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Jamada al-Awwal 18,1434/March 31, 2013 # 13
The article about Injustice in America is by Sis. Aisha,
Jamaat al-Muslimeen, New York City.
Scroll way down.
Latest Khutba
On Jesus, pbuh, Miracles and Self-Evaluation
On March 29, Dr. Kaukab Siddique gave the Juma khutba at
Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen in Baltimore, Maryland. Here are
the main points for distribution across America, inshallah.
-
Jesus, pbuh, brought the truth. He taught that we must
not worship anyone other than Allah. The Qur'an requires us
to believe Jesus, pbuh, and to honor him and his mother
Maryam [Mary], pbuh.
-
Jesus, pbuh, was a revolutionary, who lived with and
among the people and avoided the pomp and show of the world.
True Christians are our friends.
-
The Jews did not accept him because they thought the
Messiah would be a man of grandeur and would come with a
mighty force.
-
Allah gave the greatest miracles to Jesus, pbuh, but the
Jews would still not believe him.
-
Miracles were also given to Musa [Moses] and Muhammad,
peace be on them.
-
Miracles are only given to great messengers of Allah. The
priests and saints of Christians and Muslims should not
claim that they too can have miracles.
-
Islam is the way of Jihad, not of miracles. Muhammad,
pbuh, carried out unarmed jihad in Makkah. He was beaten up
and persecuted. Abu Bakr, r.a., helped him to survive
physical assaults.
-
The Qur'an tells us that Jesus, pbuh, was NOT crucified.
It seemed so to the Jews. Allah exalted him.
-
We must not speculate about what happened to Jesus, pbuh.
The Qur'an does not encourage us to do so. Already Muslims
have suffered too much from such speculation which was
carried on by a false "messiah" in Pakistan.
-
No one is going to come down from the heavens to help
us. We have to strive and struggle to win as Muhammad did,
pbuh. There is no short cut. We are responsible for victory.
-
Even when Muslims are very good, they can be defeated
sometimes or face great tragedy. Instead of trying to blame
each other, we must carry out Islamic self evaluation.
-
Allah has taught us how to do this in Sura Ale Imran
which explains why the Muslims suffered so heavily at the
battle of Uhud although they were winning when the battle
began. Here are the points to remember:
-
Even good Muslims can be attracted by DUNYA [wordly
goods].
-
Do Tawba, repent, pray to Allah for tazkia.
-
There can be no victory if we disobey the Prophet,
pbuh.
-
The leaders should know that sincere Muslims who repent
must be forgiven.
-
The Prophet, pbuh, himself was wounded but he not only
forgave those who disobeyed him but was commanded by Allah
to continue the process of Shoora [planning through
discussion] with them.
-
We are living in a corrupt world where the leader of
this country is openly supporting Israel, homosexuality and
a general process of surveillannce. We must show compassion
for each other, be united and find Islamic spouses for the
unmarried.
Breaking news:
Bengali Muslims making big sacrifices to stop oppression.
March 20: In Bogra, Bangladesh, pro-India police killed 24
women and children protesting against death sentence given
to Maulana Syedee, Bangla Islamic leader. We publish
detailed report. Scroll to end please.
[Pakistani girl Malala has received a $3,000,000 book deal
in Britain. Her alleged shooting has not even been
investigated. Our Bengali sisters are being shot down
protesting against oppression. Not a word in the western
media . [Note from Editor Kaukab Siddique]
Breaking news #2
Syria: Assad clinging on with help of elite Alawite forces.
March 29: Heavy fighting is taking place in the nothern
suburb of Aleppo known as Shaikh Maqsud. Assad's forces
counterattacked after the Islamics captured the eastern part
of the area.
March 28: The fighting is approaching Assad's bastion in
Damascus' inner ring. The fighting is reported to be heavy
as al-Nusrah refuses to retreat before Assad's fire power.
Iran counters Hollywood. Our friend scholar Mark Weber was
there.
Please scroll down.
Widely distribute this to remove the holocaust-related
support for Israel. Bradley Smith of Committee for Open
Debate on the Holocaust publishes an astonishing report on
Israel's main man in America Elie Wiesel who claims he was
in the holocaust!. Also see a drawing of what the Jewish
lobby wants Americans to believe happened.
Go to end.
