared their commitment to run the country in the spirit of the Constitution
of 1972 and therefore wanted to restore that Constitution by any means. As a matter of
fact, the 1972 Constitution that established social communism made the then President
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as the
life-long President; blocked multi-party democracy; banned Islamic political parties,
associations and societies; and closed all Islamic institutions in a country where majority
of people subscribe to the Islamic faith.
The current Prime Minister has categorically declared her governments agenda to
restore the 1972 Constitution which has been repeatedly reiterated by different ministers,
including the Law Minister, Barrister Shafique Ahmed.
54
Since the current regime domi-
nated by leftist socialist-communism considers popular democratic Islamic parties
forming part of the opposition as the main challenge to its ruling ideology, the govern-
ment is determined to completely crush and ban Islamic politics. To do that, the govern-
ment by using the legal apparatus has managed to outlaw the the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution in 1975 (after the Mujib era) that established absolute trust in God and
deleted secularism. This amendment was declared illegal by Supreme Court in January
2010, and the Law Minister vowed to restore the constitution of 1972 and ban reli-
gion-based politics. First Constitution in 1972 was modeled on a social communism
that blocked multi-party democracy; banned religion (basically Islam) based parties,
associations and societies; curbed media freedom; and incorporated some fundamental
principles such as nationalism, secularity, democracy and socialism.
55
Massive Crackdown on Islamic Parties
In recent months, the government has been launching a massive crackdown on activists
and supporters of the opposition Islamic parties. Though this type of action by a demo-
cratically elected government is unwarranted and a major blow to the fundamentals of
democratic principles,
56
the government is using its state machineries to systematically
undermine these basic principles. It appears that the ongoing oppression of the
opposition, especially Islamic forces, is quite ill-conceived by the present government
and mainly targets to eliminate the Islamic forces from Bangladesh.
57
Thousands of
opposition activists have been arrested in a massive security crackdown over the past
few months.
58
In February 2010, Faruk, a university student from the ruling party, was killed during a
clash between BCL that established a monopolistic reign forcing their political opponents
out from the campus and Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the largest democratic Islamic
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 133
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student organization and the student wing of Jamaat. Although this murder case is under
investigation and no one has been found guilty so far according to police investigation or
in the court,
59
and there is media reports that the student was probably killed by the ruling
party student wing members because of infighting,
60
the government has categorically
blamed ICS for this murder. Based on this (unfounded) claim, the government has
taken massive nationwide steps to harass and outlaw ICS and other democratic Islamic
organizations. The Home Ministry ordered all government agencies to carry out
combing operation to uproot ICS throughout the whole country. Since then, two
ICS activists have been brutally killed and many hundreds have been arrested, attacked,
wounded, traumatized, and are being tortured in police custody. BNP, the main opposi-
tion party in Bangladesh, has called these government steps as state terrorism and
license to create anarchy.
61
It is also clear from a recent statement by human rights
organization Amnesty International where it says:
While members of the Islami Chhatra Shibir have been the main targets of the
mass arrests, [ruling partys student wing] Bangladesh Chhatra League activists
have continued to clash and attack opposition supporters, with no accountabil-
ity. The one-sided manner in which the police have carried out the arrests so
far indicates that criminal investigations into the violence are unlikely to be
impartial or fair. The governments politically motivated response to the vio-
lence has allowed attacks by members of the ruling partys student wing to con-
tinue, including against news reporters covering these attacks.
62
Besides universal human rights violations, it clearly violates the Bangladesh constitution
that says: All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.
63
On the same day when Faruk was killed, BNP councilor Ahamad Hossain of Dhaka City
Corporation Ward-70 was murdered as he was leaving masjid; robbers looted a residence
at East Goran in Dhaka and killed an old woman of the family; ruling party extortionists
beat up and shot on the right leg of a businessman named Alamgir Hossain in Jessore as
he refused to pay toll and as he sought police help; about 30 people were injured as fac-
tions of Awami League clashed in Narayanganj and Chuadanga. The list of such inci-
dents that occurred on the day Faruk died goes on. Days before, Abubakar Siddique, a
meritorious student of Dhaka University hailing from a poor farmer family had to give
his life for the factional clashes of BCL in Sir AF Rahman Hall of the University; only
a month ago, a Bangladesh Chhatra Maitree leader Rejanul Islam Chaudhury Sunny
was killed in broad daylight by Chhatra League hooligans at the campus of Rajshahi
Polytechnic Institute; months ago, the general secretary of Shibir unit of Rajshahi
University, Sharifuzzaman Nomani was killed by BCL cadres at the University.
