It is time for moderates from the Muslim community to raise their voices loud and clear once again.

Published in http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ on February 10, 2006.

Last week or so has been dreadful for Muslims in Europe and race relations here have been set back a few years. Non-Muslims and non-religious people may have difficulty appreciating the depths of sensitivity that go with Prophet Muhammad (SM) ever being insulted. As far as that goes, Muslims have a right to make their objections known and their sensitivities expressed and explained to the wider community.

Having said that, one cannot help but feel disturbed if not disgusted by the methods of some the street protests that have gone on in London and Middle Eastern cities. Placard carrying thugs dressed as suicide bombers wishing the beheadings of those that insult the Prophet hardly raises any sympathy. Palestinian gun toting men surrounding the mission of the European Union (which happens to be one of the biggest supporters of their cause), boisterous men torching the Danish Embassies in Middle Eastern cities, and the willingness of many Muslims to shun commerce with Denmark illustrate nothing but hot headed buffoonery typical of the uneducated street culture prevalent in so many Muslim countries.

Owing to the fact that many of these protesters (other than the ones who in London) live under autocratic regimes where newspaper materials are decided and financed by the government, it was lost on them that the cartoons that insulted the Prophet were the work of independent newspapers operating under a democratic regime where the government hardly controls what is published or not. The propensity of Muslims around the world to hold the Danish government itself responsible and punish Danish businesses for the publication of the cartoons defy logic and rationality.

Pakistani men burning Danish, American and Israeli flags on this occasion (or any other) have shut the door closer to inter-faith and inter-community understanding with Europe. Europe is now rightfully alarmed at the influence of Militant Islam that has crept up unbeknownst to most of the wider community. However, non-Muslim Europeans who still have the role of playing host to the growing pool of Muslims here have room for improvement. Critiquing Islam can only be a good thing and ought to be welcomed by all. It will facilitate the reformation of Islam and help Muslims in Europe and North America assimilate into their respective societies. However, if the motive of the Danish newspapers and subsequently that of the French and other European ones, were to provoke the sensitivities of Muslims and that provocation was the only if not the predominant factor, then the sense of responsibility that comes with their freedom of press and freedom of expression can be seriously questioned.

I applaud the British and American press for staying above the fray, though many people will coin that gesture as bowing to intimidation by the Muslim communities. I feel that refraining from republishing those cartoons here has illustrated some degree of responsibility on behalf of the editors. Rightfully they decided that publishing the cartoons added no new substance to the story but could only fuel further unrest locally and globally for reasons that may or may not be justified.

It is time for moderates from the Muslim community to raise their voices loud and clear once again. They failed to effectively condemn September 11 in America and many other atrocities committed by Muslim fundamentalists around the globe since then. July 7 in London prompted some soul searching and the Muslim community in the UK is now noticeably active in some much needed house cleaning and public relations acts to promote better understanding of their faith among the wider community. That momentum must be taken further to eliminate the culture of hot headedness, victim hood and jihad (in its current manifestation) from the mindsets of the entire Muslim world.

Non-Muslims and non-religious people in the Western world too could meet the Muslim moderates half way by having an open mind. The newspapers concerned could have predicted the backlash, justified or unjustified, by having a greater degree of understanding of the reverence with which Sunni Muslims hold their Prophet.

Bangladesh's next election - electorates at crossroads

Published in http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ on November 28, 2005.

When BNP-Jamaat coalition came to power after Bangladesh's last general elections, I was one of the many who said that JI's student wing Shibir would now feel a degree of impunity to carry out their activities. I was dismissed outright by quite a few in Dhaka. We are now close to another election and a little reflection will show that Shibir was only a small fish in the sea.

We now have JMB (funded from the middle east) under the patronage of the current government! We've had nationwide bombings (as a warning to implement Islamic Sharia law in the country), assassination of opposition leaders (who at least profess to be of a secular constitution), and a general swing towards a more authoritarian interpretation of an Islamic lifestyle (note how more and more women are voluntarily or otherwise wearing variations of the veil; note how certain mobile phone commercials were recently banned by the government for not being Bengali enough - read not being "Islamic" enough!).

