Bangladesh under the shadow of Islamic fundamentalism?
Dhaka (AsiaNews) Religious freedom is currently facing great danger in Bangladesh. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Bangladeshi government is giving in to pressures from Islamic fundamentalist groups and aligning itself with those perpetrating acts of discrimination and violence against minority communities. AsiaNews sources confirm that the situation is worrisome and that an entire new generation of young people is being weaned on fundamentalism without outside scrutiny.
In its 45-page report, Breach of Faith: Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community in Bangladesh, HRW has documented a campaign of violence and intimidation unleashed by, among others, the Khatme Nabuwat (KN)an umbrella group of Sunni Muslim extremistsagainst the Ahmadiyya community. (Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, but interpret Muhammad's prophethood differently from mainstream Islam.)
The report highlights the complicity of the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) in this campaign, not only because the government has failed to prosecute those responsible for the violence but because it has acquiesced to the banning of Ahmadi publications.
Parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamic Okye JyoteIslamic religious parties that are part of the ruling coalition governmentexpect the government to go further; they want the Ahmadis to be officially declared non Muslim and their missionary activities completely outlawed.
Anonymous but well-informed sources spoke to AsiaNews about the problem of Bangladesh's growing Islamic fundamentalism and the role played by the government. Both fundamentalists and government authorities have tried to project an image of moderation and tolerance to the international community, whilst covering up the activities of powerful Islamic extremist groups.
Pressures on the education system
According to Samina Ahmed of the International Crisis Group, Bangladesh's madrassas or Quranic schools have mushroomed, reaching an estimated 64,000 from roughly 4,100 in 1986.
Mohammad Kamruzzaman, senior assistant secretary general for the Jamaat-e-Islami, said it was a "natural growth of schooling". He blamed "neighbouring countries" like India for trying to portray Bangladesh as fundamentalist in order to destabilise the country.
Whatever the case, it is true that madrassas offer free education and are relatively independent to choose the programmes they want with little government supervision. In fact, in most cases, the government has granted official recognition to these schools without knowing what they teach.
Information about madrassa curricula remains vague. Credible sources claim that in some students receive weapon training and learn the martial arts.
It is certain that a literal and traditional interpretation of the Qu'ran is their main educational focus; the country's pre-Islamic history, math and geography are off-limits.
Notwithstanding claims to the contrary, Jamaat-i-Islami is one of the parties pressuring the government to stay out of the madrassas' business.
Traditionally, Islam in Bangladesh has been quite tolerant and open to practices out of step with what Saudi Wahhabism would consider acceptable. By funding the more radical madrassas, Saudi Arabia and the governments of more conservative Muslim countries hope to bring Bangladeshi Islam in line with their more orthodox view of Islam.
Although no precise data is available, many expect that when the radicalisation trend reaches its peak up to 20 million young people might have been weaned on fundamentalism, courtesy of Quranic schools.
Pressures on religious minorities
The persecution of the Ahmadis falls in line with the attempt to impose an orthodox view of Islam. Extremists want to completely eradicate the heretical sect and to achieve their goal of marginalising Ahmadis they often act without official sanction.
There have been numerous attacks against Ahmadi mosques and believers have been beaten. In some cases, original mosque signboards have been replaced with warnings such as 'Muslims beware: This is not a Muslim place of worship'.
Even though, ostensibly the intent in this case is to inform the public that such buildings are not truly Muslim rather than shut them down, the practice is no random actit has been used against Christians and Hindus as well. It is instead part and parcel of a strategy to undercut other groups whilst avoiding negative foreign media coverage.
Despite everything, not all of Bangladesh has accepted this trend; much of its civil society is still stubbornly opposed to religious fanaticism.
Early this year for example, when an assault against an Ahmadi mosque near Dhaka was announced, people in their thousands turned up to oppose the move forcing the traditionally reticent police to intervene and stop the planned attack.
Cultural pressures
In their attempt to reshape Bangladesh, Islamic fundamentalists have not spared its culture, language and social sciences.
Fundamentalists have been engaged the wholesale revision of the country's history in order to highlight the role played by Muslim groups in the struggle against British colonial rule, claiming that they were "first and true source [from which sprang] the country's independence".
This process includes a small but significant effort to forge closer cultural ties with the Arab world via the use of Arabic.
For example, some time ago Dhaka Airport put up Arabic signs along side those in Bengali and English with no prior announcement. Thus, passengers are also welcomed at the airport's entrance by a bright sign in Arabic.
Some might wonder why the change; after all, tourism and trade with the Arab world is limited and, if another language was needed, Hindi would have been more likely.
This said, it is clear that language is becoming a marker of identity. More secular Bangladeshis tend to use words borrowed from Sanskrit; conversely, Islamic fundamentalists are more likely to rely on terms that entered the language from Arabic.
Such attempts at language planning also touch everyday words. For some time now, an attempt to replace the traditional greeting of Khodah Hafez (May God bless you) with the more correct Allah Hafez has been underway.
Many Muslims, and not the least devout among them, have pointed out that Khodah is one of God's names and wondered why the traditional greeting should be done away.
It might be too late though, for as one source told AsiaNews, "the form of greeting with the name of Allah is already taking over".
Pressures to cover up attempts at radicalisation
Whatever their goals, extremists try their hardest to conceal their radicalising pressures on government and work hard at covering up the acts of violence they perpetrate.
Their most common targets are theatres that show movies where women's cleavages and legs are displayed, and cultural events that highlight Bangladesh's pre-Islamic culture instead of Islam. (Such events are sometimes organised with Hindus and focus on the Bengali language.)
"Recently," one source noted, "similar acts were carried out at the Dhaka Book Fair in order to prevent people from thinking on their own without always referring to Islam."
"Bangladeshiness," he added, "is considered something impure, too close to Hinduism, tolerant vis-à-vis others, contaminated".
Both fundamentalists and the government have a vested interest in preventing the outside world from knowing about this violence. When dealing with the press and the international community, the authorities are in systematic denial mode.
Their goal is to portray to the world a Bangladesh that is free from fundamentalism or terrorism in order to attract foreign investments.
Fundamentalists share this goal insofar as they want to continue to radicalise the situation away from prying eyes till the time comes when they will feel strong enough to come out into the open. (MA)
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