Ellison, Webb, Muzammil, Fadel, Safi, CAIR, ISNA for
Homosexuality
The much publicized government oriented "Muslims" have now
gone to the extent of supporting homosexuality, some
blatantly and some slyly and obliquely. The entire group of
Obama oriented "Muslims" have fallen for the homosexual
offensive lead by the "Black Messiah". As the Prophet, pbuh,
taught, if the Christians and the Jews go down the lizard
hole, these hell-going "Muslims" will do likewise.
We hope that these lackeys of the West will do tawba and
come back to Islam.
Please scroll down
Western Nations have Accepted Sinful way of Life wholesale
by Br. David Wiggins [Black Think Tank leader, Baltimore]
"Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to
any people."
We have accepted the sinful way of life of the wicked
nations of the North who comprise the international world
ownership network, their military, intelligence, and
commercial apparatus.
We have accepted all manner of filth and degradation as
normal "life-styles" and "orientation". We accept greed,
wrath, sloth, pride, lus...t, envy, and gluttony in our
family, commercial and spiritual lives.
And we have turned to the false gods and ideologies of the
wicked nations of the North and have turned our face from
the timeless truths that exhort us to righteousness.
There are only two clergy men that I have met in Baltimore
who have pointed this out with any clarity on a consistent
basis and they are my colleague David L. Johnson, Sr. and my
wife's father, Kaukab Siddique.
Those Who Help Oppressors are also Oppressors: Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal
From Nadrat Siddique [Jamaat al-Muslimeen Washington DC]
Imam Hanbal was a leading theologian of Islam. A major
school of Sunni Islam--the Hanbali Madhab--was named for
him. Large numbers of people in "Saudi" Arabia, Qatar, and
elsewhere in the Muslim world call themselves Hanbali, yet
few seem to understand or follow his stern stance against
kingship, and for fighting the forces of oppression. Here is
a parable from Imam Hanbal, shared by my erudite friend in
the UK, P. Khan:
When Ahmad bin Hanbal was imprisoned, one of the prison
guards came to him and asked him: "O Abu 'Abdullah! The
hadith that is narrated regarding the oppressors and those
that aid them - is it authentic?" He said: "Yes."
The prison guard then said: "So, I am considered to be an
aide of the oppressors?" Ahmad replied: "No. The aides of
the oppressors are those that comb your hair, wash your
clothes, prepare your meals, and buy and sell from you. As
for you, you are one of the oppressors themselves."
-Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad by Ibn al-Jawzi
Strategic Thinking
U.S. Plans Major Blow Against Taliban Before Leaving:
General Allen and General Kayani Partners in the Battle
On March 25, General John Allen spoke at length to the
Brookings Institute in Washington DC, a major think tank for
American policy makers. His remarks were broadcast on
C-Span. New Trend's impression is that General Allen is a
sophisticated, ruthless and hard hitting officer, determined
to win at any cost. Although he is leaving his post, by
looking at him, one can see that America has put its
absolute best into Afghsanistan at every level. The Taliban
are winning owing to their Islamic ideals and resilience,
otherwise they didn't have a chance against America's best.
Here are the main points made by General Allen:
-
US is arming, funding and training a huge Afghan military
force against the Taliban, at least 350,000 strong.
-
US is also preparing local police forces in every area to
exclude the Taliban.
-
In 2014, "elections" will be held in Afghanistan under
tight US and US-installed military forces.
-
Karzai is a reliable ally of the US. Don't be misled by
his critical remarks. Those are for local consumption.
Karzai's support will be key even when he won't stand for
"elections" this time.
-
The US is studying Islam to be able to handle the
Afghans. Gen. Allen himself gave "zakat" during Ramadan to a
father whose son had been killed fighting the Taliban.
-
The US hopes to defeat if not destroy the Taliban during
the coming fighting season [2013] and then 2014. The entire
NATO battle formations and Afghan allies are being readied.
-
Afghanistan is sitting on TRILLIONS of dollars of gold,
diamonds and other minerals and US interests will be well
served by the funding of mercenary forces.
-
Pakistan is key to US victory. General Kayani is
extremely favorable to the US and he worked well with US
generals including Allen himself.
-
Military coordination between Pakistan and the US is
being improved. A Pakistani brigadier now works in the NATO
military operations headquarters.
-
Eastern Afghanistan will be most difficult to win over
owing to areas controlled by "extremists" in Pakistan [Pak.
