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Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury |
Salah Choudhury is a Bangladeshi Muslim currently on trial for ostensibly spying for Israel. Alas, even prosecutors in Bangladesh are forced to concede the surface accusations are false. The real reason he’s being persecuted is for using his role as a leading newspaper editor to criticize radical Islam and advocate an open, tolerant Bangladeshi society. In a political environment where everyone is crying out for moderate Muslims to rise up, Mr.Choudhury appears to be the real thing. And he can use your help.
The Chicago Tribune gives us the back story for the of Choudhury’s saga –
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury…will be tried this month on charges of spying for the Jewish state. The crime is punishable by death in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh.…Choudhury was arrested at Dhaka-Zia International Airport [in November 2003] before boarding a flight to Israel, where he was scheduled to deliver a lecture on Muslim-Jewish relations. After several months behind bars, he was charged with sedition, a capital offense in Bangladesh.
“This is absolutely a false allegation,” Choudhury said. “I never, ever spy for any country. We work for the betterment of the interfaith.”
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p>Why all the scorn from Choudhury? In part, his comments and public statements from such as this –
Bangladesh is known as a ‘moderate Muslim country’ and its people have the reputation of ‘moderate Muslims,’ free of rancor against other faiths. However, our society, like many others, is being subverted by the efforts of Muslim extremists.…Pressure to conform to extremist opinion is intense… Since my newspaper, the Weekly Blitz, published several articles that were favorable to Israel, we have been subject to various threats from local fanatics as well from the Palestinian ambassador in Dhaka…Destruction, fanaticism and terror are not the way to bring about positive changes in the minds of people or in any society“Destruction, fanaticism and terror are not the way to bring about positive changes in the minds of people or in any society”. Such attempts have always met a grim fate in the past, whether perpetrated by organizations or states.
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p>His case has become a cause for Jewish activist Richard Benkin + others in the US and Israel. Through their lobbying the issue was taken up by US Rep Mark Kirk –
…In January 2005, Benkin’s prayers and letters were answered. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) volunteered to help.“[Choudhury] is a passionate public advocate for dialogue with Israel,” Kirk said in an interview last week. “With near biblical certainty, I feel he has no official contact with the Israeli government.”
Kirk arranged a meeting with Bangladeshi Ambassador Shamsher M. Chowdhury, who agreed to help secure the jailed journalist’s release on bail and try to get the charges dropped. After 17 months in jail, Choudhury was released. But a judge ruled that his case would proceed to trial.
Rep. Kirk was able to secure Choudhury’s release by, in part, threatening to withold state aid to Bangladesh — few states are immune from being hit in the pocket book. Unfortunately, it appears that fate has dealt Mr. Choudhury a rather unfortunate Judge –
Over the past several weeks, Choudhury was optimistic that the government would drop the charges, which Bangladesh officials have admitted on many occasions to be false. The presiding judge, a member of the radical Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) party, ruled that his trial for sedition–a capital offense–is to proceed immediately.
Benkin’s description of the scene reads like the perverse opposite of the death row reprieve –
Judge Mohammed Momin Ullah, who had been presiding over the case, often appeared to be an agent of the prosecution. On the final court date, when the prosecution was to present its case against Shoaib, the judge repeatedly challenged the lack of evidence on the prosecution’s part, asking very pointed questions designed to give the state a chance to explain its position and present additional evidence. Yet, in every single such incident, the prosecution demurred and admitted that it had no real evidence. So obvious was it that after the hearing the Public Prosecutor congratulated Shoaib in anticipation of an order to drop the charges. But that was not to be. Ignoring the lack of evidence and the state’s explicit desire to drop the charges, Ullah ruled that Shoaib’s trial for sedition would proceed.…It cannot be ignored that Ullah is a member of the radical (and often terrorist) Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The JMB has long made public its goal to turn Bangladeshi into a Taliban state. Last year, it set off a number of terrorist bombs throughout the country and demanded that Sharia (Muslim religious law) become the law of the land.
