The way things were then
Hefajat-e-Islam placed its 13-point demand from a rally in the capital on April 6, 2013. Later on, the law ministry came up with its opinion on the demands. In its opinion, the ministry said six out of the 13 demands went against the constitution and added that the remaining seven were well covered by the existing laws.
| HEFAJAT'S DEMAND | LAW MINISTRY’S OPINION | |
| Reinstate the phrase “absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah” in the constitution as one of the fundamental principles of state policy. | 1 | The demand goes against the basic spirit of the constitution; therefore, there is no constitutional obligation to meet it. |
| Enact a law with provision for capital punishment for maligning Allah, Islam and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and launching smear campaigns against Muslims. | 2 | The existing law was adequate to ensure punishment for this offence. Only one or two Muslim countries have such legal provisions. |
| Stop all propaganda and “derogatory comments” about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by the “atheist leaders” of the Shahbagh movement, bloggers and other anti-Islamists; arrest them and ensure their stern punishment. | 3 | Such offences could be well taken care of with the existing laws. |
| Stop attacking, shooting, killing, genocide and persecuting the Prophet-loving Islamic scholars, madrasa students and people united by the belief in Allah. | 4 | There was no incident of genocide. |
| Release all arrested Islamic scholars and madrasa students. | 5 | Those arrested during recent violence [in 2013] were not Islam-loving people rather the law enforcers held them on specific allegations of breaking the law. |
| Lift restrictions on mosques and remove obstacles to the holding of religious programmes. | 6 | Certain disciplinary measures were taken against the backdrop of recent “unpleasant” incidents at Baitul Mukarram mosque. |
| Declare “Qadianis” non-Muslim and call a halt to their publicity and conspiracies. | 7 | Referring to Articles-28, 41 and 44 of the constitution, the ministry said the constitution leaves no room to meet Hefajat’s demand for declaring “Qadiani” people non-Muslims. |
| Stop foreign cultural intrusions including free-mingling of men and women and candlelit vigils, and put an end to adultery, injustice, shamelessness, etc. in the name of freedom of expression and conscience. | 8 | The demand goes against the constitution. Freedom of individual and speech, and free-mingling of men and women are recognised in the constitution as fundamental rights.Enactment of any law curtailing fundamental rights would be against Articles-7 and -26 of the constitution and would become void. If such laws were enacted, hundreds of thousands of female workers would be unem ployed, severely hampering national development. Co-education in schools, colleges and universities would have to be dissolved, which would hamper women empowerment and would be against the spirit of the constitution. |
| Stop turning Dhaka, the city of mosques, into a city of idols, and stop setting up sculptures at intersections, colleges and universities. | 9 | It was the constitutional duty of the state to prevent disfigurement, damage or removal of all monuments, objects, and places and objects of special artistic interest or of historical importance. The country would be isolated in the international arena if Bangladesh, a partner of various UN conventions on cultural heritage and also Unesco activities, accepts Hefajat's demand and stops setting up sculptures at intersections, colleges and universities. |
| Scrap anti-Islam women policy and education policy and make Islamic education mandatory from primary to higher secondary levels. | 10 | There was no reason or scope to scrap the women development policy and education policy as the policies were formulated as per constitutional provisions and the mandate of the United Nations. The women policy is not against Islam and the issue of religious education was included in the education policy. |
| Stop threatening and intimidating teachers and students of Qawmi madrasas, Islamic scholars, imams and khatibs. | 11 | Law ministry found no specific allegation in this regard and the government did not receive any such allegations. |
| Stop propagating hatred among the younger generation of Muslims by misrepresentation of Islamic culture in the media. | 12 | Law ministry observed that it was a punishable offence under existing laws if any religious sentiments were deliberately misrepresented in cinemas and plays. |
| Stop anti-Islam activities by NGOs, evil attempts by Qadianis and conversions by Christian missionaries in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and elsewhere in the country. | 13 | The law ministry referred to Article-41 of the constitution that gives freedom of preaching and practicing any religion. It further clarified that hurting religious sentiments of others was punishableunder existing laws. |
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