Bangladeshi girl forced to cancel football in Islamic threat

Asha Roy, 17, was happy to play in women’s football but her hopes were dashed as Islamists forced organizers to cancel the match in northern Bangladesh.

The match began shortly before the start of the match earlier this month, the Bangladesh Group of Islamic Angolan announced a rally against events in the Rambur region, saying it was non-Islamic.

Fearing about trouble, local police stepped in and members of the women’s team were asked to return home for safety.

Ms Roy told the BBC: “I feel frustrated and fearful. We have never had this before. It’s disappointing that we didn’t compete.”

Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country and a political transition is taking place Widespread protests expel its authoritarian government last year.

Currently, the interim government is in charge, but there are concerns that Islamic groups being pushed to the edge will become bold again.

The women’s football match was the third cancelled in northern Bangladesh in less than two weeks due to opposition from religious hard-members.

In the Dinapur area, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Rampul, Islamists protested against races clashed with locals, which injured four people.

For girls like Asha Roy from rural areas, football and other sports are the source of women’s path to empowerment and poverty alleviation. Those who shine can be selected as sponsor teams, and some continue to represent Bangladesh International.

Many girls have been inspired by the success of the national women’s team, who have been considered heroes after two consecutive South Asian football titles in recent years.

Ms Roy’s teammate Musammat Tara Moni said she would not stop playing despite the threat.

“It is my dream to represent our national team. My family supports me, so I won’t lose hope,” the 16-year-old said.

For their coach, Nurul Islam, the objection was surprising. “I have brought the team into many games over the past seven years, but this is the first time we’ve faced this situation,” he said.

Islamists insist that the game they stopped was contrary to their religious values ​​and said they were determined to prevent any future football matches.

“If women want to play football, they should cover up their entire bodies and only play in front of female audiences. Men cannot watch their games.” , told the BBC.

Mr Ali also insisted that the organization “absolutely” wants to hardline Islamic Sharia law in Bangladesh.

The cancellation of the women’s football match caused a social media turmoil, leading to the authorities’ reorganization of one of them. They also investigated the incident but said fear of radicalism was exaggerated.

“The allegations that the government is contributing to Islamists are not justified,” Shafiqul Alam, press secretary for interim leader Muhammad Yunus told the BBC.

Mr Alam noted that hundreds of women’s sports competitions were part of the National Youth Day in January, where they played without any trouble nationwide.

Some people are not relieved. Samina Luthfa, assistant professor of sociology at Dhaka University, told the BBC that the cancellation of women’s football matches was “absolutely shocking”.

“Women in Bangladesh will not stop playing football, nor will they stop going to work or doing things,” she said.

Other decisions by the Provisional Government have also attracted attention since the regime linked to Islamic extremism in August.

These include the removal of a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party, which was proposed in the last few days of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.

Jashimuddin Rahmani, now known as Ansar al Islam, the leader of the ban on Islamic militant group Ansarullah Bangladesh (ABT), was released in August after he was granted bail in court. He was sentenced to five years in prison for killing a secular blogger in 2013, but he was sentenced to jail for other pending cases.

Several other people accused of ties to extremist groups have also been reported by local media. Bail was released in the past few months.

“Although security forces say they will monitor those released, they will be difficult to monitor given restrictions,” said Tawohidul Haque, a crime analyst at Dhaka University.

While most Bangladesh practices moderate Islam and secular values ​​that dominate society, Islamic extremism is not a new phenomenon in the country. Ten years ago, religious fanatics targeted secular bloggers, atheists, ethnic minorities, foreigners and others, and were attacked in a series of attacks – killing dozens of people and sending others who fled abroad.

In such incidents, a group of Islamic gunmen rushed into the cave artisan bakery in Dhaka in 2016, killing 20 people.

Recently, it is also aimed at not only women’s football matches. Last week, dozens of Islamic students destroyed a book stall at the famous Ekushey book fair in Dhaka.

Protesters were angry at a book presented, exiled feminist writer Taslima Nasrin has been threatened with death in Islamic groups in the past because they were talking about her blasphemy.

Muhammad Yunus condemned the incident, saying the attack “shows the rights of Bangladesh citizens and the rights of our laws.” Police are investigating.

Meanwhile, one of the country’s most famous actors, Pori Moni said she was stopped from opening a department store in the northern town of Tangail after opposition from religious groups.

Ms Moni told BBC Bangladeshi Services: “Now I feel really helpless and unsafe. Participating in a showroom or something like that is part of my job. No one has stopped me over the years.”

Similar incidents involving two other actors Apu Biswas and Mehazabien Chowdhury were also cancelled after the threat from Islamists.

Ethnic minority groups like Sophie Muslims say they have also witnessed increasing attacks on places of worship. Islamic extremists view Sufis as heresy.

“We have about a hundred shrines and centres in the past six months,” Sufism Universal Foundation Secretary General Animur Rahman Jafri told the BBC.

He added: “We have not seen this sudden attack on us by such extremism since the country’s independence in 1971.”

Police said only 40 shrines were damaged and they strengthened security in religious sites.

The authorities have also been working hard to maintain law and order after Sheikh Hasina’s departure. Earlier this month, thousands of protesters Destroy houses and buildings Related to Hasina and her senior leaders of the Awami League party.

People from other groups and political parties, including Islamists, participated in other demonstrations in the capital, Dhaka and across the country.

Authorities defended the security forces because they did not intervene, saying that doing so would cost lives.

Rights groups expressed concern about security conditions.

Shireen Huq, a well-known women’s rights activist, told Women and Girls that Islamists would feel bold if the government did not take action. Women and girls will have more self-censorship and they will be more intimidating public events. “BBC

“I’m still optimistic about what this phenomenon cannot be maintained,” she added.

Other reports from BBC Bangladesh Services in Dhaka