par j.james | Avr 21, 2016 | Bangladesh, Religious fundamentalism
Bangladesh’s shameful response to religion critic killings.
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Paul Fidalgo is communications director for the Center for Inquiry. Michael De Dora is director of the center's office of public policy, the organization's representative to the United Nations and the president of the United Nations NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief. The opinions expressed in this commentary are theirs. [/su_column] [/su_row](CNN)An innocent young man is brutally hacked to death in the street by marauding thugs with machetes, and the government's response is to effectively blame the victim. This is the outrageous and absurd situation in the supposed democratic state of Bangladesh, where a bloody campaign of terror is being waged against secularists and atheists who have criticized radical Islam. But rather than act to protect the rights and safety of its people, Bangladesh's leaders are coddling the killers and chastising the dead.
Last week in Dhaka, 28-year-old law student Nazimuddin Samad found himself surrounded by Islamist extremists, reportedly linked to al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent. They hacked at him with machetes, and shot him to ensure he was dead, all because he had written posts on Facebook promoting secularism and criticizing radical Islam. Continue Reading …
par j.james | Avr 20, 2016 | Bangladesh, Religious fundamentalism
20 Bangladeshis joined IS so far.
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A senior police officer has rubbished claims by the militant group that calls itself the Islamic State about carrying out attacks in Bangladesh.
“We have identified those involved in recent bomb explosions, attacks on mosque and killings. So far 50 persons have been arrested,” Monirul Islam, chief of Counter Terrorism and Trans National Crime (CT) unit, told the media yesterday.
He said many had confessed before the court but none of them said they were involve with IS or al-Qaeda. Monirul, also a DMP additional commissioner, blamed JMB and local militant groups for the attacks.
“The suspects admitted to their involvement with JMB and said they carried out the killings and attacks as part of their militant establishment.” Continue Reading … [/su_column] [/su_row]
par j.james | Avr 20, 2016 | Bangladesh, Religious fundamentalism
Officials Dismiss Islamic State Claims of Fighters in Bangladesh
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The latest claim by the Islamic State (IS) that it has launched a new front in Bangladesh and its local fighters are gearing up to launch attacks on India and Myanmar has been dismissed by the government in Dhaka, which says the militant group has no presence in the South Asian nation.
In an interview published in the latest issue of the Islamic State magazine Dabiq, Shaykh Abu Ibrahim al-Hanif, who was introduced as the head of the organization’s Bangladesh wing, said efforts to recruit “soldiers of the Khilafah (Caliphate)” in Bangladesh has gained “great momentum” with many Muslims joining its ranks. [/su_column] [/su_row] “Bengal (Bangladesh) is an important region for the Khilafah and the global jihad due to its strategic geographic position… a strong jihad base in Bengal will facilitate performing guerrilla attacks inside India… Also, jihad in Bengal is a stepping-stone for jihad in Burma,” Hanif said in the interview.
Hanif added that IS has succeeded in building a base by attracting Muslims following the organization’s campaign in Bengali language in the social media. Continue Reading …
par j.james | Avr 16, 2016 | Bangladesh, Religious fundamentalism
ISIS claims it has operations inside Bangladesh
[su_row][su_column size= »1/3″] [/su_column] [su_column size= »2/3″] ISIS has claimed it has operations in Bangladesh, BuzzFeed News reported citing the latest issue of Dabiq, the propaganda magazine of the Islamic militant group.
A significant part of the issue of the magazine was devoted to discuss its operations in Bangladesh.
A number of secular bloggers have been killed in Bangladesh in hand of Islamist fundamentalists since last year.
However, the government has repeatedly rejected the idea of existence and operation of the global militant outfit in the country. [/su_column] [/su_row] The latest issue, released online on Wednesday, includes a profile of a young Bangladeshi named Abu Jandal al-Bangali who was killed during a battle in Ayn Issa, northern Syria.
Abu Jandal, it says, was a man who came from an affluent family in the capital city of Dhaka and had military connections.
He was, it says, a passionate jihadi who immediately signed up for martyrdom operation after joining the ISIS training camp in Syria and deeply cared about jihad in his homeland.Dabiq also published a short letter by Abu Jandal addressed to “brothers in Islam,” whom he encouraged to be prepared to join ISIS. “Try to do regular physical exercise at home,” the letter said. “Don’t skip this point.”
Dabiq said Abu Janda al-Bangali came from Bangladesh to Syria and was killed during an operation. Continue Reading …
par j.james | Sep 9, 2015 | Myanmar, Religious fundamentalism
Muslim politicians excluded from Muanmar election.
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Concerns have been raised over the lack of Muslim candidates in political parties contesting the Nov 8 parliament election.
Both the BBC and Britain’s the Telegraph have highlighted the fact that neither the National League for Democracy (NLD) nor the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) appear to have Muslim candidates.
In addition, Muslims have also been struck from voters lists especially in Rakhine state, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims were denied the right to vote after being forced to return their government identity cards. Read More … [/su_column] [/su_row]
par j.james | Sep 1, 2015 | Religious fundamentalism
Growing intolerance of religious fanatics in both India and Bangladesh.
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Drawing parallels between the cold blooded killings of bloggers in Bangladesh and the murder of MM Kalburgi, a writer and rationalist from Karnataka, Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin said the incident showed the growing intolerance of religious fanatics in both India and Bangladesh.
"Is there no freedom of expression in India? It is supposed to be the largest democratic country and a secular one. In that case, why are rationalists being killed," asked Nasrin.
In an interview to IANS, the exiled author said it seems that Indian fanatics are taking a cue from Bangladeshi extremists. "Are Indian extremists learning from Bangladeshi extremists? Bangladeshi extremists kill writers who criticise religion. Indian extremists do the same," Nasrin said.
Expressing hope that the Indian government would rein in Kalburgi killers, Nasrin said that she was concerned about the earlier killings of the Indian rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare. Continue Reading … [/su_column] [/su_row]
Nasrin is also happy about the newly-released film "Nirbashito", a story based on her life. Directed by Churni Ganguly, the movie is being released in the capital. "I am happy about the way it is made. Although it has not going into the details, it has done justice to my story," Nasrin said.