Chhatra League activists of Dhakas Cantonment unit killed their leader AKM Faruk
Hossain on 12 February 2010.
64
However, as Chaudhury laments:
No investigation committee was formed and no arrest was made after the death
of Sunny and Nomani. Nor did those deaths make big newspaper headlines for
consecutive days. In the last few decades about 135 Shibir leaders and activists
were killed in different educational institutions of Bangladesh and many of them
by Chhatra League [S]ince Awami League took office on 6 January 2009, at
least five students have been killed and hundreds injured across the country, and
all involving Chhatra League. No murder or violence committed by Chhatra
League prompted any call for banning its politics, there was no mobilization
of police forces, no police officer was suspended for negligence of duties, no
134 Md. Saidul Islam
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ministers appeared on the media with a declaration of war on the criminals, no
ministers called on the police to launch a crack-down on Chhatra League, no
offices of Awami-Chhatra-Jubo League were attacked or burnt down, no
senior police officer had to rush to the scene, so on and so forth. The list of
such non-action upon the hooliganism of Chhatra League goes on.
65
The AL regimes continuous crackdown has gone on unabated since it came to power this
time in early 2009, and it has exacerbated with the issue of Faruks death at Rajshahi
University. According to media reports, polices role while he was killed has remained
mysterious; and, Jamaat-Shibir (JS) people have categorically denied having anything
to do with the death of Faruk. However, the way JS people have been apprehended
and tortured in police custody and by people linked with the regime has dwarfed the
records of all such political crackdowns in Bangladeshs recent history.
66
In the context of post-9/11 world, where limiting and wiping out Islamic influence in
politics is not only desired but an active goal of many regimes, crackdown on Jamaat and
Shibir by the current regime ironically goes on without much criticism. Under the cir-
cumstances, the silence of the civil society within the country and of the rights groups
both local and international provokes a consistency check on their concerns for basic
human rights and civil liberties. As Chaudhury asserts, If an Islamic political party
were not the target of these state surveillance and repression, we must have seen by
this time a lot of local and foreign media coverage and outcries of the rights groups
internationally. Except for a mild statement from some human rights groups, we
have not seen any concerns of international organizations or foreign missions in Dhaka
about the months-long political tyranny in Bangladesh. This reticence of the advocates
of human rights questions their doctrinal commitment to the principles of human
rights and political freedom he added.
67
Jamaat has a long record of participation in the democratic movements both in Pakistan
and Bangladesh
68
as well as in national elections since 1962.
69
Based on the previous few
elections, Jamaat currently has about 12 million active supporters,
70
which is about 15%
of the total voters.
71
As Jamaat participated in the coalition government of 2001, its
Ameer (Chief) Mawlana Matiur Rahman Nizami held the portfolios of Ministry of Agri-
culture and Ministry of Industries while its Secretary General Mr Ali Ahsan Muhammad
Mujahid held the portfolio of Ministry of Social Welfare. It is accepted even by the
opponents of Jamaat that those Ministries were run efficiently and honestly. While cor-
ruption is widespread and deeply rooted in Bangladesh and thus the corruption reports
of Transparency International have made Bangladesh as one of the top corrupted
countries of the world, the two Jamaat ministers made for the first time in the nations
history an astonishing record of no corruption at all in their ministries. It may be men-
tioned that BNP could not have formed the government in 1991 without the support
of the Jamaat in Parliament. Despite having a strong base in Bangladesh politics with
proven record of honesty and efficiency, Jamaat is in constant threat of being banned.
