Bangladesh sees emergence of Islamist extremism amidst nation rebuilding: New York Times
It said religious extremists in Bangladesh began by asserting control over women's bodies following the July-August uprising last year
The New York Times published a report today (1 April) on its website claiming that as Bangladesh tries to rebuild its democracy and chart a new future for its 175 million people, a streak of Islamist extremism that had long lurked beneath the country's secular facade is bubbling to the surface.
The report stated that a brewing shift toward religious conservatism has emerged in Bangladesh from the political vacuum following the mass uprising that led to Sheikh Hasina's removal from power.
It said religious extremists in Bangladesh began by asserting control over women's bodies following the July-August uprising last year.
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"In the political vacuum that has emerged after the overthrow of Bangladesh's authoritarian leader, religious fundamentalists in one town declared that young women could no longer play soccer. In another, they forced the police to free a man who had harassed a woman for not covering her hair in public, then draped him in garlands of flowers.
"More brazen calls followed. Demonstrators at a rally in Dhaka, the capital, warned that if the government did not give the death penalty to anyone who disrespected Islam, they would carry out executions with their own hands. Days later, an outlawed group held a large march demanding an Islamic caliphate," reads the report.
Citing critics, the report accused Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus of being soft, overly focused on democratic reforms, hesitant to confront conflicts, and lacking a clear vision as extremists gain more public influence.
The report said the Islamist leaders are insisting that Bangladesh erect an "Islamic government" that punishes those who disrespect Islam and enforces "modesty" — vague concepts that in other places have given way to vigilantism or theocratic rule.
It said, "What is happening in Bangladesh mirrors a wave of fundamentalism that has consumed the region."
The report said in the current political vacuum, men at the local level have been coming up with their own interpretations of Islamic governance.
It mentioned an incident of Rangpur's Taraganj upazila where a group of organisers decided to hold a soccer match between two teams of young women in February.
The match was cancelled after a town mosque leader proclaimed that women and girls should not be allowed to play soccer, the report said.
Citing officials who are drafting a new constitution, the report said the document was likely to drop secularism as a defining characteristic of Bangladesh, replacing it with pluralism and redrawing the country along more religious lines.
Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, the NYT report said smaller extremist outfits that want to upend the system entirely, and more mainstream Islamist parties that want to work within the democratic system, appear to be converging on a shared goal of a more fundamentalist Bangladesh.
Citing analysts and diplomats, the report also stated that the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, sees a big opportunity and is playing a long-term game.
"While it is unlikely to win an election expected at the end of the year, the party hopes to capitalise on the discrediting of mainstream secular parties," reads the report.
