Why Conservative Muslims in Bangladesh believe Ahmadiyya are heretic?

SALEEM SAMAD

The recent spate of racial attacks on Ahmadiyya Muslims during their annual congregation at a sprawling complex in northern Bangladesh on a pretext that they are not ‘Muslims’ and demanded that the sect should be declared ‘non-Muslims’.

The perpetrators were radicalised Sunni Muslims, says political historian researcher and writer Mohiuddin Ahmad.

The Sunnis are majoritarian in Bangladesh, nearly 91 per cent. They have been indoctrinated by conservative Wahabi and Salafimanhaz at tens of thousands of Islamic theological seminaries (madrasas) dotted all over Bangladesh and authorities could not tame them to adopt secularism, the writer/researcher explained.

Ahmadiyya, a Muslim sect is a member of a minority religious community and are spread all over Bangladesh since 1913.

The Ahmadiyya are indeed conservative Sunni Muslims and are tolerant of other faiths, practitioners and beliefs. They regularly hold inter-faith dialogues with other religious leaders in their mosques, which prompted the radicalised Muslims to reject the place of worship as a mosque for Muslim prayers.

Last week, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at, Bangladesh, at a press conference in Dhaka expressed their satisfaction over the investigation of the civil and police administrations over the racial riots, and said their actions were deemed appropriate.

The sect’s disciples demands that the secular fabric for centuries and equal status of all religions, ethnic community and other minorities should be respected as guaranteed in the constitution. Roughly 100,000 Ahmadis live in Bangladesh today.

Ahmed Tabshir Chowdhury, spokesperson of the Ahmadiyya’s in Bangladesh told journalists that the civil administration and police swift action have saved hundreds of lives and properties in Panchagarh district, where the annual ‘Salana Jalsha’ was scheduled to be held.

The three-day annual congregation was abruptly cancelled when Islamists clashed with police after the Friday Jumma prayer on March 3. Hundreds of Islamists armed with sticks, metal bars and some with containers of flammable substances [police claimed it was gun-powder] in a bid to occupy the site of the congregation.

Earlier, the Ahmadiyya management had to postpone or cancel their annual congregation several times in the faceoff with angry Islamists over 32 years.

In an hour, the violence turned into the worst sectarian riot in living memory, which killed two persons, one was an Ahmadiyya. Nearly 85 persons were seriously wounded by the rioters. The protesters torched 185 homes, and 30 business establishments were looted.

Hefazat-e-Islam, an ardent advocate of strict Sharia swiftly said the “non-Muslim” [Ahmadiyya] should not have been given permission to hold the ‘Jalsha’ and instead blamed the “Qadiyani” [slang for Ahmadiyya] for the unrest.

The allocation of BDT one crore (IRS 7.6 million or USD 95,000) for rebuilding the damaged dwellings and shops by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sends a strong message to the perpetrators and others.

The district administration and police swiftly arrested more than a hundred rioters after identifying them from CCTV footage and other video footage. Others are on the run.

The onslaught of the Islamists in the last three decades on the Ahmadiyya properties and desecration of mosques in Brahmanbaria, Dhaka, Gazipur, Jashore, Khulna, Kushtia, Natore, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Sherpur and elsewhere, according to news published in media.

Since its establishment in Bangladesh at the beginning of the last century, the members of the Ahmadiyya Community have faced persecution from conservative Muslims. The perpetrators never faced the music of justice under previous governments.

The Islamist and radicalised Sunni Muslims demanded of the government to delist Ahmadiyya from Islam. The call was purportedly raised by Jamaat-e-Islami founder Abul Ala Maududi in 1953, leading to bloody atrocities which killed more than 2,000 Ahmadis in Lahore, Pakistan.

The [Ahmadiyya] fate was further sealed by Pakistan’s military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, when he issued the anti-Ahmadiyya law on 26 April 1984, which prohibits Ahmadis from preaching or professing their beliefs.

Not to anybody’s surprise, Pakistan’s abandoned orphans [the Mullahs] born in Bangladesh are demanding similar repressive laws to ban and punish the ‘heretic’ Ahmadiyyas.

Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami during Khaleda Zia’s regime in the mid-90s proposed a blasphemy law to punish the Ahmadiyya and secularists. Incidentally, the proposed bill was a photocopy of the blasphemy law of Pakistan.

The radicalised Islamic groups including the Islami Andolon Bangladesh, Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat, and of course Hefazat-e-Islam believe the Ahmadiyya are heretic and demands that the sect should be banned and declared ‘non-Muslim’ like Pakistan in September 1974.

According to a thought-provoking article in the Dhaka Tribune, the Constitution of Bangladesh, which recognises Islam as the state religion, the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

Moreover, Article 41 states that (a) every citizen has the right to profess, practise or propagate any religion; (b) every religious community or denomination has the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions.

Hypothetically speaking, Ahmad explained that declaring Ahmadiyya a heretic will cost Bangladesh dearly. The principles of the state constitution need to be overhauled and delete the clauses where secularism has been guaranteed.

More than a year ago, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a press conference in defence of religious freedom and tolerance said if Muslims believe in the ‘Last Day of Judgment’ laid in the Holy Quran, then a Muslim cannot point fingers toward someone to judge who is a good Muslim or a bad Muslim.

Quran, the holy book of the Muslims says a day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and time will end. The dead will be resurrected for judgment by the All Mighty. This day is the Day of Judgment where people will be rewarded by the Supreme Creator, according to their beliefs and deeds.

The video clip of her statement was broadcast from all TV channels in Bangladesh and is available on YouTube, where she rebukes the Islamist and radicalised Muslims, who have sworn to eliminate a certain community or religious practitioners (she did not name any religious group), should be banished from Islam.

The brutal birth of Bangladesh in 1971 which shattered the controversial ‘two-nation theory’ paved the way to establish a nation based on democracy, secularism, pluralism, equality and social justice. That legacy needs to be preserved and persevered in the future as well.

First published in the India Initiative, New Delhi, India on 29 March 2023 

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh

China has to ensure return of Rohingya to Myanmar

SALEEM SAMAD

The lights are dim at the end of the tunnel in case of repatriation of Rohingya refugees living in squalid camps in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

The country hosts nearly 1.2 million Muslim Rohingya people who have fled ethno religious strife in neighbouring Myanmar during a military genocidal campaign, which killed at least 9,000 people in 2017.

The Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) backed campaign that the United Nations labelled a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” saw hundreds of thousands of Rohingya driven across the border into Bangladesh in September 2017.

More than a million refugees are crammed in tens of thousands of make-shift huts made of bamboo, thin plastic sheets and corrugated tin roofs and the living conditions in the nauseating camps are dangerous. Often, fires blaze through the camps leaving thousands without shelter.