Though the party has yet to be outlawed, all of its public programs have been either
banned or foiled by the regimes since early 2010. Jamaat leaders are also banned from
travelling abroad and being obstructed from movement within Bangladesh.
Controlling Islamic Institutions
Several ministers, particularly the Deputy Law Minister, Advocate Kamrul Islam, are
now vociferously talking about the taking over of the Islamic institutions such as
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 135
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Islamic Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL), Ibne Sina Trust (IST) and other Islamic
Insurance companies that, according to the ministers, use their profit to nurture
Islamic extremism and to foil the war crime tribunal.
72
These institutions however
strongly protested and denounced the Ministers claims saying that IBBL and IST are
closely supervised and audited regularly by the Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Ban-
gladesh, and National Board of Revenue (NBR) respectively and therefore it is simply not
possible for public limited company and welfare trust to manipulate accounts and divert
funds.
73
Nevertheless, the regimes negative propaganda against and the crackdown on
Islamic Institutions are going on often in an open manner.
The government has recently frozen the bank accounts of Maulana Delwar Hossain
Sayeedi, the Nayeb-e-Ameer (deputy chief) of Jammat, and Mir Kashem Ali, also a
central leader of Jamaat and Chairman of Diganto Media Corporation, and of seven
members of his family,
74
as a starting point to crack the financial strength of Jamaat
and its leaders. This move has been justified by the regime on several grounds. Since
all leaders of Jamaat are war criminals, said Sajeda Chaudhury, a top leader of BAL,
Its totally legitimate and justified to loot money and property from Jamaat and to
spend them for the people of Bangladesh.
Secularizing Education
The government has already devised a grand plan to change the entire education system
in the light of secularism. Critics think that this new policy is nothing but a propaganda
education that grossly undermines religious and moral education. The Supreme Courts
judgment that made the Fifth Amendment to the constitution illegal is being used as a
justification to instate a purely secular education. The Law Minister, Shafique Ahmed,
has said that Bangladesh is set to reintroduce secular education in the country following
a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court that made it illegal to mix religion with poli-
tics. The apex court verdict has paved the way for reintroduction of the original spirit of
the 1972 constitution while the government has already prepared a draft for education
with the spirit of secularism, the Law Minister told a convention of teachers in Dhaka.
75
A secular education policy has recently been passed by the current regime.
Banning Religious Gatherings
The government has already banned major religious gatherings in Bangladesh including
yearly Tafsirul Quran Mahfil in Chittagong that brings together about a million Muslims.
Prominent religious preachers such as Allama Delwar Hossain Sayedi and Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad have been threatened by the state authorities, and banned from speaking in
religious gathering on the pretext that they preach fundamentalism. The government
has also warned its activists about, and instructed to keep an eye on, the mosque-
going people. Any opposition to the current regime is confronted through filing cases
(mamla) and physical assaults (hamla).
76
Changing Muslim Family Law
Concerted efforts are being made by atheistic, ultra-secularist and socialist forces within
the regime to remove Islamic principles in the Bangladeshi legal sphere related to family
life, in the name of emancipation of women. The Prime Minister recently vowed to
136 Md. Saidul Islam
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change the Muslim Family Law on inheritance that, according to her interpretation,
undermines the equal rights and dignity of women.
77
Apart from the above, there are also many reports about political profiling in army and
administration and about forceful retirement and dismissal of many officers who bear
Islamic symbols and practices and are alleged to have different political views. On the
other hand, political loyalty to the current regime and hostility to Islam have become
the key market currency to get promotion and tenure.
Averting Islamic Resistance
In Bangladesh religion, particularly Islamis a deep-rooted social institution. Social norms
and other interactions in the country have largely been originated and are guided by
Islamic principles. Therefore, abrupt replacement of Islam from the social fabrics and
political arena will potentially disrupt social cohesion to and generate massive opposition
from the masses. To avert this imminent disruption and opposition, the current regime
has adopted some approaches, which are both paradoxical and diametrically opposed
to one another.
First, the regime provides a prescriptionthat BALis the only party that takes care of Islam
more than anyone else. H.T. Imam, an adviser of the Prime Minister, while speaking on a
seminar on War Crime Tribunal fromIslamic Perspective held in Bangladesh Engineers
Institute on 2nd April 2010, said, Awami League is the only Islamic Party in Bangla-
desh.
