Bangladesh girls forced to cancel football amid Islamist threats

Asha Roy, 17, was excited to take part in a children’s sports game, but her hopes were dashed as Islamism forced the organisers to withdraw the suit in northeastern Bangladesh.

The Islami Andolan Bangladesh party announced a protest march against the occurrence in the Rangpur region earlier this month, calling it un-Islamic.

Local authorities intervened in a frightful situation, and the women’s crew members were asked to go home for protection.

” I was upset and disturbed. We had never before encountered quite a circumstance. The lack of playfulness of our return disappointed me, Ms. Roy claimed to the BBC.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, is currently undergoing a political transition after widespread protests ousted its authoritarian government last year.

There are worries that Islamist groups, which had been marginalized, have once again been enraged by an interval management in place.

The women’s basketball game was the fourth to be postponed in northeastern Bangladesh in less than two weeks due to the concerns of religious extremists.

In the Dinajpur area, roughly 70km ( 43 miles ) west of Rangpur, Islamists protesting against a game clashed with locals who supported it, leaving four people injured.

Sports and other activities are a source of female empowerment and a way out of poverty for ladies like Asha Roy, who are from rural areas. Those who excel are eligible to play for sponsored teams, and some even go on to signify Bangladesh worldwide.

The success of the national children’s staff, who are regarded as soldiers after winning two consecutive South Asia football tournaments in recent years, has given some girls an inspiration to pursue sport.

Ms Roy’s colleague, Musammat Tara Moni, said she would not quit playing despite the risks.

” It’s my wish to represent our national team. My family supports me, so I am never losing hope”, the 16-year-old said.

For their manager Nurul Islam, the concerns came as a surprise. For the first time in his words,” I have taken the team to several games over the past seven decades.”

The Islamists claim that the suit they halted was against their religious principles and that they are determined to avoid any more basketball games.

” If ladies want to play sport, they should protect their entire body, and they can play just in front of female fans. Guys can’t watch them play, according to Maulana Ashraf Ali, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh president in Rangpur’s Taraganj.

Mr Ali even insisted that the team “definitely” like hard-line Islamic Sharia law in Bangladesh.

The women’s soccer games were suspended due to a flurry of activity on social media, which led the government to reorganize one of them. They have even launched an investigation into the situations, but they claim that the fear of militancy is exaggerated.

According to Shafiqul Alam, hit secretary to interim head Muhammad Yunus,” there is no truth to the claims that the government is pandering to Islamism.”

Mr. Alam made the point that lots of women’s sports competitions were held without incident as part of a national adolescent event in January.

Some individuals are no reassured. The withdrawal of the women’s soccer games was “definitely alarming,” according to Samina Luthfa, associate professor of sociology at the University of Dhaka.

She said,” The people of Bangladesh does not stop playing sports, going to work, or doing their things,” and that “everyone will fight” efforts to remove people from public places.

Concerned individuals have also expressed concern about the interval government’s decisions regarding Islamist extremism since it came into power in August.

They include revoking a moratorium on the country’s largest Islamist group, Jamaat-e-Islami, which was introduced in the last weeks of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s state.

Jashimuddin Rahmani, the leader of the banned Islamist militant group Ansarullah Bangladesh ( ABT), also known as Ansar al Islam, was released in August after receiving bail from a court. He was given a five-year prison sentence in connection with the 2013 murder of a liberal blogger, but he had been kept behind cafes because of other pending situations.

According to local media reports, several other people accused of having links with extremist groups have also been given bail in the past few months.

According to Dr. Tawohidul Haque, a murder researcher from the University of Dhaka,” Though security causes say they will observe those released, it will be hard for them to place everyone under monitoring given the limitations.”

Muslim extremism is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh, where most people practice reasonable Islam and liberal values predominate. A decade ago, religious fanatics targeted liberal blogs, skeptics, minorities, foreigners and others in a deluge of attacks- dying dozens and sending others fleeing worldwide.

In one like affair, a group of Islamist militants stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka in 2016, killing 20 people.

Not only women’s football games have been the subject of recent attention, either. Dhaka’s renowned Ekushey Book Fair saw the destruction of a book barn last week by dozens of Islamist students.

The protesters were furious that Taslima Nasrin, a female writer in exile, had displayed a book. In response, Islamist organizations have in the past threatened to kill her.

Muhammad Yunus criticized the affair, claiming that it” shows contempt for both the laws of our country and the rights of Bangladeshis.” The police are investigating.

However, Pori Moni, one of the country’s most well-known celebrities, claims that she was prevented from opening a department store in Tangail after receiving rebuffed requests from religious organizations.

” Now I’m really feeling vulnerable, as well as fragile. I’m required to participate in the beginning of a store or other similar occasion. No one has stopped me all these times”, Ms Moni told the BBC Bengali services.

Similar activities involving two other stars, Apu Biswas and Mehazabien Chowdhury, have also been cancelled following challenges by Islamism.

Majority organizations like the Mystical Muslims claim that there are also more problems on their places of worship. Islamist radicals view Sufism as catholic.

” About a hundred of our shrines]mazars ] and areas have been attacked in the past six times”, Anisur Rahman Jafri, Secretary General of the Sufism Universal Foundation, told the BBC.

” We have not seen this kind of sudden extremist attack on us since the country’s independence in 1971″, he added, warning that the country was at risk of” Talibanisation” if the situation continued.

Only 40 temples were damaged, according to authorities, and there was increased protection around spiritual sites.

The authorities have also been struggling to maintain law and order in the wake of Sheikh Hasina’s departure. Earlier this month, thousands of protesters vandalised homes and buildings connected to Hasina and senior leaders of her Awami League party.

People from various parties and events, including Islamists, joined in various demonstrations in the capital, Dhaka, and across the nation.

The security forces have been defended by the authorities for no intermediate, claiming that doing so would have resulted in fatalities.

Right organizations have voiced their concerns about the security scenario.

” If the authorities fails to work, then Islamists are going to feel emboldened. There will be more self-censorship for women and girls, they will be more frightened participating in public events”, Shireen Huq, a popular children’s rights advocate, told the BBC.

” I am still positive that this phenomenon will no sustain”, she added.

Further monitoring from the Bangladeshi-language BBC Bengali program