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Sheikh Hasina’s toughest challenge-defeating the rising tide of Islamism in Bangladesh

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The spurt of incidents of attacks on Hindu minority community in Bangladesh in recent times brings into focus the increasing influence of Islamists in that country despite the Hasina government’s profession of secularism and its attempt to maintain that credential. Islamism in Bangladesh is rising precipitously, permeating every aspect of life and has taken root as much in urban centres as in rural communities.

To quote a perceptive analyst: “Everywhere – from modern business office to daily social life – Islamic codes tend to exert authority. Burqa and hijab-wearing women who vow to uphold such a system are numerous, and so are men with Islamic zeal. Two decades ago, most Bangladeshis would have considered such behaviours ludicrous.”

Sufferings of the community continues since the mayhem that took place during the Durga puja in October last when Hindu properties were looted, their houses were burnt into ashes leaving four people dead and many others injured, temples were desecrated and set on fire over a contrived blasphemy issue of the copy of Holy Koran found near the image of Hindu God Hanuman. The government had to deploy para-military forces in 22 districts of Bangladesh then.

The latest incident took place on February 8 when five brothers of a Hindu family were crushed to death injuring two others of the same family by a pick-up truck in what is believed to be a ‘premeditated’ attack according to the surviving members of the family.

The incident took place in Chakaria Upazila in Cox Bazar district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. ‘Hindu Lives Matter’, an organisation that has sprang up recently has reported about another incident of physical violence and forceful occupation of a clinic-cum -residence of a Hindu family outside Dhaka by a well-known film actor named Jayed Khan and his associates. Examples of such torture and harassment of Hindu families abound.

Even while the Sheikh Hasina government is mindful of the predicaments of the Hindu minority and tries to protect them from the onslaught of the Islamist communal elements, it has not really succeeded in providing the community a sense of security and fear-free atmosphere in the country resulting in migration and a slow process of dwindling of their numbers in Bangladesh. What accounts for this dichotomy of the government remaining by and large secular but the vast section of the population are communal and Islamist in their preferences? The reason lies in the very birth of Bangladesh in 1971.

While the commitments of the Awami League (AL) that brought independence to the country after a brutal oppression by the Pakistani military, and of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to a secular polity were unquestionable, they could not rid the newly emerging country of the scourge of communalism and of the poison of religion-oriented politics of the Pakistani days. The majority undoubtedly went along with the secular politics of the AL and of Bangabandhu, but there were still a major section of people from the armed forces and from the Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s leading Islamist organization, who could not reconcile to their separation from Pakistan, their umblical chord.

The Jamaat-e-Islami – which was banned soon after independence for its collaboration with Pakistan and role in massacring thousands of secular Bangladeshis – was resurrected in late 1975 by the elements that were responsible for the brutal killing of Bangabandu and members of his family. It was not just Sheikh Mujib and his family alone but many of his associates and other secular figures were annihilated by the Islamist elements.

The military regimes that followed after that under Generals Ziaur Rahman and Ershad patronized the Islamist elements whose numbers grew exponentially during those periods. The civilian rule under the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), now led by General Zia’s widow Begum Khaleda also encouraged the Islamist forces to grow. Even while the BNP was founded as a nationalist centre-right party, it began to veer towards the Islamic elements to compete with Awami League’s secularism.

The BNP was born in the military barracks, and its founder and military ruler General Ziaur Rahman had legitimised the pro-Pakistani collaborators by removing the ban on them. Its brand of Bangladeshi nationalism is religion-driven. The BNP had made its political preference clear when it formed the government in 2001 with pro-Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami as its coalition partner. For the next five years of the BNP-Jamaat reign, a surfeit of Islamist radical terror groups like HUJI (Harkat-ul- Jihad al-Islami), JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) and Ansarullah Bangla Team surfaced or consolidated their position in Bangladesh, unleashing horrible pogroms against minority Hindus, Buddhists and Christians.

Another organisation that has taken the centre stage since 2010 in Islamist politics in Bangladesh, other than Jamaat, is Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, an Islamic advocacy group of madrassah teachers and students. The formation was allegedly triggered by the 2009 “Women Development Policy” draft.

