Plot to forge partnership, exploit religion in JS polls
Alleged activists of Hefajat-e Islam campaigning for the BNP-backed mayoral candidate in Khulna yesterday.
The BNP-Jamaat-led 18-party opposition wants Qawmi madrasa-based Hefajat-e Islam as an ally in the next general elections to exploit religion and win as many votes as possible capitalising on the people’s Islamic sentiment.
The alliance has minimised distances with the Hefajat in the course of last four months’ programmes against Shahbagh youths, labelling them anti-Islamic and atheists.
“Now we want to make further progress based on recent understandings,” said a source in the alliance. “We want to wipe out all differences with the Hefajat to make them our ally in the upcoming elections.”
The goal of allying itself with the Hefajat is to bag votes of its followers across the country and get them in the campaigns for the opposition candidates, bringing to the fore the “anti-Islam atheist” issue, the source added.
Harun Izhar Chowdhury, a central Hefajat leader, told The Daily Star Wednesday, “Our movement is against anti-Islam atheists.”
“If our movement influences the upcoming national elections, we have nothing to do,” said Harun, research and training secretary of Hefajat.
He added if the present government doesn’t meet the Hefajat’s 13-point demand, definitely the “atheist” issue will remain a subject for discussion in the polls time.
“We have no specific plan yet for the elections. We will not ask voters to vote for the BNP or the 18-party alliance or any other party. But, of course, we will continue to ask the people not to vote for atheists and the supporters of atheists,” Harun said.
“We are even asking people to boycott our enemies socially,” Harun said, adding, “Anti-Islamic atheists are our enemies.”
Harun said, “It is not our concern who will be benefited and who will be the loser in the elections because of our campaign. We will just continue our movement for Islam.”
Another leader of the Hefajat, wishing anonymity, said the decision on what its next course of action will be was pending because of Qawmi madrasa exams to be ended by the Ramadan.
Meantime, the 18-party alliance source said an informal effort is going on to ensure Hefajat’s support in the next parliament elections for the BNP-led alliance.
The source observed that many of the Hefajat followers did not turn up to cast their ballots in last elections as they do not believe in elections or democracy and many did not vote for the BNP and Jamaat.
So the BNP-Jamaat alliance wants to capture this vote bank in the next parliament elections, likely to be held at the end of this year or the beginning of 2014.
Contacted yesterday, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, member of BNP standing committee, said his party supports some of the demands of the Hefajat. “We in principle supported Hefajat in its movement.”
So, it is quite natural that Hefajat will lend its moral support to the 18-party alliance in the next parliamentary elections, he added.
Hefajat, launched on January 10, 2010 to oppose the education policy and amendments which were in the spirit of original 1972 constitution, was not on the scene when the Shahbagh movement started on February 5.
The Islamist group has taken the centrestage in recent days as an opposite force to the Shahbagh Gonojagoron Mancha pressing for the maximum punishment for war criminals.
Its presence was felt with the February 15 killing of Rajib, a blogger who was branded an atheist.
Hefajat was known as anti-Jamaat-e-Islami, a key component of the 18-party alliance. Still, it has enjoyed open support from the opposition in making its anti-Shahbagh programmes a success.
The top-brass of Jamaat, historically known as an anti-liberation force and patron of communal politics, is behind bars on war crimes charges. The Shahbagh activists, including online activists and bloggers, all along have demanded banning Jamaat.
On April 6, Hefajat’s long march to Dhaka and rally at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar not only got direct backing from the alliance, two top BNP leaders including Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain went on the stage along with Hefajat leaders.
Hefajat from that rally announced the 13-point demands, including the introduction of an anti-blasphemy law, execution of “atheist bloggers” and a stop to the free mingling of men and women.
Again, BNP Chairperson and 18-party chief Khaleda Zia asked her party men on the evening of May 5 to stand beside the Hefajat men at Shapla Chattar’s rally, which was organised as part of the Dhaka-siege programme to force the government to meet the 13-point demand.
Khaleda’s call came after a daylong mayhem around the rally spread panic among the people across the country as they witnessed the violence on private television channels.
All this and many other political developments have made it clear that Hefajat has unannounced ties with the BNP and Jamaat, though the Islamist group claims to be apolitical, anti-Jamaat and a force only fighting for Islamisation of the country.
Later, Hefajat Secretary General Junaid Babunagari’s confessional statement to magistrate revealed that the BNP-Jamaat led 18-party alliance patronised the Hefajat’s May 5 rally at Shapla Chattar with the aim of toppling the government.
Denying his responsibility, Babunagari claimed 14 top Hefajat leaders received money and other assistance from 18-party alliance to serve the opposition’s purpose.
Meantime, Hefajat men are supporting and in some cases campaigning for BNP-backed mayoral candidates ahead of June 15 city corporation elections. They are playing the religion card against the ruling Awami League favourites.
Regarding Hefajat’s stand in city polls, Harun said, “We are not asking people to vote for BNP-Jamaat-supported candidates in the city corporation polls.
“Rather, we are asking voters not to cast ballots for those who are collaborators and supporters of atheists. In our view, the Awami League government is the supporter of the atheist now.
“If this government meets our demands, definitely we can’t express our opposition to the Awami League during the elections.”
Expressing concern, some district-level leaders in the AL’s extended meeting at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s residence Gono Bhaban last month said, “anti-Awami League propaganda using religion” would be a challenge for the party.
In response, AL chief Hasina urged party leaders to visit mosques, say prayers and preach true Islam to foil the smear campaigns against her party and government.
Source: The Daily Star
Even though many condemned outright government’s barbarous attack on Hefazat’s Shapla Chattar gathering in last April, for they believed that every citizen and every group in a democracy has the right to express freely their views and that a democratically elected government must do everything possible to protect that right and not do the opposite which they did, BNP/Jamat’s effort to fish in the muddy water by forming alliance with Hefazat, an utterly fundamentalist group to win votes is anything but civil and not expected of a party that claims to work for Muslim-ness (protection of Muslim identity in a multi-religious society , this is different from Islamic fundamentalism) and nationalism within the framework of secular democracy.
Regardless of how shrewd it is from a electoral point of view a deal with Hefazat will be a deal with Islamic fundamentalism that the nation must (and will) reject resoundingly.
True that this Awami League government is a curse and many would be happy to see the back of it in the next election. But many would also shun a political party/an alliance that chooses the path of fundamentalism.
This frying pan to boiling pot political scenario makes the quest for a third force in the country more urgent than ever before.