Women’s propensity towards extremism increasing

Speaker in Jatiya Sangsad Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and prime minister’s international affairs advisor Gowher Rizvi inaugurated the first ever conference against extremism. Photo: Collected
Speaker in Jatiya Sangsad Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and prime minister’s international affairs advisor Gowher Rizvi inaugurated the first ever conference against extremism. Photo: Collected

The propensity towards extremism is increasing among women in Bangladesh, though the militant groups in the past did not directly use women in their operations. Also, religious identity that is gaining importance over nationality or citizenship in Bangladesh. No matter of what social standing, age, gender or faith as person is from, urban or rural, their religious identity is at the forefront.

This was revealed on Monday in the findings presented at the first national conference against extremism held at the Basundhara International Convention Centre in the capital city.

Speaking at the conference, head of the police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit Monirul Islam said that women’s propensity towards extremism was increasing. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said that in the past the militant groups would not directly use women in their operations. It was the international militant group Islamic State (IS) that included women. They would be used for policing and at check posts in the occupied areas. This widened the scope for women to directly be involved in militancy worldwide. In Bangladesh at present, more and more women were getting involved in militancy.

CTTC deputy commissioner Abdul Mannan, in his presentation at the conference, said traditionally, women in Bangladesh followed their husbands of the head of the household. After the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery militant attack, 85 women were arrested. All of them were dangerously involved in militancy. Over the last three years, 11 were in suicidal attacks or killed in police operations. Many of these women were frustrated, not being given proper importance within their families despite being highly qualified or educated.

Professor political science at Dhaka University, Shantanu Majumdar, presented his paper on ‘Identity, Identity Politics and Election in Bangladesh’ at the conference. He interviewed 208 persons during his research. Of the, 145 maintained that their religious identity came first. After that, 92 gave priority to nationality, that is, their Bangali identity, and 79 as Bangladeshis. The two latter groups said they were not opposed to religious identity and had no problem with being identified as Bangali and Bangladeshi Muslim, and Bangali and Bangladeshi Hindu. Others identified themselves as human beings, some based on gender, some on profession, family or on their home district.

Shantanu Majumder said that the study revealed that Bangalis were gradually losing their liberal and secular character.

Local and international studies over the past few years have revealed that religious identity s gradually coming to the forefront in Bangladesh.

In his research paper, Shantanu Majumdar mentioned two reasons behind Muslims putting their religious identity first. Firstly, Muslims feel they are victims of injustice worldwide. They establish several reasons behind this belief. And 48 per cent of them believe that they are victimised because there is a lack of unity among themselves. Another 48 per cent feel that persons of other communities are conspiring against them. And 35 per cent do not quite understand why there are victims of injustice. Meanwhile, 33 per cent feel this animosity is the result of influence by the majority. Other reasons were also put forward.

Speaking to Prothom Ali, Shantanu Majumdar said Muslims feel they are being conspired against due to the political analysis of Islam and the spread of Hindutva in India. He said, the majority and minority communities had different choices when it came to topics of discussion. For example, the Hindu community does not want to discuss the politics generated over ‘beef’, but are eager to talk about human rights violations. And the Muslims invariably spoke of conspiracies against them. They were not interested in constructive discussions. Many gave importance to religious identity for fear of being overlooked or taken to be weak. No one wanted to talk about anyone of their own religion who had committed crimes or of their own districts who had a negative image.

Expatriates at risk

Political science professor of Dhaka University Tasneem Siddiqui, in her paper described how migrant workers fell into the risk of militancy. She carried out a survey on 250 migrant workers who have returned to the country between February and April 2019. She also took detailed interview of 30 persons who had tackled the risk of militancy.

Tasneem Siddiqui said that the migrant workers’ risk was mostly internet-based. But 97 per cent of the workers in the survey did not realise that militants could use social media to draw them into their groups. It is important to inform the migrant workers of this internet-based risk before they go overseas she said.

Government wants to unite all

Speaking as chief guest at the national conference against extremism, speaker Shireen Sharmin Chaudhury said that the cause behind people turning towards terrorism and militancy must be identified. It can them be devised how to prevent militancy.

The prime minister’s international affairs advisor Gowher Rizvi said that it would not be possible to tackle extremism without international assistance.

UN resident representative Mia Seppo said that discrimination, the absence of justice and lack of opportunities frustrated people. This frustration motivated people towards militancy.

US ambassador Earl R Miller said that the US would continue its cooperation with Bangladesh to bring militancy under control. He said since 2016 the US had provided Bangladesh with 35 million dollars in assistance against extremism. If necessary they were ready provide more funds to this end.

The to-day conference ended on Tuesday. It was organised by the CTTC, the UN and USAID.