On February 24, 2010, Hefazat wanted to hold a rally at Laldighi Maidan, Chittagong to protest the government’s move to slap a ban on religion-based politics, cancellation of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, and a proposed education policy that would have ended madrasah education. The police refused their request to hold a rally and injured 19 protesters.

A few of these madrasa students were arrested by police and later released. In 2011, Hefajat-e-Islam protested some aspects of the proposed Women Development Policy. According to The Economist, Hefazat is financed by doctrinaire Islamists in Saudi Arabia. In 2013, it gained most prominence when secular and atheist Bangladeshis rallied to demand the execution of Jamaat leaders convicted for war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War, the Hefazat took to the streets and counter-mobilized massive support.

It submitted at the time to the government of Bangladesh a 13-point charter, which included the demand for the enactment of a blasphemy law with death sentence to its victims, mandatory Islamic education, and a ban on intermixing of men and women and followed this up by mobilising thousands of madrassa students for a “siege” of Dhaka.

The Awami League (AL) was quite unnerved by Hefajat’s power of street protests and mobilization of Islamists elements and in course of time decided to coopt the organisation into a coalition in order to counterbalance its rival party, BNP which has Jamaat as its partner, and in the process had to grant certain concessions to Hefajat. AL’s strategy paid dividends for some time as Hefajat being in the coalition toned down its militancy. But the appeasement policy did not succeed for long, as over the last 2 years, it has again resumed its militant politics finding expression in the defacing of statues, particularly of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and attack against minority community at the slightest pretext, leading the AL government to impose restrictions on its activities turning the organization at loggerheads with the government.

For, over the past years the Islamists have unleashed violence against them by killing writers and cultural activists, damaging statues in public squares, and setting off bombs at cultural gatherings. To their dismay, the Islamists now dictate what social and cultural norms should be.

Islamism receives impetus also from Saudi patronage and funding of large number Islamic institutions and Mosques. Since the late 1970s, Saudi Arabia funded the construction of thousands of radical mosques and madrasas. Today, Hefazat-e-Islam, controls over 14,000 mosques and madrasas where up to 1.4 million students get an Islamic education without any state supervision. These mosques and madrasas are thought to be breeding ground of radicalism in the country.

Military rulers abused religion to consolidate their power in Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia used this opportunity to fund radical mosques and madrasas. Saudi Arabia has also patronized Islamist parties including Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh whose sole objective is to establish sharia and implement Quranic punishments. Saudi influence is also thought to be behind the rising trend among Bangladeshi women to wear black burqas.

Today, Saudi Arabia has about two million Bangladeshi migrant workers who send billions of dollars home annually, making a vital contribution to the economy of the country where one-third of people live in poverty. In exchange for opening the labour market, Saudi Arabia has been allowed to export and promote radicalism in Bangladesh.

In the absence of a viable democratic opposition, as the BNP has almost become a defunct organization with its leader Begum Khaleda Zia remaining either in jail or under house arrest, the political space is captured by the Islamists who are ideologically driven by the goal to replace secular democracy with theocracy. As Hefajat continues to gain a foothold, it is also paving the way for other Islamist groups to achieve political success.

For the Hasina government and the Awami League, a traditionally liberal, centre-left party, the challenge is formidable, as Dhaka must aggressively protect its secular legacy traced to Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and others – the very ideology the party was meant to protect.

International

Wagah-Attari border closure leaves several families in limbo

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Islamabad, April 25: Pakistan and India’s decision to shut down the Wagah-Attari border crossing after the deadly Pahalgam terror attack has forced several citizens from both countries to cut short their visit and rush back home.

On Thursday, after both countries announced closure of border crossing and gave a deadline for citizens to leave for their respective countries, at least 28 Pakistanis nationals returned from India while 105 Indian citizens in Pakistan crossed over into India.

A Hindu family from Balochistan’s Sibi was reportedly denied entry into India after the closure of border crossing.

