Headlines:
- Madrasa Teachers’ Participation in any Kind of Politics will be Criminalized
- “Unity of People is Important Rather than Unity of Political Parties”
Madrasa Teachers’ Participation in any Kind of Politics will be Criminalized
The updated Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board-2018 announced the interdiction of the political activities for both government and non-government madrasa teachers. The act also comprises all other general staffs of the madrasas too. They themselves cannot take part in direct politics nor be present in any kind of political events, even any act or word by them if it is regarded as hate speech, if people become agitated, anything that disturbs the peace or inflicts anger and division in society– all of these have been drafted as outlaw.
The news itself is self-explaining and horrifying. The level of hatred towards Islam and Islamic education is understood again where the leadership of the Ummah, the descendants of the Prophets ﷺ have been seen humiliated due to the fact that the secular ruling regime doesn’t feel any threat from any other community but Islam. The proposed madrasa education act exposes the munafiqs whom we know as patrons of masjids and madrasas!
The history of Islam tells us that it’s the teachers (the Ulema) played a leading role in politics where the great Imams became voice of people and the last man standing at the side of truth (Haq). In our country, the legacy of the Ulama-e-Hind, who did “Khilafat Movement”, is a big inspiration for the madrasas, its teachers and students. From that mountain peak, when our demand has come down to “accepting the sanad” (accreditation) and begging for grants, then the munafiqs have come with their hateful proposals like this. In this act, for being a punishable act, it is not necessary to even participate in politics, but just even giving any explanation of the Islamic curriculum if it goes against the regime and government feels threat of it, is enough for it to be punishable. And of course, we know, anything can be passed as disturbing the peace of the society and an obstacle to continuation of the regime. It is really difficult to understand how usul, fiqh, tafseer, farayez, aqaid, sunnah etc. will be taught. How we are going to define Kuffar, Jihad or the political lives of the prophets (a.s) and the sahabas? What will be the answer (Islamic opinion) by the teachers if the emotion of the Ummah gets hurt by any defamation or action? Will the generation be really learning Islam under these syllabi?
It is the clear cut “carrot-stick” policy of the Hasina government, while they give some grants (salaries) or ‘sanad’ to a certain sections (Qawmi) of Madrasah, while using only “stick” for another sect (Aliya) of the ulema to get them fully integrated into secularism.
“Unity of People is Important rather than Unity of Political Parties”
Dr. Kamal Hossain, a veteran lawyer and convener of Jatiya Oikya Prokriya (National Unity Process) addressed a discussion program organized by the platform titled “Essentiality of a polls-time nonpartisan government” held at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh on September 26, 2018. In the program he said that people in power do not want a greater national unity of people for holding of a free, fair and inclusive election. Formation of greater national unity among people is urgent than unity among political parties which usually lead to negotiation of power sharing or something else.
The Governor of Bombay (1819 to 1824) Mountstuart Elphinstone once said, “We must not dream of perpetual possession, but must apply ourselves to bring the natives to a state that will admit of their governing themselves in a manner that may be beneficial to our interests as well as their own.” The political system of Bangladesh bears the legacy of this western colonialism and our ruling class is also a reflection of the above quote which is formed to explore the western interest in our country under the banner of democracy.
The politics of AL-BNP circulate on the orbit of colonialist interests and the ruling Awami League is in power to fulfill their demands and satisfy their regional ally India, and has thus lost its acceptance by the mass people drastically. So we see harsh suppression on every popular movement which is challenging the regime or demanding for legitimate rights such as the popular “Road Safety Movement” which demanded only road safety, nut the Awami League government brutally cracked down the movements.
The brutality and failure of the regime to fulfill the rational demand of students created popular discontent among citizens. From the nature and course of movement, it is noticed that the citizens are not only disturbed with the government but also annoyed with the democratic system itself as it is detached from the peoples’ aspiration. By observing the general peoples’ gross mistrust and denial of democratic system, the colonialist become concerned, and they are feeling the necessity of portraying a new fine-looking face of democracy. For this purpose, the colonialist masters instructed all of its agents to stage a drama of national unity to re-gain people’s confidence on a rotten democratic system, and the statement(s) of Dr. Kamal and other leaders of Jatiya Oikya Prokriya is the reflection of the alternatives the western colonialists are thinking of to save their democracy and their puppets imposed on us.