Our Ubiquitous garden variety Bangladeshi Talibans!
By
Abul Kasem
A few days ago the foreign Minister of Bangladesh,
while speaking with the foreign correspondents based in Bangladesh,
declared that there are no Talibans/Islamic fundamentalists in
Bangaldesh. He was
referring to the article recently published in FEER about the activities
of Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh.
Let us see whether we have Talibans/ al-Qaeda
Jihadis in Bangladesh or not:
On February 23, 1998, an Islamic Fatwa was
published in Al-Quds al-‘Arabi’. I am including a part of this fatwa,
which clearly calls for the killing of all American citizens and the
supporters of America:
All these crimes and sins committed by the
Americans are a clear declaration of war on God, his messenger, and
Muslims. And ulema have
throughout Islamic history unanimously agreed that the Jihad is an
individual duty if the enemy destroys the Muslim countries. This was
revealed by Imam Bin-Qadamah in "Al- Mughni," Imam al-Kisa'i
in "Al- Bada'i," al-Qurtubi in his interpretation, and the
Shaykh of al-Islam in his books, where he said "As for the militant
struggle, it is aimed at defending sanctity and religion, and it is a
duty as agreed. Nothing is
more sacred than belief except repulsing an enemy who is attacking
religion and life."
On that basis, and in compliance with
God's order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims:
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies –
civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who
can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to
liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque from their grip, and in
order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated
and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words
of Almighty God: "and fight the pagans all together as they fight
you all together, "and fight them until there is no more tumult or
oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God
This is
in addition to the words of Almighty God "And why should ye not
fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak, are ill-treated
and oppressed – women and children, whose cry is 'Our Lord, rescue us
from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee
one who will help!'"
We – with God's help – call on every Muslim who
believes in God and wishes to be rewarded to comply with God's order to
kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they
find it. We also call on
Muslim ulema, leaders, youths, and soldiers to launch the raid on
Satan's U.S. troops and the devil's supporters allying with them, and to
displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson.
Almighty God said "O ye who believe, give your
response to God and His Apostle, when He calleth you to that which will
give you life. And know
that God cometh between a man and his heart, and that it is He to whom
ye shall all be gathered."
These were/are the signatories to the above Islamic
Fatwa
Statement signed by Sheikh Usamah
Bin-Muhammad Bin-Ladin; Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of the Jihad Group in
Egypt; Abu- Yasir Rifa'i Ahmad Taha, a leader of the Islamic Group;
Sheikh Mir Hamzah, secretary of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Pakistan; and
Fazlul Rahman, leader of the Jihad Movement in Bangladesh
Please note the name of Fazlur Rahman, leader of
Harakatul Jihad in Bangladesh.
I would like to ask our Hon. Foreign Minister what
he and his government consisting of this Jihadi party has to say on this
fatwa? Does he deny that
Harkatul Jihad does not exist in Bangladesh?
What are the aims and objectives of this Jihadi party?
Our Hon. Foreign Minister should not try to fool
the world especially the independent journalist’s reports. Our foreign Minister cleverly tries to link the
‘politically correct’ statements of the Western Government official
to mislead the world that ‘there are no’ Talibans/Islamic
fundamentalists in Bangladesh.
Our Prime Minister has invented a new word called
‘information terrorism’. Well, let us ask our PM about the
following:
1.
64,000 Madrassahs. That
counts as more than one Madrasshas per square mile of total area of
Bangladesh. Why do we have
so many of these religious schools? What are the aims and objectives of
these Madrassahs? Who are
financing these? What do they learn there?
What do these Murids do after they graduate from these religious
schools----does our Government know the whereabouts of these Murids
after they have finished their religious indoctrination?
Are they not specifically designed to manufacture Talibans and
other Islamic fanatics?
2.
Two sworn Jamaatis in the cabinet: Can our present Government
leaders enlighten us as to the aims and objectives of the Jamaat?
Do they want to establish an Islamic state in the style of Saudi
Arabia or not? What does
the manifesto of Jamaat say? How
can our BNP leaders deny the fact they have in their midst Islamic
fundamentalist whose major aim is to convert Bangladesh into a Islamic
Paradise?
3.
Khatib of Baitul Muqqarram characterizes America as a Terrorist
nation and supporting Osama Bin Ladin’s terrorist action in American
soil. This is very old
news. The whole world is
aware of this clerics public declaration of Jihad against America and
its allies in the same line as al-Qaeda.
Will our BNP leaders tell us what punitive/disciplinary action
has been taken against this fanatic cleric?
4.
Bangaldeshi Jihadists taking part in Afghan War: There are clear
evidence to suggest that a few of the prisoners taken at Guantanamo Bay
prison camp are from Bangladesh. Bangalee
speaking interpreters are used to interrogate these prisoners.
Why? Can our
BNP-Jamaat Government refute these claims that many al-Qaeda soldiers
are from Bangladesh?
5.
In many public meetings Khilafat Andolon, IOJ, and many other
smaller Islamic party openly declare to convert Bangladesh into another
Taliban nation. Dhaka’s
wall is pasted with slogans such as “Bangla Hob’e Taliban.”
Can our Government refute this claim?
All
the above claims are nothing new. Not
a single editor in Dhaka can refute these claims. But surprisingly they surely attacked the messenger, i.e.,
Mr. Lintner who wrote this FEER investigative report that shook the
world.
Here
are my conclusions:
The
FEER article is an eye opening articles for the rest of the world no
matter how much our present BNP-Jamaat try to hide the truth.
It
correctly identified Bangladesh's many fringe Islamic political
organizations as the safe haven for Jihadists.
Mr.
Linter is right when it says Bangladesh is the cocoon of terror.
Bangladesh should accept Linter's characterization of present-day
Bangladesh, or else in future, the country will become a full-blown
Islamic nation. This is the
sole agendum of Jamaat-i-islami. They may sound very accomodating at this time but when their
influence will grow, then their tone will change.
Lest we forget, this is the party of late Abu Ala Moududi of
Pakistan. Look what this
party and other smaller Islamic party have done to Pakistan. Do we want to see another Pakistan in the making?
We have enough time. Bangladesh
should say sayonara to parochially bent politics.
Bangladesh’s founding fathers had correctly identified the
Jamaat to be an evil party. We
should ban these political parties right now or else the future of this
nation looks very shaky. Bangladesh
was formed to get away from the grip of another Islamic nation (read
Pakistan). Why go back to the days of Pakistan.
When we beg from the West for the development fund
(in Paris), we deny vociferously that there are Talibans/Islamic
fundamentalists in Bangladesh. On
the contrary, when we go to the Saudis to beg for Islamic money (read
alms or dan-khoirat) we swear that we are turning Islamic
fundamentalists and soon we will become an Islamic state.
The world (especially the West) is not stupid enough to detect
this chameleon colour of Bangladesh leaders.
Let us not play this dangerous double game.
Let us admit the truth and rectify the cancer (religious
fanaticism) that is spreading in our society.
Unless we do the therapy now, bad times will befall Bangladesh.
-------------------------
Abul Kasem writes from Sydney, Australia.
His e-mail address is – abul88@hotmail.com
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