The radical Islamist organization Hefazat-e-Islam in Bangladesh warned that Muhammad Yunus, the prime advisor to the caretaker government, can meet the same destiny as the nation's previous Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina if the proposals put forward by the Women's Affairs Reform Commission are implemented.
Local newspapers inform us that at different protest marches and rallies organized in different parts of the country, Hefazat leaders attacked the interim government and referred to the proposals forwarded by the commission as "anti-Islamic."
The leaders of the group also committed themselves to staging a mass rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on May 3 for calling off the Women's Affairs Reform Commission forthwith.
Hefazat increased the decibel of protest against it by holding a procession and rally at Chattogram's Andarkill on Friday. Later, at a public rally at Narayanganj's Chashara Central Shaheed Minar, Mamunul Haque, joint secretary general of Hefazat, protested the commission, alleging it was going against Islamic ideals by stating religious and social norms are major causes of discrimination against women in Bangladesh, The Business Standard reports.
"Yunus Saheb had spoken of implementing it soon. He was against the Islamic law of inheritance. We have been showing him great respect, but if he continues like this, we cannot deal with him differently than Hasina," Haque stated.
Another Islamist hardline party, Khelafat Majlish, also threatened that if the commission's recommendations are put into action, it will declare a huge movement. The party criticized the commission and urged the government to dissolve it.
"A group of atheists and Western allies formed the commission," said Khelafat Majlish leaders.
In a protest march held outside the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, the party secretary general Ahmad Abdul Quader held the commission responsible for being formed by "a group of atheists and Western sympathizers whose only agenda is to demolish Bangladesh's religious and family values."
He reemphasized, "The commission had proposed one uniform family law -- covering marriage, divorce, inheritance, and maintenance -- to be uniformly applied to all women. That's quintessential contradiction of the Quran and Sunnah and nothing but attack on Muslim beliefs. We will not approve of something so anti-Islamic as such activities."
Security cover was displayed within and around the Baitul Mukarram Mosque where the protest march was held to ward off any untoward incident.
Outrage was sparked when the Women's Affairs Reform Commission report, which contained 433 recommendations, arrived at Yunus' desk last week. Radical Islamist organizations such as Hefazat-e-Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Islami Andolan Bangladesh demanded immediate rejection of what they called the "unacceptable and controversial" recommendations, The Daily Star said.
They had together earlier united with the student leaders and Yunus to topple the democratically elected Awami League government. But the political coalition that was dramatically evident with the forces uniting during Sheikh Hasina's ousting in August 2024 is now gradually unraveling.
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