Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Hasina is faithful to Sharia's prohibition on free expression, saying, "If someone writes filthy things about my religion, why should we tolerate it?”
Another week, another brutal murder in Bangladesh. This time, the victim is a 75-year-old Buddhist Monk named Mong Shue U. Chak. The monk was found hacked to death Saturday morning in a monastery in Naikkhangchhari village, southeast of Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka. Jyotirmoy Barua, a human rights lawyer said, “He [Mong Shue U. Chak] had received death threats, but nobody took it seriously[.]” While police are still trying to find the suspects it is apparent the monk was targeted, and comes after a series of murders against secular activists and religious minorities which include: “an atheist student, two gay rights activists, a liberal professor, a Hindu tailor and a Sufi Muslim leader hacked to death since last month.”
Despite the outbreak in targeted killings, Bangladesh’s government has done little if anything to protect its vulnerable citizens. Furthermore, the Counter Jihad Report reveals how Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina even implicitly emboldens more brutal attacks:
“Everyone has to hold their tongue, has to maintain a level of decency in what they write. If they write something provocative and something bad happens, the government will not take responsibility… If someone writes filthy things about my religion, why should we tolerate it?”
The premier also said, “Recently it has become a fashion to call someone a freethinker who says nasty things about religion. I do not see any free thinking here. All I see is filth.”
Hasina’s sentiment reflects the type of de facto blasphemy laws prevalent in Bangladesh, based on sharia‘s understanding of slander. From JihadWatch’s Robert Spencer:
There is much support in the Qur’an and Sunnah for the death penalty for blasphemy. It can arguably be found in this verse: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment.” (5:33)
Also: “Those who annoy Allah and His Messenger – Allah has cursed them in this World and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating Punishment” (33:57)
And: “If they violate their oaths after pledging to keep their covenants, and attack your religion, you may fight the leaders of paganism – you are no longer bound by your covenant with them – that they may refrain” (9:12).
There is more in the hadith. In one, Muhammad asked: “Who is willing to kill Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His Apostle?” One of the Muslims, Muhammad bin Maslama, answered, “O Allah’s Apostle! Would you like that I kill him?” When Muhammad said that he would, Muhammad bin Maslama said, “Then allow me to say a (false) thing (i.e. to deceive Kab).” Muhammad responded: “You may say it.” Muhammad bin Maslama duly lied to Ka’b, luring him into his trap, and murdered him. (Bukhari 5.59.369)
“A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet (PBUH) and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Apostle of Allah (PBUH) declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.” (Sunan Abu-Dawud 38.4349)
There are numerous stories of people being reprimanded and accused of hurting ‘religious sentiments.’ This basically means one cannot offend exclusively Islam because it is highly doubtful police would arrest anyone for say, blaspheming the name of Jesus. One example of this type censorship happened in February when police shut down a book fair stall and detained several people for selling a book (Islam Bitorko) with information that could hurt ‘religious sentiments.’ This type of Islamist atmosphere provides fertile grounds for more violent forms of Islamist expression, terrorism. And that’s exactly what’s happening in this so called ‘secular society.’
The Times of India article titled, “Bangladesh safer than Syria for jihadis … India’s Muslims equal, B’desh Hindus oppressed … Indian liberals back Islamic fanatics: Taslima Nasreen,” provides an idea of the terrorist haven Bangladesh has turned into:
…There are 148 jihadi training camps in Bangladesh. Jihadists are helped by Jamat-e-Islami, 132 Islamic terrorist organizations including Ansarullah Bangla team and 231 fundamentalist institutions including ‘Islami bank’. …
Bangladesh’s government continues to deny the presence of terrorist groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda in Bangladesh, and blames the recent murders on indigenous militants. However, the Bangladesh Chronicle unveils a more telling story of ISIS’ influence in the country:
The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) and the launch of Al Qaeda’s South Asia chapter, also known as Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have further led to increasing militant activism in Bangladesh.
Since ISIS declared the establishment of the caliphate in June 2014, Bangladesh has witnessed the emergence of pro-ISIS outfits, pledges of allegiances to ISIS by these outfits, and recruitment drives carried out both online and on the ground on behalf of ISIS. This attests to ISIS’ rising influence in Bangladesh.
Furthermore, many members of the existing local militant groups are supporting ISIS and recruiting fighters into the Syrian theatres. In addition, a new militant platform called Jund al-Tawheed wal Khilafah (JTK, otherwise known as the ‘Soldiers of Monotheism and the Caliphate’) in Bangladesh is believed to have recruited a number of Bangladeshi nationals to fight in Syria.
Jihadism is growing in Bangladesh at an alarming rate. With the rise in violence against secular activists and religious minorities as of late, coupled with the political environment; the future of Bangladesh looks bleak. It’s time for Bangladesh’s leaders to take a firm stand against violence.