Bangladesh girls forced to cancel football in the midst of Islamist threats

Asha Roy, 17, was excited to participate in a women’s football tournament, but their hopes vanished when Islamists forced the organizers to cancel the game in northern Bangladesh.

Shortly before the game began earlier this month, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh group announced a manifestation of protest against the event in the Rangpur region, saying that it was not Islamic.

Fearing problems, the Local Police intervened and the members of the women’s team were asked to return home for their safety.

“I was frustrated and scared. We had never faced that situation before. It was disappointing that we came back without playing,” Roy told the BBC.

Bangladesh, a majority of the majority of most, is experiencing a political transition after Generalized protests overthrew their authoritarian government last year.

It is currently responsible for an interim administration, but there are concerns that Islamist groups, who had been pushed into the stripes, have been emboldened again.

The women’s football match was the third to be canceled in northern Bangladesh in less than two weeks due to the objections of religious uncompromising.

In the Dinajpur area, approximately 70 km (43 miles) west of Rangpur, the Islamists protesting against a game collided with locals that supported him, leaving four people injured.

For girls such as Asha Roy, which come from rural areas, football and other sports are a source of female empowerment and a poverty exit. Those who shine can be selected to play for sponsored equipment and some represent Bangladesh internationally.

Many girls have been inspired to assume football thanks to the success of the National Women’s Team, which are considered heroes after winning two consecutive football championships in Asia del Sur in recent years.

Mrs. Roy’s teammate, Musammat Tara Moni, said she wouldn’t stop playing despite threats.

“It is my dream to represent our national team. My family supports me, so I’m not losing hope,” said the 16 -year -old.

For his coach Nurul Islam, objections were a surprise. “I have taken the team to many tournaments during the last seven years, but it is the first time we face a situation like this,” he said.

The Islamists insist that the game they arrested was against their religious values ​​and say they are determined to avoid future soccer games.

“If women want to play football, they should cover their entire body, and they can only play in front of the spectators. Men cannot see them play,” Maulana Ashraf Ali, leader of Islami Andoolan Bangladesh in the Taraganj area of ​​Rangpur , he told the BBC.

Ali also insisted that the group “definitely” wants the Islamic Sharia law of the hard line in Bangladesh.

The cancellation of women’s football matches caused a fuss on social networks, which led the authorities to reorganize one of them. They have also launched an investigation into incidents, but they say that fear of radicalism is exaggerated.

“There is no truth in accusations that the government is pleased with Islamists,” Shafiqul Alam, press secretary of the interim leader Muhammad Yunus told BBC.

Alam said that hundreds of women’s sports matches were held as part of a national youth festival in January, and that they were played throughout the country without any problem.

Some people are not reassured. Samina Luthfa, an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Dhaka, told the BBC that the cancellation of women’s football matches was “definitely alarming.”

“Bangladesh’s women will not stop playing football and will not stop working or do their things,” he said, added that “everyone will fight” in efforts to eliminate women from public spaces.

Other decisions made by the interim government since he assumed power in August in relation to Islamist extremism have also expressed concerns.

They include revoking a prohibition of the largest Islamist party in the country, Jamaat-E-Islami, which was introduced in the last days of the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Jashimuddin Rahmani, the leader of the prohibited Islamist militant group Ansarullah Bangladesh (ABT), now known as Ansar al Islam, was released in August after a court granted the bond. He was sentenced to five years in prison in relation to the murder of a secular blogger in 2013, but had remained behind bars due to other pending cases.

According to local media reports, several other people accused of having links with extremist groups have also been given the bond in recent months.

“Although security forces say they will monitor the released, it will be difficult for them to put all under surveillance given the limitations,” says Dr. Tawohidul Haque, crime analyst at the University of Dhaka.

While most Bangladeshes practice moderate Islam and secular values ​​dominate society, Islamic extremism is not a new phenomenon in the country. A decade ago, religious fans attacked secular bloggers, atheists, minorities, foreigners and others in a series of attacks, killing dozens and sending others fleeing abroad.

In one of those incidents, a group of Islamist armed men broke into the Holey artisanal bakery in Dhaka in 2016, killing 20 people.

Not only women’s football games have been recently attacked. Last week, dozens of Islamist students destroyed a book position at the famous Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka.

The protesters were angry at the exhibition of a book by the exiled feminist author Taslima Nasrin, who in the past has received death threats from Islamist groups for what they say they are her writings Blaspamos.

Muhammad Yunus condemned the incident saying that the attack “shows contempt for both the rights of the citizens of Bangladesh and for the laws of our country.” The police are investigating.

Meanwhile, one of the best known actors in the country, Pori Moni said he was prevented from inaugurating a department store in the northern city of Tangail after the objections reported by religious groups.

“Now I really feel helpless, as well as insecure. It is part of my work to participate in the opening of an exhibition room or a similar event. No one has stopped me all these years,” Moni told the BBC Bengali service.

Similar events that involve two other actors, Apu Biswas and Mehazabien Chowdhury, have also been canceled after the threats by Islamists.

Minority groups such as Muslims Sufi say that they are also witnessing growing attacks in their places of worship. Islamist extremists see Sufism as heretical.

“Around a hundred sanctuaries (Mazars) and the centers have been attacked in the last six months,” Anisur Rahman Jafri, general secretary of the Universal Suffism Foundation, told the BBC.

“We have not seen this type of sudden extremist attack against us since the independence of the country in 1971,” he added, warning that the country was at risk of “talibanization” if the situation continued.

Police said only 40 sanctuaries were damaged and that they had intensified security in religious sites.

The authorities have also been struggling to maintain the law and order following the departure of Sheikh Hasina. Earl this month, thousands of protesters Shattered houses and buildings Connected to Hasina and the main leaders of their Awami League match.

People from other groups and parties, including Islamists, joined in other demonstrations in the capital, Dhaka and throughout the country.

The authorities have defended the security forces for not intervening, saying that doing so would have cost lives.

The rights groups have expressed concern about the security situation.

“If the government does not act, then Islamists will feel emboldened. There will be more self -censorship for women and girls, they will feel more intimidated participating in public events,” said Shireen Huq, a prominent activist of women’s rights, BBC .

“I am still optimistic that this phenomenon will not remain,” he added.

ADDITIONAL REPORTS OF THE BBC Bengali Service in Dhaka