Taliban].
-
Huge sums of money have been allocated to victory in
Afghanistan not only by NATO but also by US allies outside
NATO. [Japan, South Korea.]
[Ed note: It appears that the US has successfully mobilized
tribal factions which are opposed to an Islamic state and
want to maintain tribalism, as well as poverty stricken
people looking for a job. Shia Hazara elements as well as
seculars and ex-Communists are with Karzai. The situation is
not unlike that of Syed Ahmed Shaheed who came with high
ideals from eastern India all the way to what is now
Pakistan to help Muslims fight the Sikhs. He was betrayed
and later killed by similar tribal factions who did not want
their tribal system to e replaced by Islamic equality and
justice.]
Sectarian buster
Shia Source Admits that Ali's, r.a., Daughter Married Umar,
r.a. and had a son.
Ali, r.a., and Umar r.a., were great friends The question of
Umar, r.a., even thinking of harming Ali, r.a., or Fatima,
r.a., is too absurd. Only haters will take it
seriously.
Ali, r.a., gave his beloved daughter Umm Kulthum in marriage
to his great friend Umar, r.a., and she had a noble place in
Umar's household.
The Shias go crazy when they read that Ali and Umar were
great friends. However scholars cannot deny it. Even a Shia
reference book notes:
"Hazrat Ali's had two daughters from Fatima Zahra
alaihasalam, Zainab and Umm Kulthum. He gave Zainab in
marriage to Abdullah the son of Jafar Tayyar and Umm Kulthum
to Umar ibn Kattab Zayd bin Umar was born of Umm Kulthum."
[Ali Akbar Dehkhuda, lughat nama, vol. 19, p. 80 under
'Ali bin Abi Talib, published from Tehran 1342 H.]
Translated from Farsi. This is like an almanac which Shias
in Iran use as an ordinary reference.]
Our America: Two cases of injustice
Jew York - On March 21, 2013, David Ranta, 58 years old, was
released from a New York prison. He served 23 years of a 37
year prison sentence but, his conviction was overturned by a
judge. He was convicted in 1990 in the murder of Hasidic
Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger in a botched car jacking. District
Attorney Charles Hines' office acknowledged there were
serious flaws with the "evidence" used to wrongfully convict
Ranta. Including witnesses recanting their stories.
A then 13 year old witness now claims that detectives
coached him into identifying Mr. Ranta in a line up. Also,
there were a slew of testimony from jailhouse inmates and
crackheads that has proven weak. At the same time that
Ranta's Attorney, Pierre Sussman, was investigating this
case, so too was the Brooklyn District Attorney's office
through the Conviction Integrity Unit.
Unfortunately, after only two days on the outside, David
Ranta suffered a heart attack and will be undergoing surgery
at an undisclosed New York hospital. It was discovered that
he had two clogged arteries.
A fair trial for David Ranta, a homeless drug-user, was
difficult from the start. Many of Rabbi Werzberger's
followers surrounded the police car transporting him and
shook it while calling for the death penalty.
I wonder if it is at all possible to get a fair trial when
one has been accused of harming a Jew?
Interestingly enough, on March 11th, Jewish attorney,
Frederick Cohn, requested that no Jews serve on the jury in
yet, another case against a Muslim accused of supporting
terrorism. Abdel Hameed Shehadeh is accused of lying about
"trying" to join Pakistani terrorists, according to the
kuffar press.
According to Attorney Cohn, the American Jewish community is
heavily tied to Israel and Zionism and is completely unable
to express any impartiality in this case. Of course Judge
Levy, a Jew, denied the request.
I was just wondering.
I am hopeful that David Ranta can overcome this gross
injustice. Of course, there may be a lawsuit against the
city. the actual perpetrator of this murder was killed in a
car crash soon after the Rabbi's murder.
If there is a lawsuit, only the tax payers of New York City
will be paying for the malfeasance of New York City
detectives handling this case. There is never any
accountability on the part of dirty cops.
Another Productive Visit to Iran:
Tehran Conference Critically Examines 'Hollywoodism'
by Mark Weber
http://www.ihr.org/news/iranvisit_feb2013.html
More than 40 writers, filmmakers and scholars
from the US, France, Italy and other foreign countries,
together with dozens of Iranian cinema specialists,
journalists, officials and others, gathered at the large
Azadi hotel in north Tehran for a four-day "Hollywoodism"
conference to critically examine the formidable role and
often harmful social-political impact of the US film
industry, and to discuss how to counter it. I was one of
several Americans who had been invited to the event ...
