DHAKA, 23 August 2006 — The Nationalist-Islamist coalition government in Bangladesh has given recognition to Islamic religious schools which strictly follow an academic regime based on the Qur’an, officials said yesterday.
The decision to recognize the “Qaumi” madrasas was announced overnight by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to a team of Islamic leaders who had called on her at her office.
The assembled leaders, mainly belonging to the Islami Oikkyo Jote (IOJ), cried out to record their appreciation of the government decision. “The decision has come belatedly but then it is better late than never,” said IOJ top leader Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini who is also a pro-government lawmaker.
Official recognition of these educational establishments was resisted so far because of fears that this would lead to a spurt in religious extremism in the Muslim-dominated country, rocking its fragile democracy.
“This recognition is a victory of extremists who want to Islamize the impoverished country,” said anti-fundamentalist politician Rashed Khan Menon
The IOJ is a partner in the four-party governing coalition under Khaleda which has been ruling the country since October 2001.
The official recognition of the “Qaumi” madrasas will qualify the graduates from these strictly Qur’an-based schools for getting government jobs.
The “Qaumi” madrasas are different from the Alia madrasas which are supervised and monitored by the government. A recent survey showed 15 percent of the school-going children in Bangladesh go to madrasas.
Meanwhile, Jatiya Party (JP) chairman and former President H.M. Ershad yesterday asked his party workers to prepare to contest the next elections without joining any alliance from all 300 seats if the Awami League-led 14-party opposition combine ultimately decides to boycott the polls for electoral reform.
“The Awami League-led 14-party combine has declared not to take part in the elections without electoral reforms...It seems to me we’ll have to contest the next elections alone and we can do that without a doubt,” he told a meeting of his party workers of Khulna division in Dhaka yesterday.
Terming the present political situation in Bangladesh “very crucial” for the Jatiya Party, he said he might get a big post like that of prime minister or president if people cast their votes in favor of Jatiya Party.
Ershad reiterated that his joining the four-party alliance, headed by Prime Minister Khaleda is not final yet.
