| January 31, 2003 | Friday | Ziqa’ad 27, 1423 |
Why is Bangladesh on the US list of terror-risk countries?
Threats to devolution plan
LET us share with readers, some thoughts regarding the manner in which Aqd-e-nikah is performed by the Qazi in our country. There may be exceptions, but as we generally see, it is the practice of these gentlemen to merely recite certain verses from the Holy Quran and sayings of Prophet Muhammad, (peace on upon him) and then perform the Nikah.
Since it is most unfortunate that the vast majority of those present to witness the ceremony, do not understand Arabic, such recitations become a mere ritual, and the object is lost, of explaining to the bride and the bridegroom, and those present, important aspects of matrimony, as was the practice of the Prophet by delivering a sermon or Khutba-e-Nikah.
To the best of my knowledge and understanding, the performance of Nikah — which can be conducted by any member of the family, or a friend, and not necessarily by the Qazi or a Moulvi, as is the custom should be done in the manner which would be in keeping with the excellent example set by the Prophet. The recitation of verses from the Holy Quran should be followed by translations in Urdu, English or any other language generally understood by the majority of those present. As a matter of convenience, in the proceedings below, I shall be using translations in English as rendered by Muhammad Asad:
In the name of God, Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace. All praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace, Lord of the Day of Judgment! Thee alone do we worship; and unto Thee alone that we turn for aid. Guide us the straight way the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings, not of those who have been condemned [by Thee], nor of those who go astray! (Surah Al- Fatiha. 1: 1 to 7)
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu! On behalf of the parents (name them) of the bride/bridegroom, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you, and to thank you for your presence to witness the Aqd-e-Nikah of the persons concerned and give them your blessings.
It was the tradition of the Holy Prophet, (on whom be peace) to draw the attention of all present to certain verses of the Holy Quran, before delivering the sermon Khutab-e-Nikah. I am taking the liberty to quote two verses, as follows: O Mankind! Be conscious of your Sustainer, who has created you out of one living entity, and out of it created its mate, and out of the two spread abroad a multitude of men and women. And remain conscious of God, in whose name you demand [your rights] from one another, and of these ties of kinship. Verily, God is ever watchful over you. (Surah An-Nisa 4: 1)
O you who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God, and [always] speak with a will to bring out [only] what is just and true [whereupon] He will cause your deeds to be virtuous , and will forgive you your sins. And [know that] whoever pays heed unto God and His Apostle has already attained to a mighty triumph. (Surah Al-Ahzab. 33: 70-71)
The institution of marriage is, in fact, the basic principle of human civilisation. The Arabic word for marriage is nikah which originally means “aqd” or uniting. Marriage in Islam is a sacred contract which Muslims enter into. The institution of marriage is also responsible to a very great extent for the development of those feelings of love and service which are the pride of humanity.
The mutual love of husband and wife a love based not on momentary passion but life-long relationship and the consequent parental love for offspring, leads to a very high development of the feeling of love. This love is described as a sign of God, in the Holy Quran: And among His wonders is this: He creates for you mates out of your own kind, so that you might incline towards them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you: in this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who think! (Surah Ar-Rum 30: 21)
The mutual relation of husband and wife has thus been described in the Holy Quran as one of a single soul in two bodies. Islam is a practical religion and it does not shut its eyes to the hard realities of life. It describes the home as a unit in the greater organization of a nation as a whole, and just as in the vast national organization there is somebody to exercise the final authority in certain cases, so the smaller organization of the home cannot be maintained without a similar arrangement. Hence the husband is first spoken of as being a ruler over the people of the house and the wife is then described as a ruler over the house of her husband and his children.
The home is thus a kingdom in miniature, where authority is exercised by both the husband and the wife. But unless one of them is given a higher authority, there would be chaos in the kingdom. The reason for giving the higher authority to the male parent is stated in the Holy Quran as follows: Men shall take full care of women with the bounties which God has bestowed more abundantly on the former than on the latter, and with what they may spend out of their possessions. And the righteous women are the truly devout ones, who guard the intimacy which God has [ordained to be] guarded. (Surah An-Nisa 4: 34).
