Re: INCUBATING MUSLIM ULTRA-RADICALISM

Kurt Knoll wrote:
> 
> Where is Bangla who ?.

Just another sample of kurtsie poo's total ignorance.

It was originally called East Pakistan
> 
> Kurt Knoll.
> =
> "Leonard Pulver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >
> > Brother Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a pro-dialogue
> > anti-fundamentalist Muslim journalist from Bangladesh,
> > was arrested at the airport while leaving for Israel
> > and is presently detained. We attach the text of a
> > recent article of his and ask all of you to support our
> > courageous brother Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury with
> > your supplications.
> >
> > The Board of Governors of the Italian Muslim
> > Association asks the authorities of Bangladesh for the
> > immediate liberation of our detained brother.
> >
> >
> >
> > INCUBATING ULTRA-RADICALISM
> >
> > By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
> >
> > Bangladesh is known as a 'moderate Muslim country' and
> > its people have the reputation of 'moderate Muslims,'
> > free of rancor against other faiths. However, our
> > society, like many others, is being subverted by the
> > efforts of Muslim extremists.
> >
> > We must admit that most of the people of Bangladesh
> > still lack the opportunity for modern, scientific
> > education and are therefore open to persuasion by
> > religious extremists. In recent years there has been a
> > strong upsurge in activities of religious extremist
> > groups in a number of countries, including Bangladesh.
> > Recently, law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh have
> > captured members of quite a number of such groups in
> > various parts of the country. These were operating
> > under the umbrella of "Islamic Kindergarten Madrassas"
> > or madrassas financed by Afro-Arab organizations.
> > Islamic Kindergarten Madrassas are supposed to be
> > innocent institutions where young boys learn the
> > elements of Islamic faith, but these madrassas have a
> > different program.
> >
> > In the capital city of Dhaka, even now such
> > organizations are quite in evidence and have large
> > memberships. Promoters of these organizations hire huge
> > buildings in posh areas and target boys from the
> > semi-affluent middle class. Previously, madrassa
> > education was mostly confined to lower income and less
> > affluent groups. However, following the emergence of
> > these so-called Islamic Kindergarten Madrassas in
> > Bangladesh, the students are drawn from richer
> > segments, and even include boys of the richest class.
> >
> > One of the accused arrested from one such institution
> > confessed to Bangladesh police that they were planning
> > to have an Islamic revolution in the country, and that
> > they were anxiously looking for boys from the affluent
> > class since they mostly control politics. The accused
> > admitted that they were heavily funded by a number of
> > African and Arab countries.
> >
> > The arrest and statement of the accused have been
> > widely carried by local press. According to these
> > reports, these belligerent people under the covering of
> > various 'Deen' (true path) training organizations
> > intend to coach a section of ill-educated and
> > prejudiced people to be their followers. . Through
> > their clandestine campaigns they are plotting to wage a
> > 'Holy War'. As instruments to induce rage and delude
> > people, they are using different recorded tapes with
> > extremist provocative speeches and songs. They also
> > include messages from Osama Bin Laden.
> >
> > A few months ago a Syrian teacher was arrested. He had
> > belonged to a similar organization named the
> > 'Al-Haramine Institution'. According to records of
> > police intelligence in Bangladesh, members of this
> > organization use the kindergarten madrassa as
> > camouflage. They regularly communicate with various
> > underground-armed groups in the country and even
> > recruit locals and send them to Palestine as guerilla
> > fighters. Each recruit gets US$ 1500-2000 as an up
> > front payment for their 'new job'. Later family members
> > or legal representatives or spouses of these guerilla
> > fighters will receive US$ 150-200 per month as salary.
> > If any of them were killed during the war, their family
> > would get US$ 5,000 as compensation.
> >
> > According to the police report, Al-Haramine
> > Institution maintains a secret training camp inside the
> > compound of its kindergarten madrassa. The recruits are
> > given theoretical and practical training for seven
> > weeks before they proceed to their destination. During
> > training, they are given an elementary idea of their
> > responsibilities and a practical knowledge about some
