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Reasonable Radicals: Islamists and anti-Islamists Meet in Bangladesh

Dr. Richard L. Benkin - 2/7/2007

Richard Benkin was refused three times previously when he tried to see the man who calls him “his dearest brother” in Bangladesh. In January, he succeeded and stood with Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury in the capital of Dhaka. Choudhury has been facing continued persecution since 2003 for exposing the rise of Islamist radicals, calling for relations with Israel, and advocating religious equality. He has been beaten, tortured and imprisoned for his efforts, and mobs have been allowed to attack him and even bomb his newspaper with impunity. Benkin has been his champion.

Three days later, the government of Bangladesh declared a State of Emergency and the military deployed. The declaration also ended to the system that maintained Choudhury’s persecution and enabled the two men to meet with a range of Bangladeshi leaders. Within days, they were contacted by a representative of the Islamic fundamentalist movement, Khalefat Andolin. The three met in a Dhaka restaurant and agreed to meet in Benkin’s hotel room, along with a second movement member. Benkin conducted the interview, taped portions of it, and photographed the movement’s members.

Bangladeshi society has become polarized along radical and anti-radical lines. The resolution of this conflict and the recent State of Emergency in the third largest Muslim-majority nation on earth will have a significant impact on the outcome of what is referred to as “the war on terror."

The meeting between the confirmed anti-Islamists, Benkin and Choudhury, and the two Islamists was a rare event. The latter’s responses to issues, from Choudhury’s persecution to the causes of the September 11th attacks, are sometimes surprising, sometimes bizarre.