From a material as well as a spiritual point of view, Islam recognizes the position of woman to be the same as that of a man. Good works bring the same reward, whether the doer is a male or a female: I shall not lose sight of the labour of any of you who labours [in My way], be it a man or woman: each of you is an issue of the other. (Surah Al Imran 3: 195)
By entering the married state, woman does not lose any of the rights which she possesses as an individual member of society. She is still free to carry on any work she likes, to make any contract she desires, to dispose of her property as she wishes; nor is her individuality merged in that of her husband. But she is at the same time recognized as undertaking new responsibilities of life, which carry with them new rights.
The functions of the husband and the wife are quite distinct, and each is entrusted with the functions which are best suited for his or her nature. The division of work is only the general rule; it does not mean that women have entirely been excluded from other kinds of activity.
According to scholars, a study of the Hadith literature shows that, notwithstanding her rightful position in the home, as the upbringer of children and manager of the household, women took interest in all the national activities of the Muslim community, as we can see from the following authentic traditions recorded by Bukhari, according to a well-known scholar:
The care of the children did not prevent her from repairing to the mosque to join the congregational prayers (Bu. 10: 102, 104), nor was this care an obstacle in her way to join the soldiers in the field of battle, to perform a large number of duties, such as the carrying of provisions (Bu. 56: 66) taking care of the sick and the wounded (Bu. 56: 67), removing the wounded and the slain from the battle-field (Bu.56: 68), or taking part in actual fighting when necessary (Bu. 62, 63, 65).
Women also helped their husbands in the labour of the field (Bu. 67: 108), served the male guests at a feast (67: 78) and carried on business (Bu.11: 40); they could sell to and purchase from men, and men could sell to and purchase from them ( Bu. 34: 67). The family concern must be kept going by husband and wife in mutual co-operation. The Holy Qur’an lays the greatest possible stress on kindly and good treatment towards the wife. Keep them in good fellowship and treat them kindly is the oft recurring advice of the Holy Quran (2: 229, 231; 4: 19, etc.)
The Holy Prophet, (on whom be peace) laid equally great stress upon good treatment of a wife. The most excellent of you he is reported to have said, is he who is best in treatment of his wife (MM. 13: 11-ii). In his famous address at the Farewell Pilgrimage, he again laid particular stress on the good treatment of women: O my people! You have certain rights over your wives and so have your wives over you. They are the trust of Allah in your hands. So you must treat them with all kindness. (M. 15: 19). May the grace and mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon all those who are present here, and all members of their respective families. May God bless the bride and the bridegroom who are entering into the contract of marriage today, to love and honour each other as they express their respective consent to accept this new relationship.
Now, in the presence of all present, it is my pleasant duty to perform the nikah. (After performing the Nikah all present are invited to join in and pray for the newly wedded couple). According to verse 56 of Surah al-Ahzaab (Chapter 33): God and His Angels send blessings on the Prophet: O you who have attained to faith, send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect.
After repeating the Arabic text of this verse, all present raise their hands, and after asking the Lord Almighty to send His blessings on the Prophet and his family, pray for the health and happiness of the newly wedded couple.
BANGLADESH’S recent inclusion in the United States’ terror- risk countries has generated a lot of questions, as to why the US found the country a risky one, despite the US ambassador’s repeated assertion that Bangladesh is a ‘moderate Muslim democracy’.
Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who is also the chairperson of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who heads the country’s major opposition Awami League, have blamed each other for the misfortune.
On January 17, Sheikh Hasina laid the blame for the ‘disgraceful incident’ on the ‘government’s affiliation with fundamentalist forces’ and ‘its diplomatic failure’ to prevent the listing. Khaleda Zia, on the other hand, on January 22, blamed ‘a particular party’, saying its ‘leaders have launched an anti-Bangladesh propaganda since its defeat in the last general elections’.
Those few, who try to look at things realistically and attach little credibility to the interpretations offered by the two ever-conflicting camps, believe that ‘both groups are guilty of at least some of the charges the other has put forward’. And they offer a third reason.
