Posted on 24 September 2007 by Tasneem Khalil
Khilafatists march against press freedom in Dhaka
[Photoblog by Amirul Rajiv.]
[Click on any of the thumbnails for a GreyBox show.]
Talk about press freedom under a shariah state, a khilafat, where divinely appointed ulemas will carry out the even more divine task of dictating the public mind. Enter Hizb ut-Tahrir — a global Islamic political party working for the reestablishment of Khilafat — with a sneak preview of how the press will be tackled under the divine rule they staunchly campaign for.
On September 21, thousands of HuT activists — mostly private university students — marched the streets of Dhaka to protest the publication of a cartoon strip in Alpin, satire supplement of Prothom Alo, one of the largest circulating Bengali dailies in Bangladesh. Many Bangladeshi Muslims were offended by the cartoon that attempted to satire the culture of adding
September 25th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
[...] thousands of “activists” from Hizbut Tahrir in Bangladesh marched the streets of Dhaka to protest the publication of a cartoon which wasn’t offensive to Muslims in the [...]
September 26th, 2007 at 4:31 am
[...] to see E-Bangladesh’s photoblog of Islamists on the march in [...]
September 26th, 2007 at 4:43 am
Being dismayed, frustrated, saddened, outraged, or what have you — NOTHING can describe how I feel. Hell — I don’t even know how I should feel anymore. People — RISE.
RISE against these extreme rightist forces. The CTG is backing them up. Advisers are linked to these thugs. Purging, in case you still haven’t been convinced, has been selective and now it seems - PARTISAN too. Democracy is threatened. And all you god fearing Allah believing people — this is threatening the PEACE that Islam proclaims. This is anti-Islamic and anti-religion. This is terror. This is a ploy of the big brothers. They want a destabilized Southeast Asia. Look at Pakistan, look at Burma, look at Thailand, and look at Bangladesh!
RISE - PEOPLE. RISE.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I feel pity for these brainwashed youngsters.
September 27th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
This is horrible! This movement has exactly typical extreme fundamentalist touch. A bunch of young MEN (no women) screaming without understanding what they are doing. By the way, it is very interesting how Hizb ut-Tahrir came into main stream. Where do this jokers get the money and force to brainwash these youths? This party wants to dissolve our independence and merge it with other so-called “Muslim” nations. At least Jamaat-e-Islam has stopped talking about united Pakistan-Bangladesh formula but they are admitting this in public. It just shows what a troublesome situation Bangladesh is in. These youths do not have jobs, the living cost is rising and education is not doing any good. Therefore, they are desperate. The CTG will for sure take advantage of Islamists because that’s what the dictators have always done. It should be interesting to see where exactly Bangladesh is going now.
September 27th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Arnab: As far as I know they get their funding from Britain… as opposed to other groups getting the money from Saudia Arabia and Pakistan.
September 28th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
A lot of these Hizbut guys come from middle or even upper class families and go to private universities in Dhaka. North South University is a big Hizbut den.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
A lot of English medium students too
September 28th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Arnab: I must say that you are lumping up all the Islamists parties together, when HuT really does not fit the profile. Like others have already mentioned, the front line workers are private university goers with a good command in English, hailing from upper-middle to rich classes, and their knowledge on matter “political” are exceptional when compared to that of any other Islamists party… hell, than any other party per se!
Unlike other funding sources, their money is flowing in from the UK… in their seminars, Internationally reputed speakers show up, professors and academicians are invited, and the atmosphere remains charged with the spirit of activism. A friend of mine commented, though a little jokingly, they are Marxists man, only they believe in God!
Under the joke, there is a serious element to it… hope you follow the drift. The governmental patronage they are getting is unprecedented… it takes them one event with a little flavor of a controversy, and they fly right into prominence. They were there in the front line leading the opposition to the Danish Cartoon controversy as well.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Britain is actually becoming a hub for extremist funding. Majority of the funding for Hindu fundamentalists also come from Britain.
September 30th, 2007 at 9:42 am
[...] Take a look at the photos by Amirul Rajiv who has recently done a photoblog recently on e-bangladesh on the recent movement. [...]
October 1st, 2007 at 6:55 am
Oh! It’s a very bad situation. Not expected at all.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:08 am
You are doing very good work! Very good pictures.