জননেত্রী শেখ হাসিনার স্বপ্ন পড়ুনStemming the Rise of Islamic Extremism in Bangladesh


Sajeeb A. Wazed is an adviser to Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh and President of the Awami League, the largest and oldest political party in Bangladesh. He has been a key negotiator for the Awami League on several occasions, most recently in the negotiations for the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh with the present military government. He has a Master's in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Carl J. Ciovacco graduated from the Kennedy School of Government with a Masters of Public Policy in International Security and Political Economy. His recent thesis on Al Qaeda's media strategy and was written for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. He received his Bachelor of Science in International Relations from West Point and served as an Army officer in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Bangladesh has been a secular Muslim state since its independence from Pakistan and founding by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1971. While its short history has been full of military coup d’états, it has always returned to its roots as a secular democratic state. There are, however, troubling new signs of a shift towards a growing Islamism that could jeopardize the sanctity of secularism in the country. While the governing construct’s legitimacy is suffering politically from the past two years of emergency military rule, Islamism may be the biggest threat to the country’s Constitution and secular underpinnings. As elections are scheduled for December 18th and the two major political parties jostle over the country’s future, each party’s vision for the proper mix of Islam and government will be at the forefront. Rahman’s Awami League has long been the standard bearer of secularism and if elected, it could roll back the growing tide of Islamism in Bangladesh. The Awami League must, however, implement certain changes to proactively check this Islamism if it hopes to secure long-lasting secularism and democracy. If successful, an Awami League-led Bangladesh could be the global example of secular governance in a Muslim country.

The Situation on the Ground
During the turmoil in Bangladeshi politics over the past two years, the military government has imprisoned two former Prime Ministers on trumpted-up charges of corruption. Yet, Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League and Khaleda Zia of the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP) continue to enjoy overwhelming support from their party’s grassroots. While Sheikh Hasina has already been released and is on parole in the United States for medical treatment, Khaleda Zia remains in prison. Though the military caretaker government had originally intended to imprison all of the popular politicians before the impending December election, it appears that both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia will be allowed to participate.

Bangladeshis will once again go to the polls to decide between the Awami League and its record of secularism and the BNP with its public support of Jamat-e-Islami (which supports Islamic-leaning governance). If July’s local elections, where the Awami League won 12 of 13 Municipal elections, are any portent of future national elections, the League appears to be the favorite in the national election. This result would return Hasina, the daughter of the country’s founding father Rahman, to the Premiership that she held from 1996 until 2001. If however, the BNP wins by consolidating its Islamic-leaning power base, Zia will reoccupy the nation’s top position that she held from 2001 to 2006.


School children preparing for class. Photo courtesy flickr.com/BBC World Service Bangladesh Boat
With the rise of Islamic extremism encouraged by the last two years of military rule and five years of BNP governance, the Awami League will certainly be fighting an uphill battle both before and after the elections in stemming this movement. The ascendancy of Islamists (moulobadi in Bangali) in national politics was partly due to how Zia and the BNP structured their 2001 campaign to include the Islamic party Jamat-e-Islami (JI). When the BNP formed a coalition government with JI, it opened the door to increased Islamic influence on the governing party. Before JI became part of the ruling coalition, it had minimal influence on the government. The greatest number of seats that JI had ever garnered in any election prior to 2001 was three. After the BNP allied with JI however, its legitimacy grew within the governing construct.

BNP has begun to rely heavily on JI’s highly focused fundamentalist Islamic base. The Islamists tend to support reunification with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and do not share the Awami League’s affinity for Rahman and the liberationists that fought Pakistan in the 1970s. The alliance of anti-liberationists, JI, and the BNP has also had direct and indirect involvement with Islamic fundamentalist groups that masterminded 500 coordinated bombings across Bangladesh in 2005. This display of terror was an attempt to showcase their growing power. These shadow groups, namely Jamat-ul Mujahid Bangladesh (JMB), Jagrata Janata Muslim Bangladesh (JMJB) and Harkatul Jihad (HuJi), have been the militant arm of JI. They overtly denounce the Constitution and seek to replace democracy and secularism with a governing construct based on Sharia Law.

Islamic extremism is also on the rise in Bangladesh because of the growing numbers of Islamists in the military. The Islamists cleverly began growing their numbers within the Army by training for the Army Entrance Exams at madrassas. This madrassa training was necessary because of the relative difficulty associated with passing these exams. The military is attractive because of both its respected status and its high employment opportunities in a country where unemployment ranges from 20 percent to 30 percent for younger males. High demand for military posts has resulted in an entrance exam designed to limit the number of recruits. Before this madrassa Entrance Exam campaign, only 5 percent of military recruits came from madrasses in 2001. By 2006, at the end of the BNP’s reign, madrassas supplied nearly 35 percent of the Army recruits. In a country that has seen four military coup d’états in its short 37 year history, the astronomical growth of Islamists in the military is troubling to say the least.

Toward Renewal: A Secular Plan
As the country was founded on a secular system of governance, the entire political system is now vulnerable. Can the Awami League stop the growing tide of Islamism in a country that has seen the sale of burkas rise nearly 500 percent in the last five years? The answer is yes if it implements the following secular renewal plan. First, it must modernize the curriculum of the madrasses. Second, it must build proper, secular elementary schools and hospitals. Third, it should increase the recruitment of secular-minded students into the military from secular cadet academies. Fourth, it must attempt to rehabilitate known extremist clerics. Lastly, and perhaps the most abstract solution, it must push to vanquish Bangladeshi poverty and illiteracy that consistently ranks among the worst in the world. This plan would make the country less hospitable to a growing Islamist movement and help return Bangladesh to its secular roots.