In response to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/5480

My Dear Dr. Jaffor Ullah:

There is no doubt that islamic fundamentalism in
Bangladesh is on the rise and it forbodes dangerous
consequences for all of us.

But when defending a one-sided, defamatory,
generalized report in a foreign medium accusing the
whole nation, you probably have to come up with better
arguments.

In support of the contention that fundamentalism is
rising, you come up with such proof:

> We don't have to read FEER's report to know
> that Cox's Bazar area
> has already become a safe haven for many fringes.
> On October 12, 2000,
> Dhaka's English newspaper, the Daily Star, published
> news of confrontation
> between the police and an armed terrorist group 'Bin
> Laden Bahini.' In the
> western district of Rajshahi a cricket team calls
> itself 'Laden Bahini.'
> (ref.: The Independent, December 27, 2001). The
> point I am trying to make
> is the following: For better or worse, Bangladesh
> has followers of Osama bin
> Laden.


To me, this sort of reasoning sounds as laughable and
imbecile. An armed fringe group calling itself "Bin
Laden Bahini" and a cricket team styling itself "Laden
Bahini" hardly qualify as referenced proof of the rise
of fundamentalism and the existence of followers of
fundamentalist thugs like bin Laden. If this is the
measurement standard, then ALL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD
can be diagnosed with the same malice. Japan has Aung
Shrini Ki or something like that. Europe has neo Nazis
and neo Facists. America itself is full of extreme
rightist white supermacist groups who are far more
dangerous than the Laden Bahini who presumably fled
the scene after the confrontation with Bangaldeshi
Police--such as the groups that David Koresh or
Timothy Mcveigh belonged to. And, American baseball
teams--arguably the counterparts of our cricket
teams--style themselves after the Devil, The Giant,
The Raptor and so on.

Besides, the Southern and Western districts of
Bangladesh are plagued by far more dangerous armed
gangs than the Laden Bahini, such as the communist
Sharbahara parties. Let alone the organized gangs of
such formidable national legislators as Joynal Hazari
and Haji Selim; VP Joynal and Nasiruddin Pintu,
enthusiastically backed by either of our favorite
parties, i.e., BNP or Awami League.

Your contention that ..." The Prime Minister of
Bangladesh may attribute Mr. Linter's article to any
number of thing but she should not call it an
'Information Terrorism.' No such term had existed
before and I hope this attribution will not see the
light of the day anytime soon"...is also misinformed.
It was our own Shaikh Hasina who had introduced this
novel term to the English language in defense of a
person no less than the revered Joynal Hazari.

Striving to stem the rise of fundamentalism is a
laudable pursuit. But in doing so, we need to be fair
and unbiased. Or else, there remains little
distinction between them and us.

Shafiq Ahmad