And now, just days before his scheduled trial, Mr. Choudhury’s been targeted by an old fashioned lynch mob –
Mr. Choudhury was viciously attacked at his newspaper by what he termed ‘hooligans,’ including open Islamic radicals and members of the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP). He identified one of his attackers as Helal Khan, International Affairs Secretary, Cultural Wing of the BNP. As they were beating him, his attackers called Mr. Choudhury an “agent of Jews.” He has received treatment for his injuries, but security for both he and his family has not be renewed.
Sigh. Luckily, his story is getting more attention. BlogTalkRadio will be doing a segment on Choudhury’s case tonight at 6PM / 9ET. Folks can / should also contact the Bangladeshi Embassy and let Ambassador Shamser M. Choudury know that as an “ally and aid recipient in the US war on terror”, such persecution is unacceptable.
Vinod, I think it would help the cause if you were to make a t-shirt like this. Look at Choudhury’s pic up there. In my opinion it is just begging to be put onto a t-shirt.
We should consider this man’s ordeal when we (rightly) try to understand our enemy by asking; “Why do they hate us.”
Yet another leftist post on a leftist blog. What part of the government is always right do you not understand?
Ennis:
For the record, I wouldn’t label SM a leftist blog (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But intersting how you, by implication thru sarcasm, label this a rightist post…thereby leaving the war against a new fascism to us neo-colonialists.
On a realted note, also see the Bangladeshi government’s persecution of the Ahmadiyya community.
Good point, by just looking at this case without the situation would be wrong. Reminds me of a quote from “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
Good post Vinod!
Manju: So you believe that the Bangladeshi government is the new fascist threat? or do you believe that the people who want to prosecute Choudhary are similar to the fascist threat of Salafist Jihadists.
whytheyhate.us
Seems like an random site makes a point with some images and loses it totally with others!
The lack of freedom and intolerance in Bangladesh is growing daily, as Abhi noted in comment #6. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to face persecution at the hands of the Bangladesh government.
Meer Mubasher Ali, Vice President of the Bangladesh branch of the AMC, was in NYC on September 30. He addressed 250 attendees of the International Conference on Bangladesh at the UN Plaza Milennium Hotel. The conference was organized by CFI, a UN-affiliated human rights org, and Bangladeshi Americans Against Terrorism. A highlight from his speech:
“In conclusion, I would like to convey to the world that despite all the agitation, persecution and attacks on our mosques, we the Bangladeshi Ahmadis are proud of our identity and heritage….Ahmadis are committed towards doing our utmost to restore peace and harmony in the world.May God help us all in our efforts to make the world a better place for future generations. Amin.” (Contact Ismat for full speech text.)
No. Yes.
The govt is not fascist (an imperfect but helpful term) but the JMB Party is certainly closer to it. The govt behavior is enabling this form of radicalism in this case. radical islam does not emerge from a vacuum, but from particlar intolerant cultures…much like other radical right movements.
and yes the people who want to prosecute Choudhary are similar to the fascist threat of Salafist Jihadists; they display the same anti-semitism, lack of respect for liberal values, and religious extremism. while different, there is enough that intersects to think of this as all part of the same war.
@Manju: Re: We should consider this man’s ordeal when we (rightly) try to understand our enemy by asking; “Why do they hate us.”
Consider this :-
They hate ‘you’ because of your greed, warlust and hunger for imperialism and global dominance. It is quite simple really. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone.
Which of course is why they hate Salah Choudhury as well. Leave “them” alone and I seriously doubt their hunger will be quenched after they’ve consumed Salah…
and yes the people who want to prosecute Choudhary are similar to the fascist threat of Salafist Jihadists; they display the same anti-semitism, lack of respect for liberal values, and religious extremism. while different, there is enough that intersects to think of this as all part of the same war.
Manju: You are dangerously conflating America’s enemy with the enemies of a liberal order. However tempting may it seem, to lump together crazed Banglas with Salafist Jihadist, the temptation should be resisted. The fight against Salafist Jihadist will not be served by offering the enemy millions of people who donÂ’t necessarily share the same goals. The Arab Street (as they say) is rife with conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism and has an on and off love affair with Islamic extremism. However to concede the Arab street or the crazed Banglas to the Salafist Jihadist neither serves our cause nor will it make us safer.