It is time Bangladeshis really think about where the country could be heading if BNP-JI coalition is allowed to return to power. Jamaat has gradually developed a powerful influence in the cultural and political life of the country by influencing and manipulating pious people. Many people in powerful positions in the country are sympathizers of JI. Jamaat's policies are increasingly dominating BNP's agenda.

I am not going to profess that BNP will sever it's ties with Jamaat ahead of the next elections (that would require too much political astuteness!). So Bangladeshis must contemplate removing the coalition by granting Awami League another chance. This is where things are complicated. AL's last tenure was hardly exemplary.

As a reader recently pointed out, bombings by religious bigots started in their time - bombers of Ramna Park during Bengali New Year's cultural celebrations have not been caught or tried yet. Their economic management was clumsy and law and order started deteriorating under their regime.

While currently in opposition, AL has been most irresponsible. Their actions ranged from giving ultimatum to the current "democratically elected" government to resign to breaking the promise of never calling Hartal (general strikes) again if returned to opposition. AL and other parties had no right to hold the country's economy hostage to Hartals no matter what their grievances were.

Instead they should have played their part in removing this archaic tradition from Bangladesh's politics. Nevertheless, we are in a situation where the current government has mastered the art of denial of anything and everything that is thrown at them. We are now reading about RAB arresting JMB caders.

However initially the government shamelessly denied their very existence when newspapers started reporting on them. The BNP-JI government had the audacity to dispute Transparency International's evaluation of Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world instead of admitting it and addressing the problem head on. Bangladesh's media has shown tremendous courage in recent years to be forthright in their evaluation of the government, opposition and the society in general.

The government has in return labelled the media community as a pack of liars. Instead of dealing with Bangladesh's issues, the government has gone on record to blame fictitious international conspiracies to "malign the image of the country" - a phrase that has been regurgitated to ridiculous heights. Foreign reporters (most of whose reports on the rising tide of militant activity in Bangladesh have now been proven right) have been banned from the country along with the editions of their magazines abroad.

This is the behaviour of a government that is immature at best and dangerous at worst. Whether AL will rise up to the occasion and behave like a more mature political party if returned to power is up to any one's guess. But the statusquo simply cannot continue. Politics is already heating up in the country in the lead up to next year's elections. I hope the electorate will cross the road wisely.

Will there be a fatwa against suicide bombing?

Published in http://www.bangladesh-web.com/ on December 1 2005.

Will Muslim leaders come forward and issue a fatwa against suicide bombing? Palestinian militants mastered the art during their two intifada's against Israelis.

Many supporters of the Palestinian cause maintained that that was their only form of self defense and therefore was a legitimate form of warfare. Al-Qaeda took suicide bombing to new heights over the last few years globally, and now to an ugly level in Iraq where in the name of freeing Iraqis from American occupation, the organization has killed more Iraqis than those that died in the US led invasion itself!

This cancerous trend has now affected certain brainwashed thugs in Bangladesh. Believers of global Jihad against "infidels" and supporters of Islamic Sharia law in Bangladesh really ought to be put on notice by non-political Imams and Muslim scholars. If Islam prohibits suicide (which it does to my knowledge), how can suicide bombing be construed to be a legitimate form of warfare? Moreover, how is it morally acceptable to deliberately target innocent civilians?

Will there be a fatwa against this heinous trend that has permeated parts of the Islamic world? Will this give pause to those Muslims who constantly act like victims of global politics and tacitly support jihadis in principle if not their tactics? Will this once and for all awake those in Bangladesh who have been in coma for the last several years and who've been in denial about the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh despite clear alerts from the media (local and international)?

Moreover, will the heinous acts of barbarism in Bangladesh on November 29 give pause to those with authority to reflect on how they may have contributed to the environment of such savagery through either their political or religious beliefs, or both?

Death to Apostate?

The prospect of death of the Christian convert in Afghanistan sends chills down my spine. Here is a very good article on the fallacies of Sharia and why there are no divine reasons why apostates (atleast a Christian convert) should be killed.

http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/03/28/d603281503103.htm