> > of the weapons used by Palestinian fighters and other
> > extremist groups.
> >
> > Al-Haramine Institute is gradually spreading its wings
> > in other parts of Bangladesh too. Recently they have
> > established their offices in eastern and southern
> > Bangladesh. One of the main objectives of this
> > organization is to sell the idea of jihad (in the sense
> > of violent holy war) to the masses. The organization
> > maintains very good relations with some extremist news
> > dailies including Inqilab, Ittesal, Al-Mujadded, and
> > Sangram etc. Owners of these dailies are regularly
> > compensated by this organization and in exchange, these
> > newspapers give quite open support to its activities.
> >
> > Al-Koran Academy is another such organization run by
> > one Hafez Munirul Islam. He was a teacher in a local
> > madrassa with the monthly salary of US$75 only. Just
> > recently an office of Al-Koran Society has been
> > established in Bangladesh with Hafez Munirul as its
> > Executive Director in Bangladesh. Office of the
> > organization is located at city's top most posh area
> > costing US$ 2000 per month. Hafez Munirul also receives
> > US$ 1000 as a monthly salary. This organization claims
> > that its main activity is printing and distributing the
> > Koran. However, in fact, Al-Koran Academy is mostly
> > engaged in providing political coordinators for various
> > mosques in Bangladesh. The local tax department raised
> > questions about the sudden change in fortunes of this
> > poor madrassa teacher, and investigated the sources of
> > the funding. They found that most funding for this
> > organization comes from the Middle East.
> >
> > The Daily Inqilab acts as a mouthpiece of the
> > fundamentalists in Bangladesh. . It is an extremist
> > sort of provocative newspaper spreading the theme of
> > jihad amongst the local population Inqilab was
> > initially funded by Iraq's deposed autocrat Saddam
> > Hussain and presently it receives regular cash support
> > from a large number of hidden organization in
> > Bangladesh and abroad. One of the owners of this daily
> > is based in Dubai where from global activities of this
> > organization continues. It is believed that Inqilab
> > enjoys very close contact with Osama Bin Laden, and it
> > has extremely good relations with a large number of
> > small and medium ranking organizations and parties in
> > Bangladesh. Some of these organizations are on the
> > regular pay roll of the daily.
> >
> > Pressure to conform to extremist opinion is intense.
> > Since my newspaper, the Weekly Blitz, published several
> > articles that were favorable to Israel, we have been
> > subject to various threats from local fanatics as well
> > from the Palestinian ambassador in Dhaka. Our newspaper
> > was black listed by some of the local companies
> > financed by the Islami Bank, another organization that
> > patronizes and nourishes extremist groups here. There
> > were a number of applications to the Deputy
> > Commissioner of Dhaka to cancel the registration of our
> > newspaper. Hackers entered our Web site and tried to
> > disrupt it, but were foiled by our technicians.
> >
> > I received numerous threats from the local extremists
> > and from the editor of an extremist daily, and in one
> > case I had to lodge a written complaint
> > with the local police station. Under the instructions
> > and inspiration of Islami Bank, Ibn Sina Trust and some
> > other religious extremist groups, I was thrown out of a
> > private television company where fanatics suddenly
> > acquired the major portion of the stock. Until now I
> > have not been paid the price for my 20 percent share in
> > that company.
> >
> > Destruction, fanaticism and terror are not the way to
> > bring about positive changes in the minds of people or
> > in any society. Such attempts have always met a grim
> > fate in the past, whether perpetrated by organizations
> > or states.
> >
> > World leaders, government and various organizations
> > have started to make people aware of vicious designs of
> > the extremists and to combat them. Governments, along
> > with the law enforcing agencies should strengthen their
> > efforts to isolate these destructive elements before it
> > is too late.  Various media can also serve to
> > disseminate messages to counter extremist propaganda,
> > to generate awareness, and to organize people in favor
> > of peace and against all sorts of religious and other extremism.
> > ___________
> >
> > Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury is editor of the Weekly
> > Blitz in Bangladesh,
> >  http://www.weeklyblitz.com.  This article has been put
> > online by Mideast Web Page on October 19, 2003:
> > www.mideastweb.org