“We were on our way to Indore in Madhya Pradesh to attend a wedding. Seven members of our family were excited to join our relatives in India and take part in the celebrations. But upon reaching Wagah, we learned that the border had been sealed. We will spend the night at Dera Sahib in Lahore and head back home tomorrow,” said Akshay Kumar.

Meanwhile, a Sikh family from India, in Pakistan to attend a wedding, decided to leave for India immediately.

“We had come to Pakistan for a wedding. While the ceremony took place, several important rituals remained. Once we heard the border was closed, we decided to return immediately,” said Raminder Singh, an Indian national.

A Hindu family from Ghotki in Pakistan’s Sindh province, now residing in New Delhi, was visiting Pakistan for the last two months to meet their relatives. However, they are now unsure about getting permission to return to India.

“There are five of us, including my young son and daughter, uncle and aunt. We all hold Pakistani passports and were granted No Obligation to Return to India (NORI) certificate by India. But uncertainty looms now, said a family member named Indira.

“Families with cross-border ties often bear the brunt of rising tensions between the two neighbours. With tensions between Pakistan and India once again on the rise, human connections across borders are becoming the first casualty,” said Asif Memood, a Lahore-based journalist.

“The closure of the Wagah-Attari border has left many families in limbo, uncertain when they will next reunite with their loved ones,” he added.

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‘This was a terror attack, plain and simple’, US House Committee slams NYT’s Pahalgam report

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New Delhi, April 25: The US government has slammed a prominent American media organisation for its coverage of the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, where 26 people were brutally killed.

The US House Foreign Affairs Committee sharply criticised The New York Times, accusing it of downplaying the gravity of the incident by using terms like “militants” and “gunmen” instead of “terrorists”.

In a post on X, the Committee rebuked the newspaper’s use of words, sharing an image of the original headline — “At Least 24 Tourists Gunned Down by Militants in Kashmir” — with the word “militants” struck out and replaced in bold red with “terrorists”.

“Hey, @nytimes we fixed it for you. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK plain and simple. Whether it’s India or Israel, when it comes to TERRORISM the NYT is removed from reality,” the US Committee wrote.

This, perhaps, unprecedented reaction comes in the wake of the brutal terror attack in J&K’s Pahalgam, where Hindus were singled out and shot dead. The attack was later claimed by ‘The Resistance Front’ — an offshoot of the banned Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Terrorists opened fire on a group of tourists in the Baisaran Valley, killing 26 and injuring several others. The casualties also included a Nepali tourist. Visuals from the scene have flooded various media, showing chaos and panic, with some of the attackers captured on video firing indiscriminately.

The New York Times, in its report, referred to the terrorists as “militants” and “gunmen”, noting that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “called the shooting, the worst against civilians in the region for years, a ‘terror attack’ and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice”. The framing of the attack as merely a “shooting” has drawn strong objections from several quarters of the US government.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Modi to express his condolences and offer full support in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

“President Trump strongly condemned the terror attack and expressed full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack. India and the United States stand together in the fight against terror,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, in a post on X.

US Vice President JD Vance also called PM Modi, condemning the terror attack and reiterated solidarity with India in its fight against terrorism.

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India leverages water resources as strategic tool to tighten noose around ‘rogue state’ Pakistan

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New Delhi, April 24: India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is not only morally justified in light of continuing cross-border terrorism but also legally defensible due to repeated procedural violations by Pakistan, several experts reckoned on Thursday.

The action, they said, is a sovereign right exercised to protect national interest, security, and the integrity of international agreements, which depend on reciprocity and mutual adherence.

“​This step signals that while India has always honoured its international commitments, it will not be taken for granted when the other party – a rogue state like Pakistan – repeatedly breaches the spirit and terms of the agreement,” an analyst opined.

Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, waters of three rivers – Ravi, Sutlej and Beas – averaging around 33 Million Acre Feet (MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use. The waters of Western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab – averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty.

Last August, India had served a formal notice to Pakistan seeking a review and modification of the IWT citing “fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances” that require a reassessment of obligations.