78
With an aim of constructing Jamaat with entirely a negative image, he added,
Jamaat does not believe in real Islam; they keep fasts but beak their fasts with Whisky.
A case was filed against H.T. Imam for making such a derogatory remark, but it was dis-
missed by the state authorities. A state-sponsored author claimed Bangobondhu Shaikh
Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of BAL, was among the Khalifatul Muslimeen. He
further comments that BALs doctrine is secularism, and denying secularism is tanta-
mount to denying the Quran[?]. Previously, some BAL sponsored ulema declared a
fatwa that Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rahman was one of the great friends (wali) of
God. Therefore, denying the contribution of Bangobondhu is tantamount to denying
God; and if anyone opposes his party Awami League, he/she will be expelled from the
fold of Islam.
79
Claiming the entire space of Islamfor her party and excluding others, Agri-
culture Minister Motiya Chaudhury said, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is the
ummat of Zia, Jamaat is the ummat of Nizami, and the activists of Awami League are the
ummat of Prophet Muhammad.
80
Though all these efforts of the current regime are
directed to displace the existing Islamic parties fromthe political landscape and thereafter
reclaiming the entire space for the ruling party, they are largely interpreted as an ideologi-
cal devise and a legitimate guise to avert peoples attention from their politics of secu-
larism.
The second approach of the regime is to find alternative social institutions such as
Rabindra Adoration that can be substitute to, and eventually replace, Islam. While
all state programs traditionally starts with the recitation of some verses of the Quran,
and sometimes with verses from the Quran, the Bible and the Tripitok in a row, the
Finance Minister recently altered this ritual and started a program with Rabindra
Sangeet, the song of poet Rabindranath Tagore. In another gathering, he declares that
religious fundamentalism must be dealt with and replaced by Rabindra adoration.
81
In the same program, Professor Nurul Islam, a BAL-leaning scholar, said, We all get
fascinating, progressive and independent religious doctrines from the life of Tagore;
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 137
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and if we can propagate this religion in every home in Bangladesh, the nation will
become a Sonar Bangla [golden Bangladesh].
82
Finally, between the above two diametrically opposed approaches, the regime also thinks
of forming an alternative religious party, tentatively named as Jamiyat-e-Ulama Bangla-
desh that will function in various ways. When existing Islamic parties that provide political
threat to the current regime will be officially banned, this newparty will fill the vacuumand
avert the resistance from the angry Muslims. The party will remain subservient to Awami
League as a pocket organization thus providing strength as an Islamic label rather than
a threat to the current regime.
83
As the new party will provide an alternative avenue for
Muslims in an absence of other Islamic parties, the process of de-Islamization in order
to create a uniquely secular state will go on without significant resistance.
Conclusion
Many experts on Bangladesh politics apprehend that the way the current regime is
moving towards radical secularization will potentially generate a civil war and the
nation will fall into a deep quagmire of political chaos, social upheaval, and long-term
uncertainties. The regime is committed to uprooting what it calls religious fundament-
alism from politics by eliminating or at least containing Islamic political parties.
However, the regimes response to so-called fundamentalism is inherently fundamen-
talist in itself. What we see is that the violent process of secularizationwhich is largely
justified in the context of post-9/11 world to limit and emasculate Islamic influence in
political and social landscapesis ironically threatening democratic principles, rule of
law, freedom of movement, and political pluralism. Many experts apprehend that if the
Islamic parties are denied the democratic and political rights, and their members are
oppressed and executed the way the current regime is doing, there is a possibility that
some members of the Islamic parties will resort to violence and terrorism.