Last week, a 17-member delegation from Myanmar’s immigration and population ministries crossed into Bangladesh in mid-March and interviewed 480 Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar as part of a plan for possible repatriation to their country.

The Myanmar delegation, led by Aung Myo, the social welfare minister for Rakhine State, was selecting members for a pilot ‘family-based repatriation’ project.

The Myanmar delegation’s visit to the camps is believed to be brokered by China and facilitated by the UNHCR.

The Refugee Relief And Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) in Cox’s Bazar, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, said the Myanmar junta officials cleared 711 Rohingyas out of 1,140 recommended by Bangladesh. The newborn and newly married couples have been excluded from verification.

When journalists asked when the repatriation is expected to start, Rahman said that the “Myanmar delegation did not have the power to commit to a possible repatriation date.”

Before the visit of the delegation, the Myanmar junta for the first time since the 2017 crackdown, allowed diplomats from Bangladesh, India, China, and five other countries to tour the restive Rakhine State.

It was only then, the officials expressed the military junta’s plan to begin Rohingya repatriation under the pilot project.

Earlier, Bangladesh formally sought cooperation from China to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar during a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and also China’s State Councillor promised to resolve a political solution to the Rohingya crisis.

China had used its influence in Myanmar to broker a November 2017 agreement to repatriate Rohingyas.

China’s ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen hoped that the first batch of displaced Rohingya would be repatriated to Myanmar soon while China continued its role as mediator, the official news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported.

On 17 March 2023, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen also urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states to take collective responsibility to ensure a safe and dignified return of the most persecuted Rohingyas to their homeland, Myanmar.

Indeed, OIC backed Gambia to file a genocide case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Only Turkey has a visible presence at the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.

India also launched “Operation Insaniyat” to provide relief assistance in response to the humanitarian crisis faced by a large influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh from Myanmar.

Bangladesh and Myanmar began the negotiation for repatriation, but since 2018 none has returned so far and recent verification of a few hundred potential returnees for a pilot repatriation project remains unclear when they would be going home.

Despite attempts to send them back, the refugees refused, fearing insecurity in Myanmar, which was exacerbated by the military takeover last year.

Amid the situation, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in a statement on March 19 said they are observing developments of the Myanmar delegation’s visit to Bangladesh to verify a selected number of refugees on a bilateral pilot project on their possible returns.

The UN Refugee organisation reiterated that conditions in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are currently “not conducive to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees”.

Bangladesh has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to “voluntary and sustainable repatriation” since the onset of the current crisis which echoes UNCHR policy that every refugee has a right to return to their home country based, make an informed choice and no refugee should be forced to repatriate.

China always wanted to impress upon their “feel good” diplomacy, but despite best intentions, it seems the repatriation has entered into a fresh deadlock as both Bangladesh and UNCHR, responsible for the safe return of the displaced Rohingyas are concerned about their safety and security in the Rakhine State.

The Rohingya issue must be addressed by China, a country [Myanmar] over which it has significant influence. Only China can make conclusive negotiations on the safe return of the Rohingyas, writes security analyst Samina Akhter in Modern Diplomacy.

Bangladesh and China have close political and military relations in addition to the fact that China is Bangladesh’s top trading and development partner.

Last week, Bangladesh has inaugurated a naval base in Cox’s Bazar with two conventional diesel-electric powered refurbished Chinese submarines bought for $205 million in 2016 to enhance Bangladesh’s naval capacity, after the demarcation of its maritime boundary with India and Myanmar.

It is equally true, that Myanmar’s military junta, which took power in a coup two years ago, has demonstrated no intention to take back any refugees.

Most importantly, the Rohingya refugee groups based in Bangladesh said for sustainable and dignified repatriation will only be possible when the Myanmar regime recognises the Rohingya as an ethnic community; provide legal citizenship which was stripped in 1982; school education; healthcare services; freedom of movement and livelihood.

Rohingya’s human rights groups believe the face-saving exercise to repatriate refugees happened after the Chinese exerted pressure on the Myanmar military junta to demonstrate a “feel good policy” otherwise face the compliance declared by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The genocide case is resuming at ICJ on 24 April.

“Taking back a few refugees, even if it is less than one percent of the population, shall allow Myanmar to come up with a counterargument under the very false pretence they are sincere about the return of refugees,” the Arakan Rohingya National Alliance (ARNA) said in a statement.

First published in the India Initiative, New Delhi, India on 25 March 2023

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh

Why India and Bangladesh need to resolve the Teesta water-sharing issue ahead of elections

Teesta river originates from the foothills of Himalayas and enters Bangladesh

SALEEM SAMAD

Both Bangladesh and India are embarrassed over the immense delay towards a sustainable solution to sharing of the transboundary Teesta river, which remains a bone of contention between the two closest neighbours.

This week Bangladesh has raised fresh concern with New Delhi, after an Indian newspaper The Telegraph reported that West Bengal State Government has plans for three hydropower projects in Darjeeling hills in the foothills of the Himalayas, risking further discomfiture for Dhaka, which has been waiting for more than a decade to sign a treaty for sharing Teesta’s waters.

The news prompted Bangladesh to send a ‘note verbale’ (diplomatic note) to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi’s South Block, seeking information about West Bengal’s plan to withdraw water from the upper riparian international river for irrigation and hydropower projects, confirmed Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.

On the other hand, the State Minister for Water Resources Zaheed Farooque said the Joint River Commission (JRC) is also contemplating sending a letter to India seeking details about the West Bengal government’s plan for the construction of hydropower plants on the same river in Darjeeling.

Teesta, once a mighty river flowing from Himalaya glaciers that crisscrosses some 115 kilometres inside Bangladesh, now runs like a stream in Bangladesh in the lean period and overflows during the monsoon which causes frequent floods in the region.

What worries Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, is that India has not officially communicated regarding a fresh plan to divert waters from upstream, as it shares at least 54 transboundary rivers as a lower riparian country with India.

Bangladesh Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Seheli Sabrin said the Teesta river issue may also be raised at the UN-2023 Water Conference, to be held at the UN headquarters in New York on March 22-24.

The daily published from Kolkata on March 13, also writes that the transfer of 1,000 acres of land to the irrigation ministry of West Bengal to excavate two new canals for withdrawing water from Teesta and Jaldhaka for irrigation to serve around one lakh farmers in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar.

Two of the three planned Darjeeling projects are likely to significantly reduce the flow of water in the Teesta that is available for irrigation, particularly during the December-April lean period when the demand for irrigation water goes up in Bangladesh, the spokesperson added.

Water resources expert Prof Ainun Nishat said that the matter of diverting water from Teesta has to be handled politically. It cannot be resolved on technical grounds in absence of an appropriate legal instrument, he told an influential daily News Age published from Dhaka.

