The recent rise of ISIS or ISIL in Iraq and it’s outrageous advancement towards establishing another Islamic state has concerned me in Bangladesh much because of the extent of violent attacks and their plans and methods.
We also have thousands of extremists operating right under the nose of law enforcers and backed by different mainstream political parties. But people in common in this 90% Muslim majority country do no support violent way to spread Islam. Rather they have been restricting other religion followers from doing normal activities for years so that they leave the country or convert to Islam. Current Muslims are mostly converted in the past two generations.
My point of concern is the diminishing values of influential Muslims in Bangladesh and across the globe. The views of common Muslims is not frightening at all.
When the ISIS started publicity, I found not a single Muslim to condemn jihad as they kept mum. When the ISIS issues fatwa that all the Iraqi women would have to entertain them unconditionally, the Muslims in Bangladesh keep mum. When an unconfirmed news says the ISIS would destroy the Kabba in Mecca, they keep silence while only a few educated Muslim bloggers and activists react saying that it was a wrong news!
Well, now that an aljazeera report says the ISIS had destroyed Shia mosques and shrines and will do so in the future, they keep mum still.
I remember the Muslims have over 70 sects with different beliefs and hatred against each other.
It’s really shocking to see the Bangladeshi educated Muslims’ indifference on issues regarding the wrong and destructive preaching methods of this 1500 year old religion. Use of force to teach and compel people to follow Islam is no way acceptable.
In Bangladesh, we had al-qaeda followers in Huji, JMB, Harkat-ul-jihad, and latest Hefazat. There are many other small groups emerging with an aim to establish an Islamic state here.
Ironically, Bangladesh has been an Islamic state since 1986 promulgated by a former military ruler, who is now the special envoy to the incumbent prime minister Hasina. She leads the country’s largest party known to be secular.
Last year, to tame down the uprising of Hefazat who threatened to besiege the presidential palace and usurp power through a mass gathering in May, the Hasina administration bribed the Hefazat leaders and publicly the PM said the country would be run by Madina Charter – a proposition refused by Hefazat and majority Muslims. I wondered why. Later I came to know that the Charter is secular and liberal as it spoke for coexistence of all religion.
Neither the ISIS not any other extremist Islam-preaching group talks about Madina Charter. They do not urge the people to follow the Islamic values and norms and rituals, rather try to force them doing so.
Most shocking is that the world is being bled by violence instigated or carried out by so-called believers, not the atheists!