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Instigator behind Bangladeshi radicals

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury - 4/8/2011

Pro- Al Qaeda radical Islamist clergies in Bangladesh, Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini and Moulana Rezaul Karim are gradually expanding their wild campaign in demand of transforming Bangladesh into a Sharia state. To press further their demand, they have called for dawn to dusk general strike in Bangladesh on April 4, 2011.



According to Bangladeshi media, skirmish between Islamic Law Implementation Committee [ILIC] activists and law-enforcers left one man killed and at least 30 people injured at the Southern district of Jessore in Bangladesh on April 3, 2011. The clash erupted when the police intercepted a procession brought out by the Islamic bigots to drum up support for countrywide general strike called by the ILIC in protest against the Women Development Policy 2011 that they claim to contain anti-Islamic provisions ensuring a spectrum of women’s rights.



The deceased was identified as Hafiz Hossain Ahmed, a student at Madaninagar Hafezia Madrassa and son of Ismail Ahmed.



Leader of the opposition and Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia in a media statement condemned the killing of Hafiz Hossain in police firing and demanded exemplary punishment of those responsible for it.



Police and witnesses said activists of the Islamist outfit Anjumane Hefajat-e-Islam, a newly formed body to protest against the Women Development Policy, brought out a procession in the district town at around 10:30am to stoke up support for today’s hartal.



The police swooped on the procession near the Circuit House and dispersed its participants by force. But the Anjumane Hefajat-e-Islam activists reassembled at the place after a while, triggering a series of chase and counter-chase between the police and the pro-hartal zealots that continued for hours. At one stage, the police started to shoot to bring the situation under control.



It may be mentioned here that, Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini is engaged in giving Jihadist instigation to locals for decades this finally recruiting and sending them to various places for actively participating in Jihadist activities. He managed to send hundreds of locals to Afghanistan, Palestine, and Kashmir etc.



It is alleged that, Mufti Amini is connected with Pakistani intelligence agency ISI [Inter Service Intelligence] for years, and he also has hidden links with a number of Islamist Militancy outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hizbut Tahrir, Hizbut Towhid and Al Qaeda. Years back, Mufti Amini held secret meeting with Al Qaeda top kingpins in Dhaka. It is further alleged that, ISI is patronization and funding activities of local Islamists with the ulterior motive of unseating the ruling government, which is trying the war criminals of 1971.



Both Mufti Amini and Moulana Rezaul Karim have a few million followers in Bangladesh, most of who are from madrassa education background. They have been systematically denouncing democracy and democratic institutions in Bangladesh as well as secularist forces in the country. Their demand is to transform Bangladesh into an Islamist nation.



It may be mentioned here that warrant of arrest was issued against Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini last week by a Dhaka court following filing of a sedition case. But, surprisingly, the warrant of arrest was revoked in hours.



Though these Islamists were always opposing Weekly Blitz for its anti-Jihadist editorial policy, in recent weeks, a section of Islamists led by Mufti Amini and Moulana Rezauls Karim sat in front of Weekly Blitz office in Dhaka and chanted slogan demanding cancellation of the publication license of this newspaper. They termed Weekly Blitz as ‘enemy of Islam’ and said, “this newspaper is spreading venom against Islam and Islamic institutions through editorials and articles”. They also alleged Weekly Blitz of ‘false propaganda’ against Dr. Zakir Naik and several ‘Islamic groups’ such as Hizbut Tahrir and Hizbut Towhid.