| Submit your comments on this article |
| Bangladesh |
| Hefajat announces fresh programmes to realise 13 demands |
| 2013-04-07 |
| [Bangla Daily Star] A few lakh Islamists gathered at Motijheel in the capital yesterday and gave the government three weeks' time to meet their demands, which include a law allowing for the death penalty for maligning Islam and stern punishment to those they call atheist bloggers. Otherwise, they threatened, they would lay siege to the capital on May 5. Assembled under the banner of Hefajat-e Islam, the Islamists also called a daylong hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... for tomorrow in protest at the "government efforts" to obstruct their long march. Besides, they will hold rallies in Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Barisal, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Brahmanbaria, Faridpur and Bogra between April 11 and April 30. "We will cut off Dhaka from the rest of the country on May 5 if our demands are not fulfilled," Junayed Babu Nagari, secretary general of the Hefajat, told the rally, one of the biggest in recent memory. Ahmed Shah Shafi, chief of Hefajat, was present on the podium, but his statement was read out by his son. He said, "If you want to go to or stay in power, you have to accept our demands. Otherwise, there will be dire consequences." Shafi also observed, "This government is an enemy of Islam. This pro-atheist government has no right to stay in power even for a second. If it claims itself to be pro-Islam then it must delink itself from the bloggers." Through the rally, which stretched from High Court point to Shapla Chattar and from Tikatuli point to Fakirapool and to Bijoynagar, the Islamists staged a show of strength despite a hartal and blockade apparently called to prevent Hefajat men from entering the city from outside. Since early morning, thousands of topi- and Punjabi-clad Hefajat supporters streamed into the city on foot, often making detours to duck obstruction. No major incidents of violence occurred in the capital as many had feared. Hefajat, a Chittagong-based Islamist group, has taken centre stage in recent days as an opposite force to Shahbagh Gonojagoron Mancha from where youths have been demanding the death penalty for war criminals. It, however, was not on the scene when the Shahbagh movement started on February 5. Its presence was felt with the killing of a blogger, who was branded as an atheist. Yesterday's rally was the culmination of a propaganda orchestrated by the Jamaat-e-Islami ... The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... that organisers of the Shahbagh movement were atheists. The alleged defamation of Islam was at the heart of the campaign. The BNP and Jamaat have thrown their weight behind Hefajat, which also demands that the government declare the Ahmadiyyas non-Mohammedan, demolish all sculptures in the capital, ban free mingling of men and women, and scrap women policy and education policy. |
| Posted by:Fred |