In the notice, India had highlighted that, under Article XII(3) of the IWT, its provision may from time to time be modified by a duly ratified Treaty concluded for that purpose between the two governments.

India’s notification highlighted fundamental and unforeseen changes in circumstances that require a reassessment of obligations under various Articles of the Treaty. Among various concerns, important ones included change in population demographics; environmental issues – need to accelerate development of clean energy to meet India’s emission targets; impact of persistent cross border terrorism, etc.

However, despite India’s repeated warnings, Pakistan was involved in serious violation of treaty protocols.

The eventual suspension of the treaty came only after persistent violations and was triggered further by national security threats, such as Tuesday’s Pahalgam terror attack, which has claimed 26 innocent lives.

The most critical breach occurred in 2016, when Pakistan unilaterally bypassed the treaty’s graded mechanism of dispute resolution outlined under Article IX of the IWT. This article mandates a stepwise escalation — from technical discussions to neutral expert adjudication and finally, if needed, to a Court of Arbitration.

In 2015, Pakistan initially requested a neutral expert to examine technical objections to India’s Kishanganga and Ratle Hydro Electric Projects. However, it withdrew this request next year and unilaterally approached the Court of Arbitration, violating the agreed dispute-resolution protocol. This deliberate deviation undermined the legal sanctity of the treaty and indicated a pattern of weaponizing legal mechanisms for political ends.

Recognising this breach, India issued a formal notice to Pakistan on January 25, 2023, calling for the modification of the treaty to ensure that the dispute resolution process could no longer be exploited unilaterally. ​By exhausting diplomatic options and adhering to procedural fairness, India demonstrated responsibility and restraint.

​Pakistan has also invoked the treaty’s dispute resolution provisions three times, not always in good faith.

The first instance involved objections to a hydropower project on the Chenab River in India-administered Kashmir. While Pakistan raised concerns that the project could give Indian engineers undue control over river flows, the World Bank-appointed neutral expert ruled in favour of India in 2007, validating the project’s design and sediment management as being in line with international best practices.

India has already set the stage to tighten the noose around Pakistan with several projects.

The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project on a tributary of the Jhelum was commissioned in 2018 and diverts water from the Kishanganga River to a power plant in the Jhelum basin via a 23 km tunnel.

The Ratle Hydroelectric Project on Chenab was revived in 2021 with an 850 MW capacity as Pakistan raised concerns over potential flow manipulation.

The Tulbul Navigation Project on Jhelum was also never really off the table since the Uri attack in 2016 and can regulate water flow through a navigational lock-cum-control structure.

The Shahpurkandi Dam on Ravi was cleared in 2018 and completed in early 2024. It blocks surplus water from flowing into Pakistan, enhancing irrigation and power generation in India.

Similarly, the Ujh Multipurpose Project on a tributary of the Ravi, which was announced in 2020 is currently in the planning stage, combines storage, irrigation, and hydroelectric goals to cut off water flow to Pakistan.

It clearly shows that the IWT may only be temporarily suspended but the pressure is already building on Pakistan.

These developments clearly indicate a concerted effort by India to leverage water resources as a strategic tool in its geopolitical stance towards Pakistan and can have serious implications for the terror sponsors across the border.

Pakistan relies heavily on the Indus River system for irrigation, with about 80 per cent of its cultivated land – approximately 16 million hectares – depending on these waters. The agricultural sector contributes 23 per cent to Pakistan’s national income and supports 68 per cent of its rural inhabitants. Reduced water availability could lead to lower crop yields, food shortages, and economic instability.

The Indus basin also supplies 154.3 million acre-feet of water annually, which is vital for irrigating extensive agricultural areas and ensuring food security. Pakistan’s water storage capacity is low, with major dams like Mangla and Tarbela having a combined live storage of only about 14.4 MAF, which is just 10 per cent of Pakistan’s annual water share under the treaty. The suspension exacerbates these vulnerabilities by cutting off a guaranteed water supply.

The suspension of the IWT will also have significant economic implications for Pakistan, particularly in the agricultural and industrial sectors. It may also affect the country’s power generation capabilities, as hydropower is a crucial source of electricity.

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