One can hardly find fault with Hasina’s observation about Khaleda’s ‘affiliation with fundamentalist forces’, when Jamaat-i-Islami and Islami Oikkya Jote are partners in the four- party coalition she heads.
There is also some substance in Hasina’s allegation that the government’s diplomatic failure was behind the inclusion of Bangladesh in the list of ‘terror-risk countries’. The Bangladesh Mission in the US, it is quite evident now, was neither active to keep the country out of the list, nor was it aware of the process of Bangladesh being listed by the US administration.
The US administration reportedly signed the list of Group-4 countries, which include Bangladesh on Jan 9. The information was disclosed first by a New York-based Bangla newspaper, Bangla Patrika, on Jan 13. But Bangladesh’s Consulate in New York found ‘no truth’ in the news item the day after, which was reported by another Bangla paper on January 15. Meanwhile, CNN broadcast the news the same day, and the official announcement came on the 16th. The Bangladesh mission in New York was caught napping. The reported inaction of the Bangladesh embassy would naturally lead people to accept Hasina’s allegation that the diplomatic failure of Khaleda’s government contributed to the blacklisting of Bangladesh.
Allegations made by Khaleda Zia and her cabinet colleagues that simultaneous anti-Bangladesh propaganda by Awami League and India were responsible for Bangladesh’s misfortune also sound credible to many.
Because, Sheikh Hasina has continuously been claiming, in her usual denunciatory manner, at home and abroad that the government of Khaleda has already turned Bangladesh into almost a Taliban state. Bangladeshis, familiar with the opposition rhetoric, may not take Hasina’s statements that seriously, but the rest of the world, especially the ‘terror-stricken’ USA, is bound to take her words seriously’— if for nothing else than her previous position as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Then comes the issue of sustained anti-Bangladesh propaganda by the India. Their vilification has reached such a diplomatically indecent stage that recently a former Prime Minister of India, I. K. Gujral, publicly criticised the government of Vajpayee. “It was not wise for India to publicly accuse Bangladesh of harbouring terrorists,” Gujral reportedly said in Delhi on Jan 20.
But the question still remains, why would the US administration pay heed to Indian propaganda when its ambassador in Dhaka believes that Bangladesh is a “moderate Muslim democracy”.
To get the answer one needs to remember that it is not the first time that the US administration has ignored the assessment of situation, and subsequent recommendations, by the American mission in Dhaka. The same thing happened when thousands of innocent people were killed in Bangladesh, the erstwhile East Pakistan.
A section of the Dhaka intelligentsia argues that in the changed world circumstances, with the Cold War won by the USA, the American establishment now needs to keep China, an emerging economic superpower these days, under constant pressure. And for that, the USA needs India, which, on the other hand, considers China a potential military threat for itself. India also needs the US, especially after the dismantling of its tested friend Soviet Union, to minimise a perceived threat from China. Besides, there are economic interests between the USA and India, which is quite evident with the gradual opening of the latter’s huge market to the former’s capital and commodities.
Under such circumstances, the Dhaka intelligentsia in question believe, the US establishment included Bangladesh in the list of terror-risk countries only to please India, which is allergic to the unhindered political and economic growth of its small neighbours like Bangladesh. And India prepared the ground by means of an orchestrated propaganda against Bangladesh since the terrorist attack on World Trade Centre in Sept 2001.
However, there are Bangladeshis who believe that all the three factors: Khaleda Zia’s diplomatic failure to pursue Bangladesh’s cause in Washington, Sheikh Hasina making a mountain out of a molehill about political Islam in Bangladesh and India’s wilful vilification of the country abroad, are responsible for the nation’s present disgrace. They also pose a couple of questions.
Why should the Bangladeshi political elite provide India, the hostile neighbour, with excuses to put up a case before the USA, and should Bangladesh not be taken back to its original track of progressing on a secular democratic line?
KARACHI: The nearly two-year-old city/district government system, engineered, introduced and implemented by the Musharraf regime under its much- trumpeted devolution plan, seems to be coming under threat from the provincial government set-up that has emerged after the October 10 elections.
