While it is well-known that hundreds of mosques in Bangladesh are filled with imams and co-imams belonging to pro-Caliphate Hefazat-e-Islam and even notorious Jamaat-e-Islami, a series allegation has been raised against a ‘Mosque Committee’ in Bangladesh’s Moulovi Bazar district, where members of the mosque committee has applied illegal pressure on the members of a female student for the ‘crime’ of going to the United States for higher studies.
According to media reports, Nurunnahar Chowdhury Jharna, daughter of Abdul Hye Chowdhury of Krishnapur village under Kulaura upazilla in Moulovi Bazar district went to the United States on December 26, 2021 for higher studies. On arriving in the US, Jharna posted her photograph on social media wearing shirt and jeans. Immediately on knowing about this photograph, members of the mosque committee summoned Jharna’s father Abdul Hye Chowdhury. But he did not respond to this illegal summon. Later the mosque committee declared him persona non grata and called for boycotting the family. As the matter was brought into the attention of the local administration and law enforcement agencies, the mosque committee later sought apology for such nefarious acts. But surprisingly, none of the members of the mosque committee were arrested for committing such heinous crime.
During the past several years, mosques are promoting radical Islam and sharia in Bangladesh, while members of Tablighi Jamaat are promoting radical Islam.
Commenting on the incident centering Nurunnahar Chowdhury Jharna, internationally acclaimed anti-military journalist, counterterrorism expert and editor of Blitz, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury said, the latest incident centering Jharna reminds us of what is currently happening in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Mosque committees or no one in Bangladesh has the right to force people to adhere to sharia laws or members of the mosque committees do not have any legal right to force people in embracing radical Islam or sharia rule. In my opinion, law enforcement agencies should have immediately arrested those members of the mosque committee and sent them to prison. I am calling upon the secularist forces in Bangladesh to stand against such audacious actions of the members of mosque committees. Bangladesh government should not allow anyone to use mosques to promote radical Islam or reciprocate Taliban jihadists.