During this expense-paid visit I gained a greater
understanding of this ancient but vibrant nation of 75
million, which Israel and its allies in the US have
demonized and threaten with military attack.
[Junaid is such a mentally defeated person, he wanted to
counter Geller's attack on Islamics by saying, yes, we have
Muslim "leaders" right here who support the sodomizers and
lesbians.]
Keith Ellison, Andre Carson, Johari Malik, Webb, Muzzammil,
Fadel Support Homosexuality
Excerpts from Junaid Jahangir's Article in Goatsmilk.
Both American political and religious Muslim leaders have
very different views on queer rights than what the Geller
ads would have us believe. In 2009, the Council on
American-Islamic Relations supported the hate crime bill
that sought to incorporate sexual orientation and gender
identity.
Among Muslim political leaders, Geller may quote Ako Abdul
Samad, the Iowa State representative from the 66th district,
as saying 'if standing up for equal protection under the law
is a sin, then all of us in this room are sinners'.
Geller can also reference the first Muslim Congressman Keith
Ellison, representative of the 5th district in Minnesota, as
stating, 'I am proud to be vice-chair of the Congressional
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Caucus'.
He can also be quoted as saying, 'It is not your place to
judge and condemn others' and 'If the person you happen to
love and want to be with happens to be the same-sex and
gender as you then I say God Bless you and try to be as
happy as you can in this very difficult world'.
Likewise, Geller can reference the second Muslim Congressman
Andre Carson, representative of the 7th district in Indiana,
as stating, 'As a proud member of the LGBT Equality Caucus,
I am committed to the Caucus' mission to "achieve the
extension of equal rights, the repeal of discriminatory
laws, the elimination of hate-motivated violence, and the
improved health and well-being for all, regardless of sexual
orientation or gender identity or expression"'.
Among Muslim religious leaders, Geller can quote Imam Johari
Malik, director of Outreach at the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic
Centre in Northern Virginia, as stating, 'If someone says,
"gay sex is nasty", just ask them, "how do you know?" ...
"It's time to get past our homophobia to help human
beings"'.
Likewise, Geller can also reference Imam Suhaib Webb of the
Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, the largest
mosque in the New England area, as stating, 'If someone
who's a homosexual comes to the mosque, wants to pray, wants
to worship, be part of the community, I have no issue with
that,' and 'Ultimately, people who have whatever
inclinations in their life, no one has a right to bar them
from their experience with God.'
Even conservative leaders like Imam Muzammil Siddiqi,
director of the Islamic Society of Orange County in
California, one of the largest mosques in the U.S., who had
earlier proscribed queer people and stated that 'no one is
born a homosexual', have slightly shifted their view point
on the issue.
In a recent interview, he mentioned, 'many Muslim jurists
today are inclined to accept on the basis of modern research
that it is quite possible that people may be born with this
[orientation]' and that 'we all have to learn and understand
things more, so we do change our minds on the basis of
understanding the human situation'
... While, acknowledging the classical Islamic position,
Professor of Islamic Law, Dr. Mohammad Fadel mentioned in
the context of the 2012 U.S. Elections, 'I think one can
certainly take the view, and I know a lot of Muslims might
find this to be controversial, that we can support the idea
of same-sex marriage because what we want is to make sure
that all citizens have access to the same kinds of public
benefits that other people do'.
Similarly, Dr. Omid Safi recently weighed in on same-sex
marriage in the U.S. He has clearly stated "Love is love.
Family is family, though they come in different shapes. My
children have gay and lesbian friends. They belong a social
club at school that is an alliance of straight, gay,
lesbian, and bi-sexual students'
Why did the Jews at Auschwitz march out of the camp with the
Nazis instead of waiting for the Soviet liberators?
With thanks to Bradley Smith and CODOH
Prisoners on a death march out of Dachau
The photo above shows some of the 6,887 Jewish prisoners and
Russian POWs who were marched out of the Dachau
concentration camp on April 26, 1945. Today's students are
taught that the purpose of this "death march" was to kill
the prisoners before the camp could be liberated by the
Allies. Note the two German soldiers who are marching with
them. There is no photo of the march out of Auschwitz, but
the photo above will give you an idea of how the Auschwitz
march took place.