India-Bangladesh talks on sharing waters of common rivers have stalled  for over 13 years, holding back the signing of interim agreements on the Teesta and Feni rivers and making negotiations on the six others uncertain.

The much-awaited 38th ministerial-level meeting of the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission concluded in New Delhi in August 2022 without any progress on Teesta water-sharing, which is crucial for Sheikh Hasina’s political well-being.

The junior minister for water resources remarked that the Indo-Bangladesh JRC meeting in Dhaka for resolving the much-awaited Teesta water-sharing meeting in March or April has not received any confirmation from Delhi.

The meeting is important before the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in September.

There is an environmental angle as well as there are fears that northern Bangladesh will be drier after the withdrawal of water upstream, leading to a severe impact on the region’s nature and environment, which are already under tremendous stress from the impacts of changing climate.

In September 2011, an agreement was almost reached and India was willing to share 37.5 per cent of Teesta waters while retaining 42.5 per cent during the dry season between December and March.

The agreement was scuttled by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who refused to accompany Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister of India to Dhaka.

The West Bengal leader’s stubborn refusal on a plea that the deal between India and Bangladesh, will jeopardise the much-needed water for farmers in the Indian state of West Bengal. A political resolution to water-sharing has entered into a deadlock.

It is therefore obvious that Teesta will remain the elephant in the room when leaders of India and Bangladesh talk on water sharing.

Hasina will be facing national elections expected early next year and there will be tremendous pressure on her to get the Teesta deal through. The opposition and critics will use the failure to achieve the deal as a political weapon against her.

Bangladesh is one of India’s closest friends in South Asia and Hasina is anxious to get the river deal done.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been unable to deliver the Teesta deal, despite his tremendous popularity at home. In fact, he persuaded Banerjee to give a green signal to the deal, apprehending her dwindling popularity in West Bengal’s north.

Despite the odds, Modi is serious to get the treaty inked before Hasina’s elections are just around the corner.

First published in India Narrative, New Delhi, India on 22 March 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh

India-Bangladesh Pipeline for Enhancing Energy Security

SALEEM SAMAD

At a crucial juncture of an energy crisis, the much-awaited oil pipeline has been formally inaugurated jointly through video conferencing by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Saturday.

At the inaugural ceremony, Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi both said that the Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline will “enhance cooperation in energy security” between the two countries.

The Indian Prime Minister said, “I am confident that this pipeline will further speed up the development of Bangladesh and be an excellent example of the increasing connectivity between….both the countries.”

Terming the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline as ground-breaking in Bangladesh’s energy history, Sheikh Hasina said, “When many countries….are on the verge of [a] fuel crisis due to the Russia-Ukraine war at that time this pipeline will play a vital role in ensuring fuel security of our people.”

The first cross-border international oil pipeline is yet another landmark in the development partnership with neighbouring India.

According to officials of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), India would export high-speed diesel (HSD) through the 131.57 km India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) project, built at a cost of around IRS 3.77 billion drawn from the Indian line of credit (LoC). Indian loan includes IRS 2.85 billion to construct a pipeline inside Bangladesh territory.

The Bangladesh-India Friendship Pipeline will put in place a sustainable, reliable, cost-effective and environment-friendly mode of transporting HSD from India to Bangladesh, an official of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs observed.

The project will enable high-speed diesel to be exported from India’s Siliguri Marketing Terminal in West Bengal State to Bangladesh’s Parbatipur in Dinajpur.

High-speed diesel will be flowing from the Numaligarh Refinery Limited distribution terminal for testing of the pipeline from Mar 8, according to ABM Azad, chairman of BPC, the state fuel importer and distributor.

The pipeline stretches 125 km inside Bangladesh territory and 5 km inside India. The two prime ministers joined the ground-breaking ceremony for the IBFPL in September 2018 through video conferencing.

The construction of the pipeline project began in March 2020 and had a deadline for completion by June 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trial and test of the oil supply through the pipeline were delayed.

The HSD transmission will augment fossil energy-starved northern Bangladesh.  The pipeline will ensure uninterrupted, fast and affordable means to 16 districts in the region, which needs nearly one million tonnes of fuel annually.

Bangladesh used to import diesel from India through railway carriages, which was time-consuming and hassle to unload, store and distribution manually. The pipeline will significantly reduce its transport costs for Bangladesh, officials said.

According to the Dhaka-Delhi 15-year agreement, India will export 200,000 tonnes of oil annually in the first three years, 300,000 tonnes per annum in the next three years, 500,000 tonnes annually in the next four years and 1 million tonnes annually in the first phase. The second term would be extended based on the consensus of the countries.

Last year, Bangladesh imported six million tonnes of petrol, octane, and diesel. Diesel alone accounted for 75% of fuel oils – 80% of which is met through direct imports, according to a report published last year.

Bangladesh pays $11 in premium per barrel of fuel purchased from the international market, while the premium will be $5.5 per barrel in the pipeline project. “It means we will be able to save around $6 per barrel in premium,” the BPC official said.

In the wake of a fuel crisis, the friendship oil pipeline project is expected to boost long-term business growth and bilateral ties between the two countries, an energy expert said.

First Published in the India Narrative @india_narrative on 19 March 2023

Saleem Samad is a Dhaka based journalist, who writes for India Narrative , specialising in international Affairs

Why Taliban's Are Afraid Of Purple?

SALEEM SAMAD

The radicalised Taliban after recapturing Afghanistan in August 2021, the regime has promulgated a series of misogynist decrees which targeted women only.

Women are barred from higher education, jobs and business. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan issued nearly 20 decrees against women during the last one and a half years inviting global outcry. The

International Women’s Day on 8 March is observed worldwide, but Afghanistan is the world’s most repressive country for women and girls, deprived of their basic rights, said the United Nations.

Despite the dark clouds over Afghanistan, there is two good news on an international day.

First, Afghan broadcaster Tolo News aired an all-female panel in its studio with an audience of women to mark International Women’s Day, a rare broadcast since the Taliban took over the vibrant country, reports BBC.

Second, despite the strict enforcement of protests, the women held a protest in Kabul on International Women’s Day, calling for women’s access to education and work. The protestors called for the removal of blanket restrictions on women in Afghanistan.

Since 1908 International Women’s Day’s thematic colour purple stands for dignity and justice, green for hope, and white for purity. Purple is the colour of women’s empowerment and gender equality, which the Taliban hates to listen to.

Tolo News to mark the auspicious day held a discussion session. The panel of three women and one female moderator with surgical masks covering their faces discussed the topic of the position of women in Islam. Taliban is not prepared to hear a sermon on Islam from a woman.

International media rights defender Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is aghast that the Taliban has continued to erase women journalists from the media landscape in Afghanistan.

In less than two years. Half of the 526 media outlets that existed until the summer of 2021 have had to close and, of the 2,300 women journalists since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, fewer than 200 are still working. Almost all of the women journalists (90%) have had to leave their jobs and some have fled the country, although exactly how many have managed to flee is not known.

Those still working must accept conditions that are becoming more and more draconian if not impossible. The Taliban Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Repression of Vice has also imposed a strict dress code. When women journalists are on camera, they must be covered from head to toe and only their eyes may be seen.

The female protestors issued a statement saying the current challenges against women should not be forgotten.

“It is March 8 but women in Afghanistan have no right to celebrate this day. We are the women who are imprisoned in the country. The restrictions are worsened day-by-day,” said Jolia Parsa, a member of Junbish Itlaf Khodjosh Zanan.

The protesters appealed to the international community to pay attention to the situation of women in Afghanistan.

“Today, the gates of gyms, schools, universities and parks have been closed for women,” said a member of Junbish Itlaf Khodjosh Zanan.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres laments that women and girls “are erased from public life” in Afghanistan.

On the other hand, hopes are dashed as universities reopen after a winter vacation, but it’s another painful reminder to young women of how their world is shrinking.

Due to growing restrictions as well as the country’s severe economic crisis, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said female employment had fallen 25 per cent last year since mid-2021. It added that more women were turning to self-employed work such as tailoring at home.

The United Nations Mission to Afghanistan called on the Taliban to reverse restrictions on the rights of girls and women, calling them “distressing.”

The Taliban have said the authorities have set up a committee to examine perceived issues to work towards re-opening girls’ schools. But there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly said that they are committed to the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan and that their rights are preserved within strict Islamic Sharia laws.

First published in The News Times, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 9 March 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

Ahmadiyya Muslims, Religious Freedom and Bangladesh Constitution

SALEEM SAMAD

When the Muslims in Bangladesh attack the Adivasis or ethnic communities, we remain silent. When the Muslims attack the Hindus, Christians and Buddhists, we remain silent. When they attack the Ahmadiyya Muslims, we again remain silent.

If you ask any persons from among the majoritarian Sunni Muslims, they spontaneously argue that Ahmadiyyas are not Muslims. If you ask again whether the person is a good or bad Muslim? There is silence for a few seconds and after a heave of sigh, that person would say, how do I know, only Allah determines.

The Holy Quran says a day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and time will end. The dead will be resurrected for judgment by the All Mighty. This day is the Day of Judgment where people will be rewarded by the Supreme Creator according to their beliefs and deeds.

More than a year ago, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a press conference in defence of religious freedom and tolerance said if Muslims believe in the Last Day of Judgment then a Muslim shouldn’t point their finger towards someone who is a good Muslim or a bad Muslim.

The video clip of the statement was broadcast from all TV channels in Bangladesh and is available on YouTube, where she rebukes the Islamist and radicalised Muslims, who have sworn to eliminate a certain community or religious practitioners (not naming any Muslim sect), should be banished from Islam.

The radicalised Muslims and Islamists have attacked, vandalised and desecrated hundreds of places of worship, shops and homes of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and of course the Adivasis soon after the birth of Bangladesh.

Adivasi leaders often lament the grabbing of lands and forcible occupation of their properties by influential local persons who are affiliated with the ruling parties – whichever party remains in power.

None of the perpetrators listened to the music of justice. They enjoyed impunity and they remain free from justice, which is frustrating for human rights organisations.

Ahmadiyya, a Muslim sect is members of a minority community and are spread all over Bangladesh since the beginning of the twentieth century. 

The Ahmadiyya are conservative Sunni Muslims and are tolerant of other faiths and practitioners. They regularly hold inter-faith dialogues in their mosques, which prompted the radicalised Muslims to reject that their place of worship is a mosque.

The Islamist and conservative Sunni Muslims demand that the government should banish Ahmadiyya from Islam. The call was purportedly raised by Jamaat-e-Islami founder Abul Ala Maududi in 1953, leading to the bloody atrocities which killed more than 2,000 Ahmadis in Lahore, Pakistan.

Jamaat-e-Islami during Khaleda Zia’s regime in the mid-90s proposed a blasphemy law to punish the Ahmadiyya and secularists. Incidentally, the proposed bill was a photocopy of the blasphemy law of Pakistan.

The [Ahmadiyya] fate was further sealed by Pakistan’s military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, when he issued the anti-Ahmadiyya law on 26 April 1984, which prohibited Ahmadis from preaching or professing their beliefs.

Not to anybody's surprise, Pakistan’s abandoned orphans [the Mullahs] born in Bangladesh are demanding similar repressive laws to ban and punish the ‘heretic’ Ahmadiyyas.

The radicalised Islamic groups including the Islami Andolon Bangladesh, Majlis-e-Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat, and of course Hefazat-e-Islam believe the Ahmadiyya are heretic and demands that the sect should be banned and declared ‘non-Muslim’ like Pakistan in September 1974.

A few years ago, the Islamist protesters in Panchagarh invited Hefazat-e-Islam leader Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi on a chartered helicopter from his base in Hathazari, Chattagram and warned the government, the civil and police administrations not to cooperate with the Ahmadiyya Muslim in holing the ‘Salana Jalsha’ (annual congregation) at their Ahmadnagar complex.

During the last three decades, the Islamists attacked and vandalised the members of Ahmadiyya properties and mosques in Brahmanbaria, Dhaka, Gazipur, Jashore, Khulna, Kushtia, Natore, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Sherpur and elsewhere, according to news published in media.

Ahmadiyya management had to postpone and cancel their annual congregation several times due to opposition of the minority Islamists in the last 32 years, minus the mainstream majoritarian Muslims who believe in Sufism and are tolerant.

The recurrence of the cancellation of Jalsha, no doubt were instigated by the Islamist groups and not surprising the district and police administration bowed down to the vile threats of the Islamist.

The recent flare-up of the racial riot in Panchagarh after Friday's Jumma prayer (3 March) became violent after police attempted to disperse the militant protesters, which turned berserk.

Local journalists said after eight hours the paramilitary Borders Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and elite police force RAB were deployed. The delay caused to deaths of 2 persons including an Ahmadi.

More than 100 homes of the Ahmadiyya community were torched, vandalised and looted, claimed Ahmed Tabshir Chowdhury, an Ahmadiyya leader who was at the complex during the riot.

Hefazat-e-Islam promptly said the non-Muslim [meaning Ahmadiyya] should not have been given permission to hold the Jalsha and instead blamed the Qadiyani [slang for Ahmadiyya] for the unrest.

The following day agitation was further fuelled by rumours by a group of young people, local journalists claim that they are from a madrassa.

The Ahmadiyya families in Panchagarh have fled their homes for safety and are living in fear.

According to a thought-provoking article published in the Dhaka Tribune writes, the Constitution of Bangladesh, which recognises Islam as the state religion, also ensures the rights of all other religions, irrespective of race, caste, sex or place of birth.

