Islamists Organisations In Bangladesh To Resist Any Move To Install The Statue Of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Because It Amounts To Idol Worship - Banned In Islam
By Rock Ronald Rozario
November
25, 2020
Two
hardline Islamists recently made unwarranted declarations that continue to divide
opinion and triggered a war of words online and offline in Muslim-majority
Bangladesh.
From Wikimedia Commons, the
free media repository
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On Nov. 13,
Islami Andolon Bangladesh, an Islamist political party, organized a large rally
with thousands of supporters in the capital Dhaka to protest against the
construction of a sculpture of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder of the nation and
the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the ruling Awami League party.
During the
rally, party chief Syed Mohammad Faizul Karim announced that Touhidi Janata
(Supporters of Islamic Uprising) will resist with their lives any move to
install the statue of Sheikh Mujib because it amounts to idol worship, which is
banned in Islam.
“We cannot
tolerate idol worshiping in the nation of Muslims,” Karim declared amid
thunderous chants from his supporters.
Hours
later, a similar call was made at the rally of Bangladesh Khilafat Majlish,
another Islamist party.
Mamunul
Haque, acting secretary-general, said his party will oppose any efforts to
install the statue as it is un-Islamic and unacceptable.
Two
Islamists touched an issue deemed very sensitive to the Awami League, a
nominally secular party that led the struggle for independence during the 1971
Liberation War with Pakistan and has been in power since 2009.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
founder of the nation, is held in high regard in Bangladesh. (Photo: YouTube)
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Popularly
known as Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengal), Sheikh Mujib is held in high regard in
Bangladesh and by most Bengali people across the globe for his seminal
contributions and sacrifices for the independence struggle. The August 1975
military coup cut short his life when he was assassinated with most of his
family members and some staff.
This year
marks Mujib Borsho (Year of Mujib), the birth centenary of the great leader,
and the ruling party has implemented a year-long program to commemorate his
life and legacy.
Though it
is close to blasphemy to defame Mujib anyway during the Awami League regime,
the party has been surprisingly silent against such uncomfortable demands from
hardline Islamists.
The
Islamists, however, have been backed by other political and non-political
Islamist groups.
Several
Awami League ministers levelled threats and tirades against the hardliners.
Several pro-Awami League groups, civil organizations and leftist political
outfits have staged protest rallies to criticize the Islamists and demanded
their arrest.
“There are
lots of sculptures in different Muslim countries. A sculpture and an idol are
not the same. Before making any remark, one should know the difference between
a sculpture and an idol,” said a leader from the Bangladesh Students’ Union, a
leftist group.
But there
was no official statement or action from the government and the party over the
issue.
Appeasement And Silence
There might
be two reasons behind such silence and inaction from the ruling regime.
Firstly,
these political parties, despite their large followings, have no political
relevance as they have never won any seat in the past 11 parliamentary
elections. So, the Awami League simply ignored them as spent political forces
that can bark but cannot bite.
Secondly,
the party might be in shock and disbelief to experience the audacity of
Islamists in a country where the ruling party has no effective opposition
either in parliament or on the streets.
The party
itself can be blamed for such recklessness of hardliners for a range of
initiatives that were mostly aimed at appeasing Islamist extremist groups,
including courting Islamist groups for political expediency, attempts at
Islamizing school textbooks and recognizing madrasa degrees.
In 2017,
the government removed the statue of Lady Justice (Greek goddess Themis) from
the premises of the Supreme Court after another hardline group,
Hefajat-e-Islam, protested against it.
In fact,
the party has been soft on Islamists, unlike in the past when it was often
described by opposition parties as an anti-Islam party that put secularism
before religion. Its actions in recent times to appease Islamists show the
party wanted to get rid of the tag.
But the
outcome of such Islamist pandering bears ominous signs for a nation that has a
long-held tradition of harmony and secular culture.
The
divisive politics of Islamist extremists and their further pandering would open
the floodgates for demands for the removal of various sculptures of national
heroes and important personalities that are very much part and parcel of
culture-based nationalism.
Islamists'
politics of extremism and division are against the spirit of Bangladesh and
place the identity of the nation in question. No political or non-political
entity should tolerate such a future Frankenstein.
Christian Extremists
Christians,
a small minority in Bangladesh accounting for less than half percent of the
population of more than 160 million, are not immune from such divisive and
extremist ideology.
In recent
weeks, another war of words has raged on Facebook between Catholics and
Protestants in Christian groups. Protestants argued that Catholics were idol
worshipers like Hindus as they touch with reverence, light candles and offer
incense to the Virgin Mary and various saints.
A
Protestant claimed: “By worshiping idols Catholics are doing what is against
the foundation of Christian faith and banned in the Bible — revering other
entities except God.”
He posted
his comments with an image of Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario, the retired
archbishop of Dhaka, that shows the prelate offering incense to a statue of St.
Anthony of Padua during his feast day on Nov. 20.
The post
drew hundreds of likes and comments from Catholics and Protestants, mostly
bashing one another. However, some called for restraint and asked for not doing
and saying anything that creates further division in the minority community.
Across the
globe, there are renewed efforts by Catholic and Protestant leaders to forge
better ecumenical relationships and respect for each other. It seems not all
are on the same page for unity and solidarity and continue to harbor disgust
for each other’s rites and rituals for vested interests.
Whether
Christian or non-Christian, pressing hard with religious doctrines and hate
mongering for anything a group doesn’t like bears the seeds of bigotry,
division and destruction for the community, society and nation.
Our state,
social and church leaderships need to be careful to control and halt anything
that attacks pluralist culture and harmony in the name of religion. They must
make constant efforts to counter radicalism with strong liberalism in thoughts,
words and actions.
Original Headline: Sculptures, statues and the
politics of extremism and division
Source: Union of Catholic Asian News
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic
Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism