{"id":271116,"date":"2025-04-01T05:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T05:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/01\/as-bangladesh-reinvents-itself-islamist-hard-liners-see-an-opening\/"},"modified":"2025-04-01T05:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T05:46:12","slug":"as-bangladesh-reinvents-itself-islamist-hard-liners-see-an-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/01\/as-bangladesh-reinvents-itself-islamist-hard-liners-see-an-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"As Bangladesh Reinvents Itself, Islamist Hard-Liners See an Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/27\/multimedia\/00int-bangladesh-extremism-fhlc\/00int-bangladesh-extremism-fhlc-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"As Bangladesh Reinvents Itself, Islamist Hard-Liners See an Opening\" title=\"As Bangladesh Reinvents Itself, Islamist Hard-Liners See an Opening\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The extremists began by asserting control over women\u2019s bodies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the political vacuum that has emerged after the overthrow of Bangladesh\u2019s authoritarian leader, religious fundamentalists in one town declared that young women could no longer play soccer. In another, they forced the police to free a man who had harassed a woman for not covering her hair in public, then draped him in garlands of flowers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">More brazen calls followed. Demonstrators at a rally in Dhaka, the capital, warned that if the government did not give the death penalty to anyone who disrespected Islam, they would carry out executions with their own hands. Days later, an outlawed group held a large march demanding an Islamic caliphate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Bangladesh tries to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/24\/world\/asia\/bangladesh-students.html\" title=\"\">rebuild its democracy<\/a> and chart a new future for its 175 million people, a streak of Islamist extremism that had long lurked beneath the country\u2019s secular facade is bubbling to the surface.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In interviews, representatives of several Islamist parties and organizations \u2014 some of which had previously been banned \u2014 made clear that they were working to push Bangladesh in a more fundamentalist direction, a shift that has been little noticed outside the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Islamist leaders are insisting that Bangladesh erect an \u201cIslamic government\u201d that punishes those who disrespect Islam and enforces \u201cmodesty\u201d \u2014 vague concepts that in other places have given way to vigilantism or theocratic rule.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials across the political spectrum who are drafting a new Constitution acknowledged that the document was likely to drop secularism as a defining characteristic of Bangladesh, replacing it with pluralism and redrawing the country along more religious lines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The fundamentalist turn has been especially distressing for female students who helped oust the country\u2019s repressive prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They had hoped to replace her one-party rule with a democratic openness that accommodates the country\u2019s diversity. But now they find themselves competing against a religious populism that leaves women and religious minorities, including Hindus and adherents of small sects of Islam, particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe were at the forefront of the protests. We protected our brothers on the street,\u201d said Sheikh Tasnim Afroz Emi, 29, a sociology graduate from Dhaka University. \u201cNow after five, six months, the whole thing turned around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Critics say the country\u2019s interim government, led by the 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has not pushed back hard enough against extremist forces. They accuse Mr. Yunus of being soft, lost in the weeds of democratic reforms, conflict-averse and unable to articulate a clear vision as extremists take up more public space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His lieutenants describe a delicate balancing act: They must protect the right to free speech and protest after years of authoritarianism, but doing so provides an opening for extremist demands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The police, who largely deserted after Ms. Hasina\u2019s fall and remain demoralized, can no longer hold the line. The military, which has taken up some policing duties, is increasingly at odds with the interim government and the student movement, which wants to hold officers accountable for past atrocities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">What is happening in Bangladesh mirrors a wave of fundamentalism that has consumed the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Afghanistan has become an extreme ethno-religious state, depriving women of the most basic liberties. In Pakistan, Islamist extremists have exerted their will through violence for years. In India, an entrenched Hindu right wing has undermined the country\u2019s traditions of secular democracy. Myanmar is gripped by Buddhist extremists overseeing a campaign of ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Nahid Islam, a student leader who was a government minister in Bangladesh\u2019s interim administration before stepping away recently to lead a new political party, acknowledged \u201cthe fear is there\u201d that the country will slip toward extremism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he is hopeful that despite changes in the Constitution, values like democracy, cultural diversity and an aversion to religious extremism can hold. \u201cI don\u2019t think a state can be built in Bangladesh that goes against those fundamental values,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some point to a Bengali culture with a deep tradition of art and intellectual debate. Others find hope in the shape of the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Women are so integrated in Bangladesh\u2019s economy \u2014 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS?locations=8S\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">37 percent<\/a> are in the formal labor force, one of the highest rates in South Asia \u2014 that any efforts to force them back into the home could result in a backlash.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Extremist forces are trying to push their way into the picture after 15 years in which Ms. Hasina both suppressed and appeased them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She ran a police state that cracked down on Islamist elements, including those closer to the mainstream that could pose a political challenge. At the same time, she tried to win over Islamist parties\u2019 religiously conservative base by allowing thousands of unregulated Islamic religious seminaries and putting $1 billion toward building hundreds of mosques.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With Ms. Hasina gone, smaller extremist outfits that want to upend the system entirely, and more mainstream Islamist parties that want to work within the democratic system, appear to be converging on a shared goal of a more fundamentalist Bangladesh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, sees a big opportunity. The party, which has significant business investments, is playing a long-term game, analysts and diplomats said. While it is unlikely to win an election expected at the end of the year, the party hopes to capitalize on the discrediting of mainstream secular parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mia Golam Parwar, Jamaat\u2019s general secretary, said the party wanted an Islamic welfare state. The closest model, in its mix of religion and politics, is Turkey, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIslam provides moral guidelines for both men and women in terms of behavior and ethics,\u201d Mr. Parwar said. \u201cWithin these guidelines, women can take part in any profession \u2014 sports, singing, theater, judiciary, military and bureaucracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the current vacuum, however, men at the local level have been coming up with their own interpretations of Islamic governance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the farming town of Taraganj, a group of organizers decided last month to hold a soccer match between two teams of young women. The goal was to provide entertainment and inspire local girls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But as preparations got underway, a town mosque leader, Ashraf Ali, proclaimed that women and girls should not be allowed to play soccer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sports organizers usually announce details of a game by sending loudspeakers tied to rickshaws around town. Mr. Ali matched them by sending his own speakers, warning people not to attend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Feb. 6, as the players were changing into their jerseys in classrooms turned into dressing rooms, local officials were holding a meeting about the game. Mr. Ali declared that he \u201cwould rather become a martyr than allow the match,\u201d said Sirajul Islam, one of the organizers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The local administration caved in, announcing the game\u2019s cancellation and putting the area under curfew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Taslima Aktar, 22, who had traveled four hours by bus to play in the match, said she had seen \u201ca lot of cars, army and police,\u201d who told the players that the match was off.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Aktar said that in her decade playing soccer, this was the first time she had faced such opposition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI am a bit afraid now of what could happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The organizers managed to carry out a women\u2019s match a couple of weeks later, in the presence of dozens of security forces. But as a precaution, they asked the young women to wear stockings under their shorts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With the preacher\u2019s unrelenting threats, the organizers said they were not sure they would take the risk again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During an interview, Mr. Ali, the mosque leader, beamed with pride: He had turned something mundane into something disputed. In a rural area like Taraganj, he said, women\u2019s soccer contributes to \u201cindecency.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Women\u2019s sports was just his latest cause. For years, he has preached and petitioned against the Ahmadiyya, a long-persecuted minority Muslim community, trying to drive its 500 members out of his area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-14\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Ahmadiyya\u2019s place of worship was attacked by a mob on the night that Ms. Hasina\u2019s government collapsed, part of a national wave of anarchy that targeted minority religious sites, particularly those of Hindus. The Ahmadiyya community continues to live in fear; attendance at their prayer hall has shrunk by nearly half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They are not allowed to rebuild the hall\u2019s destroyed sign or to broadcast their call to prayer from loudspeakers. Mr. Ali shrugged off any responsibility for the violence. But the sermons of preachers like him, declaring the Ahmadiyya heretics who need to be expelled, continue to blare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe public is respectful,\u201d said A.K.M. Shafiqul Islam, the president of the local Ahmadiyya chapter. \u201cBut these religious leaders are against us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/01\/world\/asia\/bangladesh-islam.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The extremists began by asserting control over women\u2019s bodies. In the political vacuum that has emerged after the overthrow of Bangladesh\u2019s authoritarian leader, religious fundamentalists in one town declared that young women could no longer play soccer. In another, they forced the police to free a man who had harassed a woman for not covering [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/27\/multimedia\/00int-bangladesh-extremism-fhlc\/00int-bangladesh-extremism-fhlc-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[208131,5271,113895,23905,725,90211,30138,62811,163679,2024,208132,168522,91742,163419,90747],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271116"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271118,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271116\/revisions\/271118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}