Since last night till this evening, Bangladesh underwent a new history of people’s upsurge centering round the heart of Dhaka City and also disseminating to some other remoter cities outside her capital; an upsurge, reportedly a biggest one, ever seen in the history of her independent entity. Many compared this mammoth gathering to the massive revolutionary demonstrations that brought about ‘max change’ in the Arab world over recent times and, at the same time, many more satirically dubbed it as “Bangladesh Spring” connoting the Arab Spring to some positive extent. The incredible turnout at the Long March called by Hefajat-e-Islam, an Islamic apolitical and non-partizan Organization set up of late to protest against blasphemous acts and actors belonging to the “Shahbagh Movement”, simply proved that a vast majority of the total citizenry of the whole nation are still at one in terms of countering the blasphemous offenders who are admittedly said to have even dared slang Allah Himself. In a country like Bangladesh wherein about 90 percent of the sum total nationals are Muslim by birth, it’s very unwise to hurt religious sentiments of the ordinary mortals. It’s something like stoning a beehive in a hostile jungle. To live in peace together in a multiethnic, multi-religious and multicultural community is the true beauty of democracy and this sort of peace in public life-living is really impossible and can hardly find its way forward where/if blasphemous offenders are allowed to rock the societal order by their ill efforts. Last Year, the flames of violence caused by the angry masses in protest of the repulsive movie “Innocence of Muslims” have engulfed the whole world. The riot run against the Prophet-defying film is a glaring instance showing the fact as to how devastating a situation may be in the long run if the offence of blasphemy is not combated in time. Now, at a time when it has become a global necessity to combat blasphemous actions to let peace prevail on earth, the bloggers and online activists who are principally behind the “Shahbagh Protest” shook the country once again by defying Allah, Prophet and other elements of Islam. We don’t really know why a blasphemous offender can’t be brought to book for “contempt of God”, “contempt of Prophet” or “contempt of religion” if a person can be punished for “contempt of court” or simply for “defamation”. Awami regime’s indulgence to and patronage for the Shahbagh Movement have actually given rise to today’s anti-government “Long March” and gathering that vibrated the seat of the alliance currently at the helm. About 2 to 3 million people attended the event despite multiple threats, intimidation and all types of obstacles made by the government itself. The government has even barred the Dhaka-bound transport facilities countrywide with intent to deactivate the march of the people likely to join the event but all these endeavors have failed very abjectly. Analysts observed that today’s Hefajat-e-Islam Long March and mammoth gathering at Motijheel in Dhaka has, to a greater extent, changed the Awami government’s calculations. This grand event is a severe blow and plain threat to Awami alliance’s secular agenda, no doubt. Most of the countrymen are now looking forward to seeing what agenda Hefajat-e-Islam announces in the coming days. In fact, the people’s calculations are too difficult to predict, too uncertain to change and too unlikely to go in favor of the oppressors.
Source: CNN