During the current Sindh Assembly session, which continued for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, MPAs from both sides of the divide kept on expressing their reservations about the viability of the system in its present form and structure. In fact, they did not mince many words in conveying their feeling that they were not willing to reconcile with the new system.
During the question hour on Thursday, Irfan Gul Magsi, PPP MPA from Hyderabad, agitated against the issue of absence of coordination between the provincial government and city/district governments and the problems arising due to this. Joining in the debate, Arbab Ghulam Rahim of the Sindh Democratic Alliance lamented the fact that district and town Nazimeen were running the show in a completely independent way. He maintained that some flaws in the system were natural as the entire devolution exercise had been carried out and implemented by an unelected regime.
To set these concerns of the MPAs at rest, bureaucrat-turned-politician Sardar Ahmed of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement informed the house that the federal government had constituted a 10-member committee to work out a formula to strike a balance of power and responsibilities between the provincial and district governments.
These expressions must be taken as a danger signal. Given the lack of maturity and an atmosphere of mistrust among the representatives running the two systems, there is in fact an immediate need to evolve a mechanism to enable the two systems to co-exist by complementing each other, not being in competition with each other. More than that, there is an urgent need to ward off the danger of an administrative collapse, especially in Karachi, because such a possibility cannot be ruled out whenever a clash occurs between the two sets.
While tailoring this grass-roots governance system, the think-tank of the National Reconstruction Bureau, headed by General Tanvir Naqvi, apparently had some clear but undeclared objectives before it. According to their public pronouncements, what they aimed at was to bring in a public representative system at the grass-roots level which could help solve the people’s problems at their doorsteps. But as they devolved and transferred a number of departments, previously under the control of the provincial government, they might have ended up by creating an unwieldy structure of an immense size. Unless it was part of the original design, the new local government system, by implication, has left the provinces — the second tier — existing only nominally. The absence of an assertive administrative and financial control by the provinces will naturally leave the first tier dependent on Islamabad, ensuring ever- expanding federal controls.
(Besides rendering the provinces ineffective, Tanvir Naqvi wanted to hit at the bureaucratic powers of the DMG as well as police powers enjoyed by the force since long and designed to sustain and perpetuate a colonial system. While he could have succeeded at the DMG front, the police set-up, through the courtesy of Moinuddin Haider, managed to outwit the Amroha intellectual. On the contrary, Moinuddin Haider, helped by Murtaza Bhutto case fame Shoaib Suddle, managed to secure a dangerously monstrous status for the police force.)
In the party-less elections which gave birth to the new local government system, groups and candidates fielded by the Pakistan People’s Party and the Jamaat-i-Islami managed to find their way as elected managers of the city/ district governments in Sindh. But following the national and provincial assembly elections in October, different political groups came to hold sway and form governments. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement, dominating the urban centres of Sindh, had boycotted the local body elections. But after having struck deals with the Establishment and having managed to gain control of the province, it is now feeling that its sway remains truncated with foes presiding over the affairs in the city and district governments, especially in Karachi. They are naturally desperate to exploit the legislative powers of the Sindh Assembly to turn things in their favour with reference to the local government system.
Making a statement on a point of order, the boyish local government minister, Mohammed Hussain of the MQM, on Thursday warned of the dangers of the failure to devise a formula aimed at regulating and defining the powers and responsibilities of the provincial and district governments. He lamented that besides extending major administrative and financial powers to the local governments, the system deprived the elected MNAs and MPAs of playing any role in the development schemes of their constituency. Supporting the MQM minister, Jam Saifullah Dharejo of the PPP drew attention to the new law governing the police set-up which left the police accountable neither to magistracy nor to provincial or local governments. He disclosed that even the previous un-elected government in Sindh had filed with the federal government 350 objections on the police law. He suggested the formation of another committee of MPAs to propose changes to the law governing the police.
These concerns and reservations must be addressed before they turn into a real threat to the new local government system. Undoing it at this stage may lead to a catastrophe. The failure to evolve a mechanism regulating and defining its powers and responsibilities vis-a-vis the provincial government may lead to administrative and political anarchy.
— Abu Ayesha