B’desh: BNP, Jamaat at loggerheads over democracy and religious freedom

Dhaka, Sep 15 (IANS) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has expressed grave concern over the rise of “dangerous forces” in the country, warning that they pose a “serious threat” to democracy, religious freedom, and cultural diversity, local media reported on Monday.

Addressing a programme organised by the Diploma Engineers Association of Bangladesh in Dhaka, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday said that many of those involved in the July-August protests last year are now “attempting to enforce a new form of cultural dominance in the country.”

He also accused the radical Islamist Party Jamaat-e-Islami of exploiting religious sentiments in the country by trying to spread its founder, Syed Abul Ala Maududi’s ideology in the name of Islam.

The remarks came after Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar recently called for the cancellation of the recruitment of music and dance teachers at government primary schools and instead appointing religious teachers to instil moral values in students.

“Here people pray five times a day, watch dramas on television, listen to music – this is our cultural reality. But when you make everything one-sided, fascism will rise. And the ultimate form of fascism is the development of radical communalism and radical religious politics,” Bangladesh leading Bengali daily ‘Jugantor’ quoted the BNP leader as saying.

Rizvi also questioned the fairness of the recent student union elections of Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University, where Jamaat’s student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, won the key posts.

He alleged that a hidden agenda might be at play to wipe out nationalist forces.

“Whether a deep blueprint is being prepared to eliminate nationalist forces within the state and university authorities — this has become a matter of concern for people today. The ballot papers for the DUCSU and JACSU elections were printed by a privately owned company, whose owner has close ties to a particular political party. Isn’t this an irregularity?” the BNP leader said.

“The state and university authorities are trying to implement a master plan together, where it is being said — we have driven out the Awami League, now we have to defeat the BNP too. Isn’t this part of their deep blueprint? If something unilateral happens, a new type of fascism will be born in society, which will destroy the national consciousness,” Rizvi added.

These parties, who earlier collaborated with Muhammad Yunus to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, are now at loggerheads.

The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country.

The Yunus-led interim government has also received massive criticism for providing shelter to radical and extremist Islamic outfits.

–IANS

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