The aggressive policies of the secularization process in Bangladesh are not of good taste
for the majority of people. Opposition to and a movement against the regime is therefore
mounting. The danger for this regime is that all the adopted policiesboth displacing
and reclaimingare largely viewed as violent imposition rather than a logical conse-
quence of the peoples opinion. The ultra-secularist element with the regime is a minority
in terms of number but a majority in terms of influence and power. The aggressive pol-
icies of secularization are largely driven by this influential few. In the present era, any
policy devoid of public trust and support, social justice, transparency and accountability
not only is bound to fail, but also backfires at the policy-makers in a very painful way. The
people in Bangladesh are historically volatile and hot-blooded and do not endure violent
imposition for long time. If the regime fails to get a lesson from history, it will certainly
get a lesson to fail.
NOTES
1. The blueprint for this uniquely secular state was presented by Sajib Wazed Joy and C. Ciovacco
in their article Stemming the Rise of Islamic Extremism in Bangladesh published in Harvard
International Review, November 2008. The blueprint devised by Sajib Wazed, the son of the current
Prime Minister, (presented as the adviser of Bangladesh Awami League in the article) and his Amer-
ican colleague, an active supporter and a veteran of Iraq war as well as an expert on the media strategy
of Al-Qaeda, was published just before the last general election in Bangladesh. The article can be
accessed at: http://www.harvardir.org/index.php?page=article&id=1784
2. The report is available at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/sca/136085.htm
138 Md. Saidul Islam
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3. For more information on human rights violations currently ongoing in Bangladesh please visit the
website of Odhikar, a human rights organization, at: http://www.odhikar.org/index.html.
4. The Daily Dinkal [national newspaper], Dhaka, 5 April 2010.
5. Panjabi is a local dress largely regarded as a religious symbol. See, Daily Amar Desh [national news-
paper], Dhaka, 3 April 2010.
6. Daily Amar Desh, 7 April 2010.
7. Daily Amar Desh, February 19, 2010.
8. RTNN (Real Time News Network), 21 July 2009.
9. For a detailed account of this, New Age, a National English Daily made an editorial entitled, Chhatra
Leagues sexual offences: A widespread state of denial available online at: http://www.newagebd.
com/2010/apr/19/edit.html
10. Daily Amar Desh, March 17, 2010.
11. For more on this, see M. S. Islam, Muslims in the Capitalist Discourse: 9/11 and Its Aftermath in
Journal of Muslim Monority Affairs, Vol. 25, No. 1, April 2005, pp. 312.
12. A.R. Moten, Political Science: An Islamic Perspective, London: Macmillan. St. Martins Press, 1996.
13. Abu Rawsab, Rise of a Unique Secularism in Daily Independent, Dhaka, 3 February 2010.
14. F. Mozhar, Election, Secularism, and American WarW Strategy in South Asia, in Daily Naya
Diganto, Dhaka, 22 November 2008.
15. Abu Rawsab, Rise of a Unique Secularism, op. cit.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Haider, Zaglul. State Ideology in Bangladesh: Secularism versus Islam, Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the ISAs 49th Annual Convention, Bridging Multiple Divides, Hilton,
San Francisco, CA, USA, Mar 26, 2008.
20. Suhgash Kapila, Bangladesh Misperceives New Indian Governments Foreign Policy Thrust: An
Analysis, in South Asia Analysis Group, June 2004. Available online at: http://www.southasiaanalysis.
org/%5Cpapers11%5Cpaper1017.html,
21. Abu Rawsab, Rise of a Unique Secularism, op. cit.
22. Sajeeb Wazed and Carl Ciovacco, Stemming the Rise of Islamic Extremism in Bangladesh, op. cit.
23. Ibid.
24. F. Mozhar, Election, Secularism, and American war Strategy in South Asia, op. cit.
25. Abu Rawsab, Rise of a Unique Secularism, op. cit.
26. M. Rahman, The Hundred Days of Digital Change (Eksho diner digital din-bodol), in Daily Amar
Desh, Dhaka, 16 April 2009.