Sometimes I wonder about whether the ‘right’ in this country has the wherewithal to competently fight the war on terror at any level.
since you got it all figured out why Islamists target Americans, can you tell us why they target Israelis, British, Spanish, Indians, Jews, Lebanese, Indonesians, Iraqis, Chechens, Jordanians, Egyptians, Christian Nigerians, Buddhists, beauty contestants, cartoonists, Algerians, Saudi Arabians, women, the pope , homosexuals, at least one filmaker, ot least one famous author, and now we can add a bangaldeshi journalist.
Well, you only asked why they hate YOU . 🙂
I think that would be asking for the impossible while people like this still thrive: here, here, here, and here are still around.
Thanks for that link Abhi, I had never heard of the Ahmadiyya before and now am interested in learning more about their movement. Who knew that there exists a sect of Islam that believes Jesus survived his crucifixion and travelled to India searching for the lost tribes of Israel and is buried in Kashmir? [link]
I hate to stoke the flames even further, but everyone knows Jesus moved to Japan, “married a Japanese woman called Miyuko, fathered three daughters and lived to the age of 106.”
AMFD:
I respect your (almost Nixonian) argument. It is possible that a divide and conquer strategy could work. It’s a complex subject and IÂ’m open to yuor point of view but an argument could be made for conflation in this instance.
Allowing any radical Islamic movement in any country to rise to power increases the chances of WMD’s getting in the hands of terrorists since there is enough that unifies them to make them allies. they could pose a threat to the US, or at least our democratic allies like india and israel. Sadly, even N.korea fits this mold even though they are ideologically opposite. I don’t think we are just at war with al qaeda (in fact you could argue that the taliban was not al qaeda and could have been split from it) and this is why the rise of hamas and hezbollah worry me even though they are very different.
Who knew that there exists a sect of Islam
most muslims do not consider ahmadiyya a sect of islam because most muslims assert that they overturn the idea that muhammad is the seal of prophets (ahmadiyya disagree).
as for the rest, this thread has really devolved quickly.
Random Guy:Leave them alone and they will leave you alone.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?
(In the spirit of Jon S and to bring some intellectual rigor to the debate)
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa = intellectual rigor?
You’re absolutely right, I should not have used the word “sect.” The whole basis behind their persecution is mainstream Islam’s refusal to acknowledge their beliefs. Still, their mere existence as Islamic heterodoxy and connection to Jesus’s alleged final resting place in Kashmir is incredibly fascinating (to me, at least.)
But the point is moot, Jesus is buried in Japan. @=)
I am an Ahmadi Muslim. A point of clarification: Ahmadis believe Muhammad (pbuh) is the seal of the prophets and the last law-bearing prophet, but not the last prophet ever.
And regardless of whether other Muslims consider Ahmadis to be Muslims, the fact is that we are by the virtue of the fact that we call ourselves Muslims and practice all the basic teachings of Islam. Islam is divided into 72 sects; Ahmadiyyat is the 73rd jamaat.
Regarding “why they hate us,” has anyone read Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower? I haven’t read the book yet but heard him speak the other night at the Overseas Press Club. His outline for what draws young men to Islamic fanaticism and terror was fascinating and, in my opinion, spot on. He’s done amazing research. If anyone wants me to type up my notes, let me know.
Long time reader, first time poster.
I hate how something as secular and pure as free speech or dissent can be tainted by a phrase such as biblical certainty.
Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars is also very good.
Incredible!! Blessed are teh internets, for it allows me to connect to primary sources I would never be able to in the past. I sincerely hope you’ll grant me an opportunity to ask a few serious questions I have about your faith:
DJ, email me and we can take the convo off the site, just because I could write novels there. There’s a lot to say. I mean, whole books have been written about this stuff.
Thanks Vinod. Here are two other links that also discuss the same guy: International Pen, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Freedom of the Press is a very important issue.
