New Age Islam News
Bureau
9 October
2020
Bangladesh
has seen a dramatic rise in the number of rape cases in recent months, say
women's rights organizations.
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Bangladesh,
a self-proclaimed Islamic country where countless Islamic organisations exist
which raise a storm on the issue of blasphemy, have been silent when the human
rights groups, secular social groups and communists have joined mass protests
against the rising cases of rapes and gang rapes in the country. One of the
reasons of their silence may be the involvement of an imam of a Jama Masjid and
the superintendent of a women's madrasa in Bangladesh.
Large scale
mass protests erupted in the country last week after the video of a heinous
gang rape of a housewife of Noakhali became viral on social media. The woman
from an underprivileged section had been gang raped by the members of a
criminal gang patronised by the local Awami League leader for the last one
year. She had been terrorised and threatened with death. They extorted money
from her and threatened to make the video of the rape viral if she refused to
pay them money. When she refused to pay they posted the video on the social
media on October 4. The video sparked nationwide condemnation and protests
including in Shahbagh in Dhaka.
Another
incident of gang rape of a woman in the campus of MC College in Sylhet by the
members of the student wing of the ruling Awami League in September had also
evoked mass protests and several members of Awami League were arrested. The
involvement of the Awami League leaders has become so common that a Chhatra
Union leader said that rape in Bangladesh had turned into a power disorder
rather be a sexual assault as almost in each of the rape case the leaders of
the student and youth wing of Awami League were involved.
However,
not only the political leaders but also the section that boasts and claims to
be the upholders and protectors of Islam are also involved in rapes of minor
girls.
The imam of
the Manohartuk Jame Masjid, 35 year old Riazuddin was arrested by Sylhet police
for sexually assaulting a 12 year old girl student who regularly visited his
house for learning Quran recitation.
The
superintendent of a woman's madrasa Abdul Qadir,42, was arrested for raping a
minor girl twice on Sunday, 4th October. The next day an 85 year old man Harun
Rashid raped a physically challenged girl in Rangamati.
A rickshaw
puller Sajal Mollah was arrested on October 8 for raping 4 minor gorls aged 6-9
years during the last few days on the pretext of giving them candy.
A police
constable allegedly sexually assaulted a girl on October 7.
These are
some of the rape and gang rape cases that have come to light during the last
few weeks and have stirred the collective conscience of the people of
Bangladesh. The UN, the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have
joined the protests and have demanded speedy trials and harsh punishment to the
accused. But the protesters have accused the Hasina government of failure to
punish the guilty and stop the rising graph of rapes in the country. To rub
salt to the wounds, the Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that rape was
not happening in Bangladesh alone but the world over. This evoked contempt from
people and they have demanded his resignation. After the incidents of some high
profile rape cases came to light the police arrested some Awami League and
Krishak League leaders and cadre but given the low rate of convictions in rape
cases in the country, they may come out unscathed.
The
criminal justice system in Bangladesh is tilted towards males and so rape
victims approaching the judiciary go through humiliating experience during the
trial. Moreover the police often refuse to register the cases. The social
stigma attached with rape is one of the reasons that most of the rape cases go
unreported and are tried in courts. According to an independent survey, 88 per
cent rape accused in rural areas and 95 per cent in the urban areas admitted
that they did not face any legal consequences. That's why the conviction rate
in rape cases in Bangladesh is less than one per cent (0.37%). Only 3.56% of
the filed cases ended with conviction.
This is the
degree of sensitivity, rather insensitivity of the Bangladesh society and efficacy
of the judicial system of a country that claims to be an Islamic country, a
country where "Hefazats"and Jama'ats" reign supreme who are
always up in arms against atheists and secularists and bring out huge rallies
on the issue of blasphemy. But when minor Muslim girls are raped by imams and
staff of madrasas, and hapless women are gang raped by criminals and political
leaders, they are silent.
According
to the statistics compiled by a Human rights organisation in Bangladesh, rape
is rampant in Bangladesh because the rapists go scot free in most of the cases.
In 2018, the total reported cases were 732. The number rose to 1413 in 2919 and
the number of reported rape cases during the first 9 months of 2020 is already
975. But the religious organisations have not demanded death sentence for
rapists. Acceding to the demands of the civil society the Hasina government
plans to introduce death sentence for sexual crimes.
However, it
is regrettable that in an Islamic country, crimes against women and minor girls
happen in such a large number and the minister of the country takes solace in
the fact that rape happens all over the world. The Muslims are described by the
Quran as the best people on earth who struggle to spread good and forbid the
evil. It is not befitting for a self-proclaimed Islamic country to compare
itself in terms of evil saying that rape happens all over the world.
The
religious organisations should work for moral reformation among the Muslims
rather than on spreading extremist and exclusivist ideas among the Muslims.
Their silence on the heinous cases of rape in Bangladesh smacks of their
hypocrisy.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/right-imam-mosque-superintendent-madrasas/d/123094
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