According to Article 28 (1) of the Constitution, the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

Moreover, Article 41 states that (a) every citizen has the right to profess, practise or propagate any religion; (b) every religious community or denomination has the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions.

As per Article 44 (1), a citizen can move to the High Court if his/her religious freedom is violated.

Despite bifurcating after a brutal war of independence in 1971 to establish a nation based on democracy, secularism, pluralism, equality and social justice, the ghost of the Islamic state of Pakistan seems to have rested on the shoulders of Bangladesh Mullahs.

Sunni Muslims commonly know that Ahmadiyya does not believe in the last Prophet of Islam. Secondly, the Quran of Ahmadiyya has been distorted. Thirdly, their prayers are not following Muslim practitioners. Finally, the interpretation of Islam follows the propaganda of the Jews and Christians.

The Ahmadiyyas are funded by Zionists and instigated against the Muslims and their Headquarters is located in Israel. The list of conspiracy theories lengthens.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim’s headquarters in London has the largest collection of translated copies of the Quran in more than 70 languages, also in Hebrew and Chinese [both Mandarin and Cantonese].

Despite the negative campaign and conspiracy theories agog in social media, the Ahmadiyyas are growing, spreading and shining all over the world. An estimated 10 million Ahmadis are living around the world, in more than 200 countries.

In Cuba, where religious practices were a social taboo, the Ahmadiyyas have their footprint and boast the establishment of their first mosque in Havana – in near future in China and North Korea.

First published in The News Times, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 5 March 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

Hawara Rampage Has A Hallmark Of Sabra And Shatila Massacres

SALEEM SAMAD

The night of the riots in Hawara by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank last week has a trail of destruction sown by Israelis in the village by masked men to avenge the murder of the Jewish brothers by unidentified radicalised Palestinians – who are on the run after the elite Israel police are on a countrywide manhunt.

Hundreds of Jewish settlers descended on the northern West Bank town, killing 37-year-old Sameh Aqtash and wounding 98 other Palestinians after two Israeli brothers were gunned down by a Palestinian affiliated with the Nablus-based Lion’s Den militant group on 26 February.

The day after on 27 February, hundreds of settlers set fire to homes and cars and threw stones, it was obvious to anyone on the road leading into the West Bank Palestinian town that the rioters were still in control, the Haaretz newspaper describes the situation.

Scores of young Jewish vigilantes, many of them masked, gathered there in the morning checking vehicles in search of Palestinians. The Israeli soldiers kept a distance, but the vigilante was doing as they pleased, laments an Israeli newspaper.

The reports of a large Israeli army presence in the town existed only on paper. Many rebuked the armed forces for their incompetence.

Top Israel General Yehuda Fuchs, said the settler extremists are sowing terror. The vigilante settlers who rampaged through a Palestinian town in the West Bank had carried out a “pogrom” that caught the military off-guard, he remarked.

The general who is Head of the IDF (Israel Defence Force) Central Command and oversees the West Bank told Hebrew-language media that he was worried about clashes between soldiers and settlers and accused the Jewish extremists of “spreading terror.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank didn’t dare wander around their village, which looked like a ghost town. The shops were shuttered, the streets strewn with rocks, and the smell of smoke was still in the air.

The army accused the rioters while civil society and human rights organisations blame intelligence failure.

On the other hand, Lt. Gen. Herzl Halevi, Israel’s army chief denounces the attack by hundreds of Jewish settlers and laments that the army should have prevented the rampage by Jewish settlers in Hawara.

Israel’s army chief remarked that Israelis should halt the “internecine struggle” that has plagued the country since Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government took over two months ago.

Many attribute the chaos in Hawara as a hallmark of the massacre nearly forty years ago at Sabra and Shatila Palestine refugee camps by Israeli-backed right-wing Phalange militia killed between 2,000 and 3,500 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians between September 16 and 18, 1982.

However, the IDF commanders immediately scoffed off the allegation of Israel’s involvement in the bloody atrocities in the two refugee camps in Lebanon.

Shatila camp southwest of Lebanon’s capital city Beirut housed refugees who were victims of the 1948 Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic, fleeing the violent ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist militias as Israel was formed.

The Hawara riot has invited global condemnation of Israel’s handling of the situation. Hady Amr, the U.S. special representative for Palestinian affairs, visited the scene of occurrence and condemned “the unacceptable wide-scale, indiscriminate violence by settlers” and wants “to see full accountability and legal prosecution of those responsible for these heinous attacks and compensation for those who lost property or were otherwise affected,” echoing calls by State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

European Union calls for protection of civilians, de-escalation amid rising West Bank violence and urges all perpetrators must be brought to justice.

The European Union in a statement expressed its concern over recent deadly violence in the West Bank, calling for the protection of civilians and immediate de-escalator steps.

The EU statement also commended Jordan, Egypt, and the US for convening Sunday’s summit in Aqaba, Jordan which brought Israeli and Palestine Authority officials together in an attempt to tamp down on the violence ahead of the month of Ramadan.

The Israel media claims several ministers are demanding more aggressive actions, despite the looming holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which in recent years has become a time of heightened tensions and violence.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for the past year, with the IDF conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks, writes Times of Israel.

First appeared in the The News Times, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 3 March 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

China’s Neo-Economic Imperialism Shackles Defaulting Small Nations

SALEEM SAMAD 

Communist China for decades used to air propaganda on its state radio that the United States, Japan, Britain, and European countries are economic imperialists, warmongers and back autocratic regimes in third-world countries.

Political economists and several think tanks describe China has become an economic giant and definitely a new superpower.

There are reasons to be concerned about the dramatic rise of China as a military power in the Asia-Pacific region.

A British popular tabloid newspaper The Sun claims that China is “colonizing” smaller countries by lending them massive amounts of money, which they can never repay.

Developing countries from Pakistan to Djibouti, the Maldives to Fiji, all owe huge amounts to China and have fallen into a debt-trap.

Alarm bells are ringing for Pakistan’s public debt is piling up, while a new narrative taking shape in the West that the controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is creating a debt trap for developing economies, many are quick to link Pakistan’s ballooning debt to loans incurred under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The BRI flagship $62bn project in Pakistan links with the persecuted Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan (now Xinjiang Province) of China and is being built through disputed territory in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and restive Balochistan.

The ambitious project fails to address the participation of the fiercely independent Baloch people. Time will explain whether the full utilisation of Gwadar Port built by the Chinese will be feasible.

Now Pakistan will have to repay $100 billion to China from 2024 of the total investment of $18.5 billion, which China has invested on account of bank loans in 19 early harvest projects, under CPEC.

Very recently, Rhodium Group, a US-based research organization, reviewed 40 cases of China’s external debt renegotiations.