Vinod — Thanks for bringing this case to folks’ attention. Ennis beat me to the punch in noting International PEN’s role in raising awareness about Choudhury’s case, but I’ll add that PEN USA has made his case the subject of this week’s “Freedom to Write” action alert. Choudhury also was awarded a PEN USA “Freedom to Write” award in 2005, and his remarks upon accepting the award can be heard here.
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Turnip — the comment about “biblical certainty” makes me cringe as well….
Thanks Ismat, you will be receiving an email shortly.
They pulled the same shit on Tasleema Nasreen as well. Has the government put forward any evidence for the sedition charges?
i was in bangladesh in 2004. my observations in the hong kong airport on the flight back.
this stuff is really stupid because there are semi-naked billboards of fat half-naked chix in dhaka. the fundies should go after that jizz.
Sam Harris is a self-identified atheist who recently wrote a disturbing little book called “Letter to a Christian Nation.” In it, he writes to an imaginary fundamentalist interlocutor and attempts to systematically dismantle the Abrahamic personal God. In one stanza he writes:
“It’s safe to say that almost every person living in New Orleans at the moment Hurrican Katrina struck shared your belief in an omnipotent, omniscient and compassionate God. But what was God doing while Katrina laid waste to their city? Surely He heard the prayers of those elderly men and women who fled the rising waters only to be slowly drowned there. These were people of faith. These were good men and women who had prayed throughout their lives. Do you have the courage to admit the obvious? Those poor people died talking to an imaginary friend. …”
And yes, much the same could be said about Muslim believers or any other believers as well. We may be predisposed to believe, as some evolutionary biologists are contending, but the type of God we believe in does matter, and can affect our relationship with our fellow human beings. Some Gods incite violence and constrain freedom of the press. Some command their flock to organize into theocracies.
But no one is willing to take off the kid gloves. Why is this? One reason among a host of others : I suspect that Christians in the US are unwilling to see their faith decimated in popular public discourse, and it would have to be if Islam is ever to be truly interrogated. And no, it won’t happen any time soon. Christianity is so deeply entwined in American life and its polity that the goodwill and protection (even the Supreme Court sees value in the ten commandments!?) that has accrued to it benefits other faiths as well – to the point where no one can say anything about anyone without being labelled some godforsaken thing. In Europe, the matter is slightly different. Christianity has been slain. The relativizing European Left is a little confused about Islam at the moment, which leaves the critquing to the far right- and that makes the current state of affairs really F%^ed up
good points risible. it is up to the atheists to take the knife to the balls of islam and castrate the beast. we can’t do it in the muslim world, less the followers of the beast behead us, but we need to do it in the western world. harris and richard dawkins have crucial parts to play in this, i’m glad both of them are stepping up and naming the beast for what it is. i just reviewed the god delusion, and though i have issues with dawkins quixotic dream that rationality will reign supreme, i do praise his fair-mindedness in wielding the knife of rationality toward both xtianity and islam.
I don’t think Islam needs to be attacked alone; they should equally apply this to all religions, just like Dawkins suggests in Roof of All Evil. It’s too bad he didn’t do a better job presenting his case – perhaps going along the lines of some people needed religion to cope, etc. in the past, instead of from a logic/illogical perspective might have been better and come across as more “sympathetic.”
If you guys haven’t seen this BBC miniseries, I highly recommend it – viewable here online.
As far as the Ahmadiyyans go, one of my relatives worked as a grad student/post-doc/colleague in London under the only Nobel Prize winner Pakistan has ever produced – Abdus Salam. Of course, since he was Ahmadiyyan, he’s barely recognized by the Pakistani government – their only Nobel prize winner, yet they, for all practical purposes, ignored him.
