BNP-Jamaat-Hefazat perpetrated serious anarchies across the country in the last few days. This fanatic group carried out vandalism, attacks and arson on public properties and offices. They dodged general people by wearing Islamic attires and slogans while they were doing these. They are even using the religion of peace, Islam as a tool to continue with vandalism. They went on rampage in Chattogram and Brahmanbaria recently. A blood-shed photo of an 80-year-old woman, beaten by the fanatics, went viral on social media too. An elderly Muslim worshiper was seen crying with his son beside the ashes of his house, burnt by the fanatic arsonists. The so-called Islamic clergies even burnt the holy Quran along with other books, documents and furniture. And the IS militants are instigating and giving directives in the darkweb to mislead the young generation. Thus, militant activities are going in different ways both online and off-line.
The traders of religions went violent across the country for three consecutive days protesting the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mark the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence on March 26. They vandalized the police station and hospital in Brahmanbaria and set the government offices on fire. Even they chanted provocative slogans in different madrassas and mosques including the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque during the Juma prayer on Friday. Their target was to suddenly instigate the ordinary Muslims and start fresh violence and anarchies. But this was not the first time Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh. When he visited in 2015, they queued long to meet him, greeted him in press releases to media and distributed sweets in party offices in a bid to please Modi for their own interests.
But recent mayhem, financed by Pakistani intelligence ISI, aims at creating a plot for BNP-Jamaat to grab the power. The anarchists, teamed up with thousands of madrassa students, used banner of Hefazat-e-Islam chanted slogans publicly to brand ordinary people as ‘Kafir’. Locals got puzzled when they chanted ‘Kafir’ in front of Brahmanbaria madrassa. Some madrassa students told the media that they would not be given meals if they did not attend such programmes. They are involving children from lower-income families in anti-Islamic activities in name of providing foods. This has been public information as published in different news outlets and social media.
Just two months ago, this extremist group also run riots throughout the country centring on the construction of sculpture of Founder of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Those who voiced against their violence and arson were branded as ‘Murtad (detached from Islam)’. They are also spreading provocations online by distorting the country’s history. This religious trader gang has been playing with the religious sentiments and emotions of ordinary people of the Muslim-majority country. Their main target is to grab power by using Islam as a tool and abusing the emotions of people, thus turning the country into a warzone like Afghanistan. Jamaat men have come in leading the organisation after the death of Hefazat Amir Ahmed Shafi. Mamunul Haque, secretary-general of BNP-Jamaat ally Khilafat Majlish, got the role of joint secretary-general and spokesperson for Hefazat. At the same time, Pakistani intelligence agency ISI agent Babunagari was made president of a controversial section of the organisation. Another section of Hefazat termed Babunagari-led section as an agent committee for BNP and Jamaat and refused to accept its leadership. They alleged that Babunagari and Mamunul Haque group killed Ahmed Shafi in a subtle way to capture the leadership of Hefazat. Even Babunagari did not give the organisation any accounts of money worth Tk 50 lakh he took from BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka.
However, they are not only very active on grounds creating anarchies by Hefazat who are sponsored a huge sum of money, but they are also coordinating online using social media like Facebook and YouTube to misinterpret Islam and spread rumours. The IS militants also became very active online darkwave to destabilize Bangladesh. Such activities are on the rise in the darkwave by sensationalizing rival voices with attractive Arabic music like Irani or Hollywood movie plot. Thus, they draw attention to the young people and call for war against the country. They are saying that Bangladesh is not independent yet, so everyone should take arms in hand to liberate the country and to establish Khilafat.
On one side, Hefazat activists are branding mass people as Murtad and Kafir who deserve hell, on the other side, the IS militants are distributing tickets to heaven in darkwave. They are claiming that those who will fight for their cause will go to heaven. The militants are propagating that those who will not support them will fall into hell. Thus, they are calling upon the young generation to wage a war and violence in the country.
The IS militants are giving directives regularly through video footages in the darkwave. They are calling for making their existence strong everywhere through news and social media, and even with arms and ammunition. Their audio-visual contents in Facebook and YouTube are working as the guidelines for instigating ordinary audiences. They are even planning to build training camps for operating their militant activities.
Meanwhile, Hefazat-e-Islam joint secretary general Mamunul Haque, also chief of Khilafat Majlish, bragged himself off taking control of all mosques in the country. On April 2, he publicly announced that social media platforms and all the mosques across the country are under their control. They will fulfil their target by using social media. Using the religion, he even gave fatwa saying those who will not abide by Hefazat-e-Islam cannot follow Islam as they will be detached from Islam.
The Hefazat leaders are blackmailing people in a new way after their mayhem in Chattogram and Brahmanbaria. They are also threatening people with the number of deaths. They are threatening that they will not conduct janaza (burial rituals) of people if people do not support them. What a heinous strategy it is to abuse the religion! This militant group is progressing in line with how IS militants were spreading in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. If they are not curbed right now, ordinary people cannot live in peace and religious institutions will no longer survive.