27. Abu Rawsab, Rise of a Unique Secularism, op. cit., p. 5
28. Ibid.
29. Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat) is one of the oldest parties in the sub-continent. It was rst organized in
British India in 1941. Jamaat started its work in what is nowBangladesh in the 1950s. Jamaat is a mod-
erate Islamic political party that believes in democracy, human rights and is committed to upholding
the rule of law. Jamaat wants to establish a just society through democratic principles and democratic
process only. For more on Jamaat, its history and presence in the Sub-continent please visit: www.
jamaat-e-islami.org
30. Abu Rawsab,Rise of a Unique Secularism, op. cit.
31. Until 1971, Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, was a part of a larger Pakistan including the former
West Pakistan. Bangladesh got its independence in 1971 following a bloody civil war India politi-
cally and militarily supported Bangladesh to secede and become independent from Pakistan.
32. The evidences are still available, for example in, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GXNZTXsV2I&
NR=1, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzMFNCo4q7M&NR=1.
33. The Daily Tribune, 3 January 1972.
34. See for example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0hSH5ctyk0&NR=1
35. See, War Crime Lawand Constitution. Available online at:http://jamaat-e-islami.org/index.php?option=
com_publication&task=detail&info_id=25.
36. Ibid.
37. For details, see M.A. Jalil, War Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh: A Real Political Vendetta, in
Journal of Politics and Law, Vol. 3, No. 2; September 2010, pp. 110120.
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 139
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38. For example, all speakers in a round-table seminar organized by the Centre for Social Studies (CSS) in
Rajshahi opined that the issue of war crime has been used entirely for political purpose. See, Daily
Naya Diganto, 9 September 2009.
39. Daily Amar Desh, 28 March 2010.
40. Daily Naya Diganta, 25 April 2010. Available online at: http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/fullnews.
asp?News_ID=207876&sec=2
41. Daily Amar Desh, 16 February 2010.
42. See, A. Rawsab, War Crime Tribunal: Why is it a Kangaroo Court? in Sonar Bangladesh. Available
online at: http://www.sonarbangladesh.com/article.php?ID=2297.
43. See, David Bergman, War Crime Law Falls Short, in bdnews24.com (March 15, 2010). Available
online at: http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=155832&cid=2
44. For details, see Advocate Noyon Khan, How was the Formation of the Tribunal? [Kemon holo tri-
bunal ghothon], in Sonar Bangladesh. Available at: http://www.sonarbangladesh.com/article.php?ID=
2304; and How was the Appointment of Judges? [Kemon holo bicharpoti niyog?], in Sonar Bangla-
desh. Available at: http://www.sonarbangladesh.com/article.php?ID=2444
45. Abu Rawsab, War Crime Tribunal Also in SAVEBDSAVEBD: http://www.savebd.com/articles/
ten-reasons-why-the-war-crime-tribunal-is-bound-to-be-a-kangaroo-court/
46. Abu Rawsab, Jamat-Shibir: Terrorists or Victims of Terrorism?, in Sonar Bangladesh (13 February
2010). Available online at: http://www.sonarbangladesh.com/article.php?ID=1993
47. S. Serajul Islam and M. Saidul Islam, A Free and Fair War Crime Tribunal in Bangladesh, in
Holiday International, April 2, 2010. Available online at: http://www.weeklyholiday.net/2010/
020410/com.html
48. Ibid.
49. Abu Rawsab, War Crime Tribunal. Also in SAVEBDSAVEBD: http://www.savebd.com/articles/
ten-reasons-why-the-war-crime-tribunal-is-bound-to-be-a-kangaroo-court/
50. S. Serajul Islam and M. Saidul Islam, op. cit.
51. Bangladesh Law House, US Senator-elect urges PM: Make ICT Act compatible with rule of law,
December 26, 2010. Available online at: http://bdlawhouse.blogspot.com/2010/12/us-senator-elect-
urges-pm-make-ict-act.html
52. Ibid.
53. Ibid.
54. See, Daily Prothom Alo, Dhaka, 5 November 2009. Available online at: http://www.prothom-alo.com/
detail/date/2009-11-05/news/17298
55. VOA (Voice of America) News, 2 Feb 2010.
56. Ferdous Ahmad, Opposition Crackdown Fuels Bangladesh Unrest, in Islamonline.net, 23 February
2010.
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. Daily Nayadiganta, February 16, 2010.
