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| Bangladesh | |
| Huji leaders float party with govt nod | |
| 2008-09-29 | |
Leaders of the banned Islamist outfit Harkatul Jihad Al Islami (HuJi) Bangladesh have floated Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) with permission from the government.
Kazi Azizul Huq, an adviser of the newborn organisation, told The Daily Star, "The intelligence agencies gathered that we have no relations to any terrorist networks. "The government however set some conditions. Those include ones that say the party must run as per the country's constitution, and not resort to violence to implement Shariah law." Last Friday, IDP held an Iftar party at the city's Diploma Engineers Institution. It was attended by party leaders and guests including Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of weekly Blitz and a campaigner for Israel, Amar Desh Assistant Editor and Human Rights Forum General Secretary Sanjeeb Choudhury, PK Barua of Bouddha Kristi Prochar Sangha and Chitta Francis, a representative of Christian community. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Naim Ahmed told The Daily Star that they allowed IDP to arrange the function as it was a religious one. Replying to a query, he said they will definitely go for a closer examination before giving the organisation permission to arrange any political programme. Sheikh Abdus Salam heads the convening committee. It was under his leadership that a group of Afghan War veterans launched HuJi at a press conference at the National Press Club on April 30, 1992. Sources close to IDP said the outfit's ultimate objective is to establish Shariah law in the country. Azizul Huq, on the other hand, said, "Our goal is to run the country as per the Charter of Medina that gives equal rights to all citizens irrespective of religion and ethnicity." He said they want to introduce Shariah (the body of Islamic religious law) only for the Muslims. Other religious and ethnic minorities may follow the existing law of the land and norms of their communities. "We don't want to impose anything on anyone. We'll put the Islamic laws into practice only if the people grant us an electoral mandate to amend the constitution," Azizul continued. "Even those of Muslims who won't want to follow Shariah will have the freedom to follow the existing law." He said the government had suggested they [IDP] take measures to convince the international community that their move to launch the outfit had no relations with extremism. The suggestion came in view of the fact persons behind the new party had involvement with HuJi, an outfit that was banned by the government for terrorism in October 2005. Azizul said Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury and Dr Richard L Benkin, an American citizen, helped in efforts to portray IDP in a positive light across the globe especially in the developed countries. In an e-mail to this correspondent, Dr Benkin confirmed the statement. He said, "Mr. Huq is correct. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury and I continuously try to bridge the gulf between religious communities throughout the world and always look for opportunities to promote a positive image of Bangladesh worldwide. "Mr. Huq and I met for hours one day in Dhaka many months ago and recognised our common belief in God and faith. We also..... 'agreed to disagree' in the spirit of interfaith understanding and democracy. "The newly formed Islamic Democratic Party opens the door for Muslims to separate themselves before the entire world from radicals and terrorists while at the same time affirming their strength in the Muslim [Islam] faith." Shoaib, who was arrested at Zia International Airport in November, 2003 and charged with sedition in January, 2004, told The Daily Star, "The government gave permission to launch Islamic Democratic Party and host the Iftar party under the state of emergency. It's a green signal, and it allowed IDP to shed the names of HuJi and Islamic Gono Andolon." | |
| Posted by:Fred |