It was found that defaulters are being pressured into surrendering control of assets or allowing military bases on their land.

Sri Lanka is the best example of being riddled with debt. Owing more than $1 billion in debts to China seized control of Hambantota port for use by companies owned by the Chinese government on a 99-year lease.

The Sun article alleges that the defaulters have been pressured into surrendering assets and territory or allowing military bases on their land, thus increasing its military footprint in the region. There is only one other reported case of asset seizure from Tajikistan in 2011.

Meanwhile, the Doraleh Container Terminal in Djibouti has fallen into Chinese hands, particularly because it sits next to China’s only overseas military base. Djibouti is home to the US military’s main base in Africa.

A report from The Center for Global Development, a Washington DC-based nonpartisan, nonprofit think-tank offers some insight into the spreading China debt.

Researches exemplify how infrastructure project loans to Mongolia, Montenegro, and Laos have resulted in millions or even billions in debts, which often account for huge percentages of the countries GDPs.

Well, most of the projects are linked to the BRI and undertake work on roads and ports with part-funding from China, a bold project to create trade routes through huge swathes of Eurasia, with China at the centre.

China’s economic empire is visible in the Pacific region, prompting fears the country intends to leverage the debt to expand its military footprint into the South Pacific.

Australia expressed alarm at this move, which would effectively increase Chinese military presence on a key gateway to Australia’s east coast.

Sydney’s Lowy Institute think-tank, which has closely monitored China’s activities in the Pacific, estimates Beijing has poured nearly $ 1.74 billion into Pacific countries since 2006.

Among the projects this money funded was the largest wharf in the South Pacific – considered capable of accommodating aircraft carriers.

China approached Vanuatu about setting up a military base. The country owes $238.32 million to China.

Tonga also carries some big debts and has already admitted to struggling with repayments.

Other big debtors include Papua New Guinea, which owes roughly $621.30 million in development and aid debt, Fiji, which owes $606.23 million, and Samoa, with a debt of  $225.77 million.

Critics, however, dismiss China’s lending practices explaining the Chinese were “sincere and unselfish” in mega-projects in countries that are unable to repay loans.

The change of heart from a third-world leadership to “economic imperialism” cause fear among the poor and developing countries.

First published in The News Times, Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 26, 2023

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist and a media rights defender. A recipient of the Ashoka Fellow (USA) and Hellman-Hammett Award. Twitter @saleemsamad; Email: saleemsamad@hotmail.com

Is Freedom Of Expression Worsening In Bangladesh?

SALEEM SAMAD

Freedom of expression in Bangladesh has been a constant feature of our nation’s recent political history.

In the recent past, the global media and organisations at the national front, as well as in the international arena are agog on the issue of freedom of expression.

The international bodies including United Nations, foreign embassies, and human rights groups did not hesitate to be outspoken critics of the state of freedom of expression and also the status of press freedom in Bangladesh.

Well, a section of pro-government intellectuals and news organisations promptly blasted the national and international organisations for damaging the image of the country.

The ruling Awami League and the government agencies rebuked the organisations raising the issue of freedom of expression as a conspiracy against the country, which the authorities describe that freedom and democracy are running parallel and media is enjoying wide freedom.

Frankly speaking, they do not have enough information, nor do they understand the parameters of freedom of expression to counter the global outrage over the draconian laws which is shrinking the space for freedom of expression.

When the election is around the corner in January 2024, the government is poised to promulgate yet another law Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Regulation For Digital, Social Media, and OTT Platforms.

Similarly, the government months before the 2018 parliament elections passed the repressive Digital Security Act.

The cyber security law incorporates blasphemy, defamation and secrecy act which contradicts democracy, secularism, and pluralism.

The notorious Digital Security Act (DSA) criminalises the right to freedom of expression, dissent and critiquing the authority in any digital format. The worst victims were journalists, opposition politicians and netizens (social media users).

Politicians and journalists ranked the highest and were neck-to-neck in terms of those accused – at least 287 politicians and 280 journalists.

The draconian law recorded 1,109 cases filed under the DSA, of which around 60 per cent were over Facebook activities. A total of 2,889 individuals were accused, according to a study by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS).

This study and other activities of CGS invited the state security agencies to haunt Zillur Rahman, executive director of CGS and a volley of criticism by intellectuals and ruling party politicians.

Meanwhile, the members of the global alliance Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) recently participated by envoys of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Envoys from member countries of the MFC met early this month in the capital Dhaka to launch the MFC’s Diplomatic Network Initiative for their support of press freedom.

The diplomats discussed the current media landscape, including the censoring of online news portals and recent cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists.

The MFC was established in July 2019 at the Global Conference for Media Freedom and now comprises over 50 member states from six continents that have signed the Global Pledge on Media Freedom.

Last week, the United States Ambassador Peter Haas came down heavily at a discussion on “Online Freedom and Business Investment in Bangladesh” which jolted the upper echelons of the Awami League.

He frankly stated the United States government is concerned about the regulations for digital, social media, and over-the-top platforms the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Information have introduced, as well as the draft Data Protection Act.

What worries is that the “Data Protection Act, if passed with strict data localisation requirements, may force some US companies currently operating in Bangladesh to leave the market.”

The online platform regulations “will similarly dissuade companies from investing in their businesses here, if they face criminal liability for user content.”

The law threatens over 2,000 startup companies to be put out of business, and services that Bangladeshis use millions of times every day could become inaccessible.

The worst of worst came, the statement of Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression was released on 6 February on Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (draft) regulation for digital, social media, and OTT platforms.

Khan categorically said the proposed Data Protection Act is contradictory to Bangladesh’s obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Many of the categories of prohibited content in the draft Regulation are vaguely defined. Such broad and vague definitions as “racially or ethnically objectionable”, “offensive, false, or threatening and insulting or humiliating” or “hurts religious values or sentiment” are well beyond the restrictions permitted by international law.

Such clauses will encourage the removal of content by intermediaries as well as self-censorship among users, thereby having a direct chilling effect on freedom of expression, she observed in her report.

She urged the Bangladesh authorities to provide feedback on how the Digital, Social Media, and OTT Platforms Regulation is consistent with the obligations under international human rights law, especially the requirements of the Covenant.

Will the authority respond to the observation of Special Rapporteur Irene Khan? Bangladesh does not have the culture to respond to queries from international bodies.

First published in The News Times, Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 12, 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

Iran Plunged Into Darkness When Khomeini Returns From Exile

SALEEM SAMAD

Contrary to belief, dark clouds had overcast the skies of Iran when the Shia (or Shiite) Islamist leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile 44 years ago on 1 February 1979.

The so-called Islamic Revolution which is believed to have ousted the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on 11 February 1979, is a myth – not an actual political history of Iran.