On a similar march out of Auschwitz, the German soldiers
marched at the head of the column, tramping down two feet of
snow to make it easier for the Jews to march.
I am on the e-mail list of Bradley Smith, a famous Holocaust
denier, and today I received an e-mail from him, which
included a letter which he sent recently to Kent State
University where Elie Wiesel is expected to give a talk to
the students.
As you may know, Elie Wiesel and his father were on the
death march out of Auschwitz on January 18, 1945. They were
given a choice whether to march or stay behind and be
liberated. The Dachau prisoners, shown in the photo above,
were not given a choice.
I love Bradley Smith and I am a great admirer of his
writing. I read the copy of Bradley's letter to the
University and laughed out loud. I am quoting from the
letter, so as to share it with those who may not be on
Bradley's e-mail list.
Quote from letter written by Bradley Smith to Kent State
University:
===== In his autobiographical book Night, Elie Wiesel writes
that in January 1945, when he and his father were both
prisoners of the murderous German Nazis at Auschwitz, they
were asked by their captors if they would prefer to remain
in that death camp, where countless Jews had already been
murdered in gas chambers, to await the imminent arrival of
their Soviet liberators, or would they rather leave with the
Nazi Jew-killers who were abandoning the camp. Elie Wiesel
and his dad, talking it over, agreed they would prefer to
leave on the death-march retreat with German Nazis dedicated
to exterminating Jews as a race rather than wait for their
Soviet liberators.
Is there one professor at Kent State University who thinks
it might be worthwhile that students consider the
significance of this confession? Why not? =====
I don't think that Bradley Smith will get an answer to his
letter, so I am going to explain to him and the students the
purpose of the death march out of Auschwitz.
I learned the reason for the death marches from Professor
Harold Marcuse, who teaches the history of the Holocaust at
the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Professor Marcuse wrote the following in a comment on my
blog several years ago:
In any case the death marches in 1945 were a largely futile
attempt to keep human evidence of and witnesses to
atrocities from falling into Allied hands. That rationale
hinged on the illusory notion that the Germans would
ultimately defend some territory and in some bizarre way
"win" the war. When some responsible German officials
realized beyond doubt that the war was lost, they drew the
"logical" conclusion and burned the marching prisoners
alive, as happened at Ohrdruf, Gardelegen and numerous other
places. For them apparently, dead evidence was better than
alive evidence.
I am assuming that the professors at Kent State University
teach the students the same story that is taught at the
University of California, Santa Barbara.
Elie Wiesel and his father trusted the Nazis not to burn
them alive on the march, so they didn't stay behind at
Auschwitz, when given a choice. If you have ever read Elie
Wiesel's book, you know that Elie and his father survived
the burning ditches at Auschwitz on the Night that they
arrived. They expected to survive the burning of the
prisoners on the march out of the camp. They didn't know
what the Soviets might do, so they chose the Nazis
instead.
Children were being burned alive at Auschwitz on the night
Elie Wiesel arrived
The Jews who stayed behind at Auschwitz found out that they
had made the wrong choice because the Soviets didn't take
care of them at all.
After the three Auschwitz camps were liberated, the
survivors were on their own. Unlike the concentration camps
in Germany, where the liberated prisoners remained in the
camps as Displaced Persons and were cared for by the
Americans or the British, the Auschwitz prisoners from 29
countries were released to find their own way home.
Primo Levi was an Auschwitz survivor who wrote a book, later
made into a movie, about his long journey home to Italy
which took him many months. He described how the Jewish
prisoners were greeted with hostility in every country along
the way. (Primo Levi was forced to stay behind because he
was sick at the time of the death march out of the
camp.)
Binjamin Wilkomirski, who falsely claimed to be a child
survivor of Auschwitz, wrote in his fake book, entitled
Fragments, that there was no liberation. "We just ran away
without permission," he wrote. "No joyous celebration. I
never heard the word 'liberation' back then, I didn't even
know there was such a word." Binjamin Wilkomirski also
describes this in his book, Fragments: "And the people
outside the camp, in the countryside and the nearby town —
they didn't celebrate when they saw us."
