Thousands of Bangladeshis took to the streets of Dhaka on Saturday to oppose the government's proposed recommendations for ensuring equal rights, including ones related to property, for mainly Muslim women. The protest was called by Hefazat-e-Islam-- an influential Bangladeshi Islamist group-- claiming that some of the proposed recommendations hurt "the sentiments of the majority of the people of this country".
Leaders of the Hefazat-e-Islam group claimed that draft recommendations of the Women's Affairs Reform Commission instituted by the Muhammad Yunus' interim government are contradictory to Sharia law. The group threatened a nationwide protest on May 23 if the government didn't meet their demands.
Over 20,000 followers of the group rallied near the Dhaka University, some carrying banners and placards reading "Say no to Western laws on our women, rise up Bangladesh", in one of their biggest public shows of strength in years as religious activism surged in Bangladesh following the ouster of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime last year. Protestors mostly included teachers and students of non-government or "kawmi" madrassas.
Islamist groups in Bangladesh have increased their visibility since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster, and minority groups have complained of being intimidated.
What Were The Demands
The protestors mainly denounced proposed recommendations for ensuring equal rights, including ones related to property, for mainly Muslim women. Nayeb-e-Ameer or senior leader of the platform, Maulana Mahfuzul Huq, announced a 12-point charter of demands, with the first one being the abolition of the existing women reform commission and its members punished for the proposed changes, and constituting a new one comprising Islamic scholars and women representatives.
He said the commission's proposed changes hurt "the sentiments of the majority of the people of this country" by labelling the religious laws of inheritance as the main cause of inequality between men and women.
The group's leaders also demanded that the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad punus ban the Awami League party led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August. Hasina's opponents accuse her government of killing hundreds of students and others during the uprising that ended her 15-year rule. Hasina has been in exile in India since her ouster.
"Men and women can never be equal," a women's madrassa teacher, Mohammad Shihab Uddin, told the rally, adding that the Quran outlined specific codes of life for both genders and "there is no way we can go beyond that".
The Hefazat called for reinstating "complete faith and trust in almighty Allah" in the constitution and asked the government to abandon the "suicidal concept" of pluralism and to protect what they said were the Muslims' faith and practices. The group also opposed the inclusion of terms such as "gender identity," "gender diversity," "gender equality," "gender discrimination," "third gender," and "other genders".
It argued that these are used to promote LGBT and transgender inclusion under ambiguous slogans such as "Leave no one behind" and "inclusive" and feared that these ideas could lead to a "destructive, anti-religious pro-homosexual society".
The Women's Affairs Reform Commission is one of the several commissions instituted by the interim government to carry out reform. It had recently submitted its recommendations to the government.