The charismatic leader of the Iranian revolution returned to Iran after 14 years in exile, indeed was an important turn point in the history of Iran.

Born around the turn of the century, Khomeini was the son of an Islamic religious scholar and in his youth memorised the Quran. He was a Shia — the branch of Islam practised by a majority of Iranians — and soon devoted himself to the formal study of Shia Islam in the city of Qom.

In 1941, British and Soviet troops occupied Iran and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the second modern Shah of Iran.

Mohammad Reza in 1963 launched the “White Revolution,” a broad reforms programme that called for the reduction of religious estates in the name of land redistribution, and equal rights for women. These reforms irked anger among the Islamic clerics in Iran.

In fiery dispatches from his seminary in Qom, Khomeini called for the overthrow of the Shah and the establishment of an Islamic state. In 1963, the Shah imprisoned him, which led to anti-Shah riots, and on 4 November 1964, expelled from Iran.

Khomeini settled in An Najaf, a Shia holy city across the border in Iraq, and sent home audio recordings of his sermons that continued to incite his seminary student and disciples.

In the 1970s, the Shah of Iran further enraged Islamists in Iran when he replaced the Islamic calendar with a Persian calendar.

As discontent grew, the Shah became more repressive with critics and dissidents, while public support for Khomeini grew. In 1978, massive anti-Shah demonstrations broke out in Iran’s major cities. Disgruntled citizens of the lower and middle classes joined the radical students, and Khomeini called for Shah’s immediate overthrow.

The Shah and his family fled the country two weeks before the return of Khomeini, and the jubilant Iranian revolutionaries were eager to establish a fundamentalist Islamic government.

With religious fervour running high, Khomeini consolidated his authority and set out to transform Iran into a religious state – pushing once a modern Iran towards the 7th-century medieval era.

In December 1979, a new Iranian constitution was approved, naming Khomeini as Iran’s political and religious leader for life.

Under his strict Islamic law, Iranian women were denied equal rights and required to wear hijab (Muslim veil), Western culture was banned, and strict Islamic Sharia law and brutal punishments were imposed.

In suppressing opposition, Khomeini proved as ruthless as the Shah, and thousands of political dissidents, critics and opposition were executed during his decade of rule.

The dangerous political decision taken by the revolutionaries caused immense harm to the nation. The unlimited pain, agony and suffering endured by millions of Iranian who believe in life and freedom.

The Islamic Republic denied democracy, pluralism, secularism, inclusive elections, and criminalised freedom of expression. LGTBQ and other forms of pro-choice lifestyle were also criminalised.

Earlier, the anti-Shah revolutionaries were drawn from the Marxist Tudeh Party and leftist Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) which were banned by the Islamic Republic.

All progressive movements were brutally suppressed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, dubbed as ‘Khomeini’s children’.

The MEK was founded on 5 September 1965 by like-minded leftist students in Iran and affiliated with the freedom movement of Iran to oppose the American-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The MEK engaged in armed conflict with Shah’s regime in the 1970s and contributed to the collapse of Shah during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Simultaneously the communist leadership of the Tudeh Party organised the working class, including the thousands of Taxi drivers to revolt against despot Shah’s regime.

The communist also organised the civil bureaucracy, police administration and military to show dissent against Shah’s regime.

After the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty, the MEK boycotted the December 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum and Khomeini prevented Massoud Rajavi and other MEK members from running for office.

By 1981, authorities had banned the MEK and begun a major crackdown on the group’s members and supporters, driving the organisation underground. Islamic Republic arrested and executed numerous MEK and Tudeh Party leaders, members and sympathisers.

From his home in exile outside Paris, the defiant leader (Khomeini) extended offers to United States President Jimmy Carter. “Iranian military leaders listen to you,” he said, “but the Iranian people follow my orders.” Khomeini feared the nervous military and believed the royalist top brass hated him.

He urged Carter that if he could use his influence on the military to clear the way for his takeover, Khomeini suggested, he would calm the nation and stability could be restored. Reiterating America’s interest and US citizens in Iran would be protected.

Khomeini wanted Shah’s chief benefactor (US) to understand that he had no quarrel with America.

“Khomeini explained he was not opposed to American interests in Iran,” according to a 1980 CIA analysis titled Islam in Iran, partially released to the public in 2008.

At that time, the Iranian street protests were chaotic. Protesters clashed with troops, shops were closed, and public services were suspended. Meanwhile, labour strikes had all but halted the flow of oil, jeopardising a vital Western interest.

Persuaded by Carter, Iran’s tyrannical ruler, Shah, finally fled the country – thus ending the so-called Pahlavi dynasty for 2,500 years.

The Americans had extensive contact with Ayatollah Khomeini before the Iran revolution, writes the Guardian newspaper, which had access to the secret documents.

Documents seen by BBC suggest Carter administration paved way for Khomeini to return to Iran by holding the army back from launching a military coup.

Despite assurance to the US establishment for normalisation of diplomatic ties, on 4 November 1979, the 15th anniversary of his exile, students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took the staff hostage.

With Khomeini’s approval, the radicals demanded the return of the Shah to Iran and held 52 Americans hostage, for 444 days. The Shah died in Egypt of cancer in July 1980.

After Ayatollah Khomeini died on 3 June 1989, Ali Khamenei became Supreme Leader. He is still the lifelong supremo of Islamic Iran with an iron hand.

Presently Iran has plunged into a nationwide protest against tyrannical rule by Mullahs where freedom of speech and equal rights of gender has been criminalised.

Will have to wait for how the Islamic Republic manages damage control after the global outcry of the brutal suppression of #IranRevolution, which broke out after a teenage girl Masha Amini was tortured to death recently by moral police for the inappropriate wearing of the hijab.

First published in The News Times, February 7, 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

Shahbag Square Thunderous Slogan ‘Joy Bangla'

SALEEM SAMAD

On 5 February 2013, suddenly Shahbagh intersection become lively as thousands of angry and frustrated young people thronged the place to demand maximum punishment of war criminals indicted for war crimes and a crime against humanity during the brutal birth of Bangladesh.

On the tenth anniversary of Gono Jagaron Moncho, remembered for the revival of the war cry of Bangladeshi nationalism ‘Joy Bangla’ was significant. Tens of thousands of young people from all walks of life have turned up to protest the life sentences handed out to Islamists.

The platform for trial and punishment of Bangladesh-born henchmen of occupation Pakistan armed forces imbibed millions of young people despite they were born after the liberation war. They did not forget what the war criminals have committed to their motherland.

Popular belief suggests that Bangladesh is a conservative Sunni Muslim majority. The melee of thousands of young women at the square belies this. The women are there, with children in tow, on their lap or shoulder way past midnight.

The deafening roar of the youths at Shahbag Square, the epicentre of protest in Dhaka, is awe-inspiring. Mainly because over one lakh youth chanted “Joy Bangla” (Long Live Bangladesh) throughout the day and night.

