Bangladesh's approach to preventing communal violence could be a model for the region: Adviser Mahfuj

Bangladesh's approach to preventing communal violence could serve as a model for the region, Mahfuj Alam, information and broadcasting adviser to the interim government, has said. 

"The rise of communal violence and religious intolerance, including Islamophobia, in this region will not help any South Asian nation. Communal violence, hatred, and Islamophobic attitudes towards Muslims, especially Muslim women and children, will create tensions among communities across the region," he wrote on his verified Facebook profile last night (17 March). 

"In post-July Bangladesh, we have taken firm action to prevent communal violence. We fact-checked reported incidents of violence and arrested almost all perpetrators. However, most of the violence was driven by political vendettas rather than communal causes," Mahfuj added. 

He said when communal hatred, violence, and Islamophobia become state-sponsored, media-fueled, and mob-driven, it poses a grave threat to regional stability. "A state cannot view its own citizens and Muslims across its borders through an Islamophobic lens."

"Bangladesh needs a new path. We shouldn't confine ourselves to the upper northwest of the Ganges; rather, we should also look forward to the Bay of Bengal and the lower southeastern region. A new settlement should emerge centring on the Bay of Bengal," he added. 

The information and broadcasting adviser said communal harmony, as envisioned by Dara Shikoh, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, and Kazi Nazrul Islam, must prevail. "Extremism in the name of any religion and Islamophobia should be rejected by all communities in this region," he added. 

Mahfuj said stability lies in mutual understanding, harmony and cooperation among all religious, cultural and ethnic communities of this region.