Wilkomirski's fake book is still being taught in American
schools, but it is now called a novel. Elie Wiesel's fake
book was at one time classified as a novel, but is now being
taught in American schools as the Gospel truth.
Bangladesh
Quick Action by Islamics Saved Hindu Temples. Regime Wanted
to Blame Jamaate Islami.
Police Killed 24 women, children in Bogra. Extra Judicial
Executions widespread.
A Report on the violence in Bangladesh following the death
sentence awarded to an Islamic Scholar
On 28 February, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1
passed a death sentence against Allama Delwar Hossain
Sayedee, a renowned Islamic Scholar and the Deputy Leader of
the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ("Jamaat") for allegedly
committing crimes during the Liberation War of 1971. The
trial and the Tribunal were condemned by international
criminal lawyers and human rights organisations such as
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International
Centre for Transitional Justice, as falling far below
acceptable standards. Moreover, there were well documented
instances of abducting a defence witness, collusion between
judges, prosecution and ministers and granting of favours to
judges in order to ensure a conviction against Mr. Sayedee1.
After, the verdict was announced, people across the country
came out to protest against the verdict, which was largely
perceived as politically motivated. The verdict had
offended the sense of justice of the Islam loving people of
this country. However, the Government was determined to
portray the verdict as popular, and ordered the police to
fire upon protestors with live ammunition. As such on 28
February, 73 civilians were shot and killed by the police in
less than 8 hours. In one District alone 14 people were
shot dead in a few minutes. (Bodies of protestors killed by
the Police being removed.) Protests also took place on 1
March, 2013 and 6 more protestors were killed by the
Police. On 2 March, a further 6 protestors were killed.
Then again on 3 March, 2013 protests took place all over the
country. In Bogra (in north-western Bangladesh) women
protested side by side with the men. In Jhenidah processions
consisting only of women protested peacefully against the
verdict. They also brought the children along, not
suspecting that the police would fire upon them and their
children. However, the police fired indiscriminately killing
both women and children. Protestors angry with the killing
of civilians attacked police stations. In Bogra the Army
was called in by the District Administration. The situation
was controlled by one platoon of the Army without firing a
single round. However, This was
revealed when the Economist, the Wall Street Journal and a
local newspaper disclosed the internet calls of the former
Chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal-1. 2 when the
police were in charge, their indiscriminate firing resulted
in the death of 24 women and children. In Bogra people no
longer have faith in the police administration. (The
police aiming and shooting at protestors standing at a
distance without provocation) In the protests which lasted
from 28 February to 5 March, 2013 around 120 people were
shot and killed by direct police firing. Around 1000
civilians were injured. 5 policemen died in the violence.
These incidents occurred when the police ran out of live
ammunition and were subject of the wrath of local people.
It is not alleged that the protestors used arms or weapons
of any kind, nor is there any evidence of such use. The
protestors merely threw brick-bats at the police who were
dressed in full riot gear and protected by shields and
bullet proof vests. The action of the police, therefore, in
using live ammunition was not necessary and the extent of
the live ammunition used was neither reasonable nor was it a
proportionate response. This is reflected in the casualties.
For the 120 civilians killed by the police, 5 policemen lost
their lives.
Brutal police action on civilians protesting against the
verdict passed against a leader of Jamaat has to be seen in
the context of the continuing violence against Jamaat and
its student wing. Prior to the police action that commenced
on 28 February, the Police have been hunting members of the
Jamaat and its student wing, the Islami Chattra Shibir
("Shibir") and killing them in police custody. Over the past
couple of months the police have been randomly picking up
member/supporters of Jamaat and have shot at them at point
blank range (while in their custody) in full view of the
media. The images of such point-black shooting have been
documented and archived and are now available on the
internet2. These custodial shootings have been authorized
by the Police Administration including the Police
Commissioner for Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Benzir Ahmed.
Mr. Ahmed had in January 2013 ordered his officers to shoot
Jamaat and Shibir men on sight. This has been reported in a
number of national daily newspapers including Ittefaq3
Bangladesh Pratidin4, Naya Diganta5, Amar Desh6 and
Manabzamin7 .
