Bangladesh worries about Islamic extremism DHAKA: As day breaks over Dhaka, hundreds of men and teen-age boys, dressed in white and wearing Islamic caps, hop off trains, ferries and inter city buses. Carrying their own bedding, cooking pans and kerosene stoves, they have travelled from remote villages to the capital's madrasas (religious schools) for a course on Islam. At the schools, which spring up regularly with funding from oil-rich Gulf states, they sit in crowded classrooms, their heads buried in Arabic scripture. The thousands of tiny madrasas in Dhaka have become part of a debate over whether Bangladesh is developing a culture of Islamic extremists that could overturn its reputation for religious tolerance. The country's laws are secular, though its population of 130 million is 86.6 per cent Muslim. But in the last two years a series of attacks on political rallies and cultural events such as concerts (some Islamic clerics say singing is sinful) have raised questions about the influence of Muslim radicals. "Bangladeshis tell me that they are devout Muslims, but not extremists," US ambassador Mary Ann Peters, told a recent meeting of the overseas correspondents association. "But there are international groups that are extremist and violent, and they could use Bangladesh as a base." Among the incidents behind the debate on Islam's influence is the flight from the country in 1999 by author Taslima Nasrin after Islamic fundamentalists accused her of blaspheming Islam in her writings. Fundamentalists called for Nasrin's death when she suggested changing the interpretation of Islamic law to give women more rights. She lives in self-imposed exile in Europe. Then in 2000, when then US president Bill Clinton was on a visit to Bangladesh, he cancelled a trip to a village in a forested area after intelligence warned of a possible attack by Muslim extremists. In Dhaka, police are questioning three people, including a Muslim cleric, about a bomb explosion that killed 10 people at an outdoor concert in April. Police in southeastern Bangladesh also are investigating an attempted attack on a rally for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. They say they are looking for a Muslim leader with possible links to the Afghanistan-based Saudi militant Osama Bin Laden. Bangladeshi Islamic leaders deny allegations that they are trying to establish a purist ideological regime like the Taliban of Afghanistan. Moulana Jashimuddin, who runs a madrasa in Dhaka's old city, also defends the religious schools against critics who say they are hotbeds of extremism. "It is outrightly wrong to accuse us of being fundamentalists," he said. "What we teach here makes a man neither religious nor worldly. The aim of our religion is to reach god." Students at the schools are encouraged to do their own cooking and bring their own bedding to cut costs. They study the Quran, Islamic history, and Arabic literature. On some evenings, closed-door sessions are held to explain where Islam is under threat. The names of Israel and Hindu-majority India invariably are mentioned. Prime Minister Hasina denies her country risks falling into Muslim extremism. "People of Bangladesh are deeply religious, but they do not like religious fanaticism. Nobody can win against the people's will," Hasina says. Her administration faced a crisis in February when Islamic activists staged violent protests demanding that a court overturn a ruling that said religious edicts did not have the force of law. The activists also demanded that the government repeal secular laws, ban volunteer agencies that aid women, and release two clerics and 65 followers charged with a mob killing during anti-government protests. Eight people died in attacks and police gunfire during the February protests. Islamic parties do not carry much political weight in the 330-member parliament. A total of four seats are held by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the more radical Islami Oikye Jote, an alliance of five groups. However, the Islamic groups have assumed importance ahead of the October parliamentary elections because they are being courted by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party of former prime minister Khaleda Zia. (Agencies)
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