60. Daily Prothom Alo, February 15, 2010.
61. Ibid., also Daily Amar Desh, February 15, 2010.
62. Bangladesh: politically motivated arbitrary arrests hamper impartial investigation of campus violence.
AI Index: ASA 13/005/2010. 23 February 2010; available at: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/
ASA13/005/2010/en/f9f2e4ef-9f64-487e-8e70-67233f25ffbb/asa130052010en.pdf.
63. Article 27 of the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.
64. Shimul Chaudhury, Thoughts on RU Incidents: Untold Facts, in Sonar Bangladesh (22 February).
Available at: http://www.sonarbangladesh.com/article.php?ID=2036
65. Ibid.
66. Shimul Chaudhury, Civil Rights Changed!, in Daily Independent. Available online at: http://www.
theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=170736
67. Ibid.
68. From the early 1960s Jamaat, together with other political parties, was active against the autocratic
government of Ayub Khan in Pakistan. Jamaat was at the fore front of forming Pakistan Democratic
Movement (PDM); Combined Opposition Parties (COP); and later on Democratic Action Commit-
tee (DAC), three platforms of all the political parties which fought against the autocratic regime of
Ayub Khan. The Awami League was also an active component of COP and DAC. In the 1980s,
Jamaat took part in the mass movement for restoration of democracy side by side with the two
major political parties, namely the BNP and the Awami League. In this long struggle for restoration
140 Md. Saidul Islam
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of democracy there were liaison committees of the BNP, Jamaat and the Awami League and the liaison
committees of the three parties used to sit regularly to formulate common programs. It is a historical
fact that Jamaat was the rst political party to raise the demand of holding Parliamentary elections
under a neutral Caretaker Government. In the movement for incorporating the concept of Caretaker
Government in the Constitution Jamaat, Awami League and Jatiya Party fought side by side. They
addressed press conferences from the same platform. For more, see: http://www.jamaat-e-islami.
org/index.php?option=com_publication&task=detail&info_id=25
69. Jamaat has been represented in the Parliament of Pakistan since 1962. It has participated in all the
Parliamentary and local elections with a view to institutionalizingz democracy. In the Parliamentary
elections of 1962 Jamaat won four seats in the National Assembly and two seats in the Provincial
Assembly from what was then East Pakistan. In the general elections of 1970 although Jamaat did
not win any seat in the National Assembly of East Pakistan, it emerged as the second largest political
party next to Awami League which had a landslide victory. However, in the Provincial Assembly elec-
tion of 1970 Jamaat won one seat in the district of Bogra. However, after a the independence of Ban-
gladesh in 1970 Jamaat could not take part in the elections of 1973 because all the Islamic political
parties including Jamaat were outlawed. However, Jamaat took part in 1979 Parliamentary elections
under the name Islamic Democratic League (IDL) and secured six seats in Parliament with its leader
Mawlana Abdur Rahim elected from Barisal. In 1986 Jamaat won 10 seats; in 1991, 18 seats; in 1996,
three seats; and in 2001, 17 seats in Parliament. See: http://www.jamaat-e-islami.org/index.php?
option=com_publication&task=detail&info_id=25
70. According to Jamaats Ameer (Chief or President), the party has 1.16 million registered associate
members. See, Daily Amar Desh, 25 April 2010.
71. For an analysis, please see Politics of Bangladesh in Wikipedia. Available online at: http://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Bangladesh
72. Daily Naya Diganto, 24 March 2010.
73. Daily Naya Diganto, 12 April 2010.
74. Daily Somokal, 2 April 2010.
75. DNA India, 7 February, 2010.
76. Serajur Rahman, Ai Akromon Awami Leaguer Charitragoto Fasibader Angsho (This attack is a part
of Awami Fascist Character), in Daily Naya Diganto, Dhaka, 23 March 2010.
77. RTNN, 8 March 2010.
78. Daily Naya Diganto, 3 April 2010.
79. Bangladesh Mufti Parishad, 30 October 2009.
80. Daily Amar Desh, 21 March 2010).
81. Daily Ittefaq, 6 April 2010.
82. Ibid.
83. Daily Amar Desh, 25 March 2010.
Minority Islam in Muslim Majority Bangladesh 141
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