Joy Bangla was the war cry of the Mukti Bahini (Bangladesh Liberation Forces) during the 1971 bloody liberation war.

The Joy Bangla slogan became taboo after the assassination of independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

“Today I walk in the streets shouting the slogan without fear, prejudice or being bashful,” Shamsuddin Ahmed, journalist and writer tells me. “I haven’t heard that slogan in over 40 years since the country was liberated.”

The revival of the war cry of Bangladeshi nationalism is significant. Young people from all walks of life have turned out in their thousands to protest the life sentences handed out to an Islamist war criminal by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal.

If the tribunal persists, Bangladesh could become the world’s first Muslim nation to bury political Islam once and for all. It is a devil which needs to be contained. And here’s why they were at Shahbag.

The struggle against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was sparked off in its erstwhile eastern province in March 1971. Nine months later, the new nation of Bangladesh emerged, after a bloody gruesome war for millions of Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Buddhists and Adivasis alike.

Pakistan’s marauding army with their local henchmen committed genocide, crime against humanity and forced abductions for nine months of the independence war, nearly 4.5 lakh women were victims of rape as a weapon of war, and intellectuals were murdered and abducted.

Bangladesh war historian Prof. Muntasir Mamoon claims genocide of three million people. These were people whose only crime was to believe in the independence of Bangladesh. The marauding Pakistan forces and their henchmen were blamed for the genocide.

The peasants and students fought the elite Pakistan military forces and their auxiliary forces, largely recruited from among the Bangalee Muslim population in the country.

Their spirits were not dampened and we have demanded the trial of these henchmen, collaborators of war crimes. For forty years our voice was not heard. But most underestimated the new generation.

Their thunderous cry is not just audible over Shahbag Square. It echoes over social media, Twitter and Facebook. It is an angry voice demanding justice.

In the Arab Spring, the protests were anti-government. The Arab protester’s objective was to achieve democracy, freedom and justice. In Bangladesh, the scenario is dramatically different.

The protester’s quest is to seek justice for crimes committed in 1971, when Bangladesh, formerly the Eastern province of Pakistan, attained its independence. The crowd listens patiently to the chorus, poetry recitation and brief speeches for hours. Thousands chant slogans repeatedly.

Today Gono Jagaron Moncho which bonded millions of youngsters is a history, despite the controversy and myths around the movement. Forty-two years after its difficult birth, Bangladesh witnessed a rebirth in Shahbag Square.

First published in The News Times, February 5, 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

“Adivasis Drowning In Abject Poverty”

SALEEM SAMAD

A rosy picture of national ethnic people dancing and singing adorned in traditional ethnic dress in most national events, cultural programmes on state-run television, Pahari (hill people) ethnic food festivals and recruitment in government jobs is not the true story of the life, livelihood and visibility of the Adivasis in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has 50 different national minorities. They have distinctive languages, cultures and practices which they inherited from their ancestors. The Adivasis are inhabitants in forests in the plainland and the hill forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

Left-leaning lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badsha agreed to disagree with leading development economist Prof Abul Barakat on his policy research on the status of Adivasi. He remarked that they should not be bracketed as a disadvantaged or vulnerable population, which does not reflect the real status of the national minorities.

Badsha without hesitation said, the Adivasis are drowning in abject poverty and pushed toward vulnerability by the majoritarian but stopped short of mentioning ‘Bangalee Muslims’ as the devil.

They have adopted several “survival strategies” to combat hunger and poverty from environmentally friendly exploitation of nature, the lawmaker observed.

Well, the lawmaker agreed with Prof Barakat that Adivasis are losing their forest rights, are traditionally conservators of forests, access to farm in khas (public) lands, and clumsy land acquisition formalities have pushed the Adivasis further into vulnerability to survive on a bare minimum.

Dr Barakat shared his findings from a policy study on the ‘Study of Budget Allocation and Budget Spent for Development of Ethnic People (CHT and Plainland) in Bangladesh’, a research conducted by the Human Development Research Centre (HDRC) and funded by Manusher Jonno Foundation on 15 January at CIRDAP Auditorium.

The economist said two-thirds of the Adivasis are caught in a functionally landless category. The poverty index argues that 60 per cent of the national minorities are very poor.

The national budget is more than a statement of allocation for the development of economic and social sectors. But the ethnic people have been deprived and discriminated against historically, admitted the study.

The budget allocations for the Adivasi people are too little and too inadequate. A large part of the allocations are not spent for them and they get an insignificant amount from a large pie.

Adivasi people do not get adequate allocations from the national budget. Like all other ordinary and marginalised people, the participation of Adivasis in the budget planning process is absent.

Even their community and national leaders are not approached for any meaningful discussion to assess the real needs and demands.

Some allocations seem to be “not so needful”, while some other priority needs are ignored, most likely due to the absence of consultation with the communities.

The lack of effective monitoring is another stark reality. A portion of the insufficient allocation to the Adivasi is not fully spent due to a lack of accountability. The quality of spending is questionable due to leakage misappropriation by the rent-seekers, mistargeting and other misgovernance issues.

Reviewing the national budget allocation for the Adivasi it is found that an estimated Taka 2,508 crore (1.22 per cent of the Annual Development Plan-ADP) in financial year (FY) 2020-21; and Tk 2,400 crore in FY 21-22.

It could be understood that the allocations decreased in FY 21-22 by Tk 108 crore or 4.34 per cent in nominal terms.

There are some critical but missing allocation line items for the ethnic people for plainland Adivasi people, those include food assistance in ‘monga’ (absence of farm work) months, legal aids for ownership of grabbed land, education in their language, equitable health services, enhancing livelihood endowment, promotion and protection of Adivasi culture and knowledge management,

The critical missing allocation line items for the CHT Adivasi include adequate budget provisions for the land commission, CHT regional council, perspective plan, biodiversity and environmental protection.

Lawmaker Badsha echoed with Dr Barakat that a separate ministry for the plainland Adivasis was recommended. The present Ministry for CHT Affairs could be revamped and made into one ministry for the national minorities, which may have a CHT Division in the newly formed ministry.

An effective Land Commission is very vital for the Adivasi against organised land grabbers, having political clouts. The land grabbers are actively functioning all over the communes of Adivasi regions with impunity.

The land litigations in district courts are another frustration for the Adivasis who lost their ancestral lands to the land grabbers. The worst case scenario is when the state acquires a large portion of lands which belonged to the Adivasis in a bid to develop so-called eco-parks or lease the land to private corporations for the construction of resorts and plantation gardens.

Finally, the study recommends emphasising food security, inclusive development, widen the social net to trap the Adivasis slipping into abject poverty and hunger.

First published in The News Times,January 16, 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad