After
coming to power four years ago the ruling Awami League took the issue
of religious extremism seriously and launched a socio-religious campaign
to remove its threats.
However, the recent outbreak of violence where religion has been abused to exploit public sentiments suggests the government has not figured out a solution to the problem effectively.
The government plan did not work mainly because the enthusiasm fizzled out within less than two years of the initiative. A high-profile committee formed to lead this campaign almost forgot its purpose by 2011.
State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku claims the committee will sit soon to discuss new strategies to fight religious extremism in the changed scenario. He, however, did not elaborate it.
As part of its campaigns against religion-based extremism, the Militancy Resistance and Prevention Committee planned to include the imams of different mosques across the country, non-government schools, and the private universities.
Unfortunately, most of the imams and the authorities of the non-government schools and the private universities seemed reluctant to cooperate with the committee.
Led by the state minister for home, the 17-member committee was composed of representatives of six ministries — home, education, social welfare, information, LGRD and religious affairs –, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Ansar, VDP and all the intelligence agencies.
This committee was supposed to sit every three months to review the progress. Though the meetings have been held as per schedule, poor participation of the members seriously hampered the objective of the committee, insiders say.
In the beginning, things looked promising. The committee introduced a set of creative ideas like having the imams deliver sermons against militancy before the Juma prayers, airing and screening anti-militancy documentaries, presenting national anthem at school assembly all over the country and briefing students about the negative impacts of extremism.
These ideas were introduced at some places, but those did not continue.
The committee was also supposed to closely monitor militancy, collect data about militants, and help the law enforcement authorities take effective measures in case of militant activities in any part of the country. The recent countrywide attacks show the committee was sleeping on this mandate.
Insiders say most of the imams did not agree to deliver sermons accordingly and those who had agreed stopped doing so after a few months. The Islamic Foundation prepared a model sermon which was also rejected by the imams.
“Announcements from mosques to provoke people to attack prove the target was not achieved,” said a committee member asking not to be named.
He added the instigation using mosques is still continuing in different places across the country.
The idea about national anthem and warning students against the evils of militancy could not be implemented either.
“The idea could not be implemented in many schools, especially those in the strongholds of Jamaat and religion-based organisations,” the member told The Daily Star.
State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku claims success of the anti-militancy campaign but puts the blame on main opposition BNP for making it less effective in recent times.
“Our main goal was to create awareness among the mass people about the evils of militancy and we have been successful in doing so,” he told The Daily Star.
“The BNP once sponsored extremism in the country and the party is now supporting Jamaat and its activities, which is a reason why the anti-militant campaign is not functioning properly,” he added.
He believes the religious affairs and education ministries have played an important role in the campaign against militancy. “The information ministry also prepared some plays and films on the evils of militancy and those were aired on Bangladesh Television,” he added.
However, such dramas and films were aired by BTV long ago, not recently. The government was supposed to screen these videos at villages across the country, which also did not happen.
“One of the limitations of the committee was that it never monitored whether its ideas were being implemented or not,” said a home ministry source, adding, several of the committee members did not even bother to attend the meetings.
The committee decided to involve about 3.5 lakh members of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) since their networks stretched up to the remotest parts of the country. But this move failed eventually.
The committee had an exclusive meeting with the vice-chancellors of the city’s private universities on December 27 last year to free their institutions from militant operatives. At that meeting, Tuku warned the VCs about involvement of their students in militant activities.
However, the recent outbreak of violence where religion has been abused to exploit public sentiments suggests the government has not figured out a solution to the problem effectively.
The government plan did not work mainly because the enthusiasm fizzled out within less than two years of the initiative. A high-profile committee formed to lead this campaign almost forgot its purpose by 2011.
State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku claims the committee will sit soon to discuss new strategies to fight religious extremism in the changed scenario. He, however, did not elaborate it.
As part of its campaigns against religion-based extremism, the Militancy Resistance and Prevention Committee planned to include the imams of different mosques across the country, non-government schools, and the private universities.
Unfortunately, most of the imams and the authorities of the non-government schools and the private universities seemed reluctant to cooperate with the committee.
Led by the state minister for home, the 17-member committee was composed of representatives of six ministries — home, education, social welfare, information, LGRD and religious affairs –, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Ansar, VDP and all the intelligence agencies.
This committee was supposed to sit every three months to review the progress. Though the meetings have been held as per schedule, poor participation of the members seriously hampered the objective of the committee, insiders say.
In the beginning, things looked promising. The committee introduced a set of creative ideas like having the imams deliver sermons against militancy before the Juma prayers, airing and screening anti-militancy documentaries, presenting national anthem at school assembly all over the country and briefing students about the negative impacts of extremism.
These ideas were introduced at some places, but those did not continue.
The committee was also supposed to closely monitor militancy, collect data about militants, and help the law enforcement authorities take effective measures in case of militant activities in any part of the country. The recent countrywide attacks show the committee was sleeping on this mandate.
Insiders say most of the imams did not agree to deliver sermons accordingly and those who had agreed stopped doing so after a few months. The Islamic Foundation prepared a model sermon which was also rejected by the imams.
“Announcements from mosques to provoke people to attack prove the target was not achieved,” said a committee member asking not to be named.
He added the instigation using mosques is still continuing in different places across the country.
The idea about national anthem and warning students against the evils of militancy could not be implemented either.
“The idea could not be implemented in many schools, especially those in the strongholds of Jamaat and religion-based organisations,” the member told The Daily Star.
State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku claims success of the anti-militancy campaign but puts the blame on main opposition BNP for making it less effective in recent times.
“Our main goal was to create awareness among the mass people about the evils of militancy and we have been successful in doing so,” he told The Daily Star.
“The BNP once sponsored extremism in the country and the party is now supporting Jamaat and its activities, which is a reason why the anti-militant campaign is not functioning properly,” he added.
He believes the religious affairs and education ministries have played an important role in the campaign against militancy. “The information ministry also prepared some plays and films on the evils of militancy and those were aired on Bangladesh Television,” he added.
However, such dramas and films were aired by BTV long ago, not recently. The government was supposed to screen these videos at villages across the country, which also did not happen.
“One of the limitations of the committee was that it never monitored whether its ideas were being implemented or not,” said a home ministry source, adding, several of the committee members did not even bother to attend the meetings.
The committee decided to involve about 3.5 lakh members of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) since their networks stretched up to the remotest parts of the country. But this move failed eventually.
The committee had an exclusive meeting with the vice-chancellors of the city’s private universities on December 27 last year to free their institutions from militant operatives. At that meeting, Tuku warned the VCs about involvement of their students in militant activities.
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