Attacks on the Hindu minorities and symbols of Bengali
nationalism
http://youtu.be/W3WFlesX_Gg
, http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=78b_1361803125&comments=1
http://ittefaq.com.bd/index.php?ref=MjBfMDFfMjlfMTNfMV8xXzFfTQ5MDI=
http://www.bd-pratidin.com/?view=details&archiev=yes&arch_dae=29-01-
2013&type=single&pub_no=986&cat_id=1&menu_id=1&news_type_id=&index=2
http://www.dailynayadiganta.com/new/?p=103388
http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2013/01/29/18524#.UTTxNjv9Nmw
http://www.mzamin.com/archive_details.php?nid=NDA0MTI=&ty=MA=&s=MTg=&c=MQ==&seco=MjAxM3wxfDI5fDA=
During the protests
against the verdict, a number of sudden attacks were carried
out on symbols of Bengali nationalism (i.e. flags and
monuments) and members of the Hindu minority. The reasons
for such attacks were not known, but the Government and the
local media were quick to blame Jamaat. However, till date
no member of Jamaat has been arrested in connection with
these attacks. The only person to be arrested was a member
of the student wing of the ruling Awami League Government,
who was caught red-handed. The government promptly declared
the person caught as a lunatic and released him. The
attacks on the minorities could not have taken place without
the knowledge and support of the Government.
In Ramu, Chittagong (south-eastern Bangladesh) the attack on
Buddhist temples in late 2012 took place with the government
approval8. Even in 1971, the attacks on the minority Hindus
took place because such attacks were supported and assisted
by the Pakistan Government. In fact there have serious
doubts have been raised from a number of quarters as to the
Government allegation that Jamaat carried out these
attacks.9 In fact members of Jamaat's student wing guarded
temples so that they would not be attacked. See picture
below:- (Members of Islami Chattra Shibir (Jamaat's student
wing) guarding a temple) Jamaat has issued a number of
statements condemning such attacks. It has also undertaken
to take measures to rehabilitate the affected persons on
humanitarian grounds.
The Role of Local Media
The local print media in Bangladesh led by the Bengali paper
the Prothom Alo and the English newspaper, Daily Star
described the civilians killed as supporters of Bangladesh
Jamaat-e-Islami and therefore justified. The women and
children who participated or were present in the protests
have been described as being used by Jamaat as human shields
and hence, their deaths too have been justified. However,
the pictures tell a different tale. The pictures used by the
Daily Star for instance shows processions mainly of women
with their children carrying brooms and sandals/shoes tied
to sticks. There is no evidence of men using the women and
children as shields. In fact apart from the presence of one
old man (see photograph on the left) in one of the
processions, there is no evidence of an adult male being
present. The photographs that were used by the Daily Star on
4 March, 2013 are reproduced below (with the caption):
http://thefinancialexpress-bd.com/index.php?ref=MjBfMTBfMDhfTJfMV84OF8xNDYxOTQ=
http://www.khichuri.org/bangladeshs-self-styled-secularists-re-no-protectors-of-minorities/
The women with their
children protested with sandals and brooms not knowing that
the police would be so brutal as to fire upon them.
Moreover, even if we assume that the Daily Star was correct
and the women and children were being used as shields
(contrary to what is actually revealed in the photographs)
this cannot be a justification for killing innocent people.
More over when the Leader of the Opposition, Khaleda Zia had
condemned the attacks, the Daily Star expressed its
displeasure over the fact that Jamaat had not been blamed.
Although no inquiry or investigation had been carried out
the Daily Star was keen to blame Jamaat for the atrocities.
(The Daily Star, 5 March, 2013) In fact, the Daily Star and
Prothom Alo have been actively campaigning to play down and
even at times has been justifying the police brutality on
those protesting against the verdict. The bias of these two
newspapers are well documented.
http://www.khichuri.org/are-bangladeshs-media-adding-fuel-tothe-countrys-toxic-political-culture/
Conclusion The Government and the pro-Government media have
been actively campaigning to brand Jamaat as a political
party which has attacked minorities. In fact there is
evidence of Government involvement which has been
highlighted by the Leader of the Opposition. Evidence has
been distorted by newspapers such the Daily Star, to blame
Jamaat for the violence. Moreover, its supporters have been
indiscriminately killed by the police a fact which is
downplayed by the Government and the local media. In these
circumstances we call upon the international community to
correctly evaluate the situation in Bangladesh and to come
forward and assist Jamaat in representing its constituents
and supporters in Banglades
2013-03-31 Sun 09:09:05 cdt
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