I don’t think Islam needs to be attacked alone; they should equally apply this to all religions, just like Dawkins suggests in Roof of All Evil.
no, i don’t think so. frankly, we atheists don’t have much to fear from confucians, buddhists or hindus, let alone shamanists and new agers. existential fear only comes from muslims today. the god of abraham is problematic, for he is a jealous god. christianity has been mostly gelded, we allow christians to pretend as if their religion still has balls and is a man, but the reality is that it’s a eunuch faith set against islam (aside from perhaps africa, where the two religions battle it out in the trenches). when xtians get out of line good secularists call them out on their ‘tabilanesque’ behavior. in the god delusion dawkins focuses on the abrahamic religions and gives buddhism, or example, an explicit pass, because the clear and present danger is not there. not all gibberish is created equal with the same blade.
Hey No Desh,
Thanks for bringing that up. Dr. Salam was a good friend of my grandfather’s (also a physcist). It’s really a shame, considering Pakistan’s dearth of Nobels.
Anyway, if you don’t mind, the correct term is “Ahmadis” or “Ahmadi Muslims,” not “Ahmadiyyans.” I know it’s a bit confusing, as the community as a whole is called the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam. Even more if you refer to it as a noun, ie, “Ahmadiyyat.”
Christianity is so deeply entwined in American life and its polity…In Europe, the matter is slightly different. Christianity has been slain.
Why is this?
risible & razib,
There’s an interesting book by Jonathan Kirsch that tries to bridge the historical relationship between the type of god(s) and behavior. Essentially, polytheism, like pluralism, matters and perhaps pacifies. I had a professor who thinks that the leap from the Abrahamic tradition to secular humanism is too drastic a change in the Belief System Regime Change Dept in the course of events (and perhaps related to the “relativizing European Left”). He sees mythology making a comeback- a la Joseph Campbell and Gaia philosophy. The latter being important as people relate stresses put on the ecological system to belief systems.
yes, i’m a big fan of kirsch’s work and have read that. his other books are of interest too.
Essentially, polytheism, like pluralism, matters and perhaps pacifies.
there has been some qualification here though. remember, anaxagoros was tried for atheism in athens. but this was a political trial, just as xtians were accused of atheism because of their rejection of national pieties. the same impulse and tribalism exists within polytheism as well, it is simply not focused and sharpened by the universalist-tribalism of xtianity and islam. and yet the attacks against heretics in these religions is quite often about politics as well, so nothing changes.
The latter being important as people relate stresses put on the ecological system to belief systems.
i agree. that is my beef with dawkins, he knows that most people will remain demon-haunted, but he pretends as if we need not influence which demons they choose to propitiate. i don’t ever see a future where most people are atheists, just as i don’t expect a goat to bust out a linear algebra textbook.
My (imaginary) Mormon friend says that Jesus visited America. So, America is showing Him love. No such account of him visiting Europe.
sorry, i should have been clearer and emphasized the Big 3. While Christianity might not have that strong of a grasp in Europe, it has a lot of influence in Latin America and Africa – emphasis on abstinence instead of usage of condoms, etc., to name one big area. You are right – I’m not worried about Buddhists, Confucians, etc., but I am worried about Christianity and Islam, and to a slightly lesser extent, Judaism. If you only got after one of the 3, I think you cannot take the logical/illogical approach at all, for that ends up being hypocritical.
Ismat – You are quite right to point out my improper word use. It’s funny – my mother and I were talking about this today and I referred to them as Ahmadis in conversation, yet for some reason, I forgot that when I was typing.
ala Battlestar Galactica…where the “good guys” are “pagans” for all practical purposes whereas the “bad guys” believe (and quite strongly, mind you) in the supremacy of their one god.
RTA and risible – thanks for bringing that up. I was just about to say how pointless it is to fight over religion, which is mostly poppycock (I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone, but that is what I think). I don’t have a problem with anyone believing anythig as long as they don’t fight over it.
I’ve wanted to see that Dawkins BBC miniseries, I’ll move my lazy ass this weekend and try to find it.
Nanda – it’s available for free online viewing at the link I showed above (just in case I didn’t make that point clear).
My favorite quotation about this topic – unfortunately can’t remember who stated this:
That’s from Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.
Sakshi – many many thanks. I had a feeling it was a movie, but was stuck there. Unfortunately, none of the folks where I’ve moved to have heard of this movie, much less seen it, so none of them were able to enlighten me. Thanks again.