Courtesy : Facebook
Irshad Alam
Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 10:25am
Irshad Alam
The US annual Report on International Religious Freedom last year said although Islamic tradition dictates that only 'muftis' or religious scholars were authorized to declare a fatwa, village religious leaders at times made declarations in individual cases.--- so you know that, why call these declarations Fatawa or islamic justice, when they dont even make such claim? this is only to belittle islam.
David Rosser-Owen
2 February 2011 Last updated at 11:57 GMT
The teenager was accused of having an affair with a married man, police say, and the punishment was given under Islamic Sharia law.
Hena Begum's family members said a village court consisting of elders and clerics passed the sentence.
She was alleged to have had the affair with her cousin and received 80 lashes.
Punishment received
The family members of the married man also allegedly beat the girl up a day before the village court passed the sentence in the district of Shariatpur.
"Her family members said she was admitted to a hospital after the incident and she died six days later. The village elders also asked the girl's father to pay a fine of about 50,000 Taka (£430; $700)," district superintendent of police, AKM Shahidur Rahman, told the BBC.
He said it had not been established yet whether she died because of the punishment she received or another reason.
"We are still waiting for the post-mortem report. In the meantime, we are also looking for another 14 people including a teacher from a local madrassa in connection with this case," Mr Rahman said.
Activists say dozens of fatwas - or religious rulings - are issued under Sharia law each year by village clergy in Bangladesh.
"What sort of justice is this? My daughter has been beaten to death in the name of justice. If it had been a proper court then my daughter would not have died," Dorbesh Khan, the father of Hena Begum, told the BBC.
He said those responsible for the death should be punished.
A group of people held a rally on Wednesday in the town of Shariatpur in protest against those who gave the fatwa and demanded action against them.
This is the second reported fatality linked to a Sharia law punishment since the practice was outlawed last year by the High Court.
A 40-year-old woman in the district of Rajshahi died in December, days after she was publicly caned for allegedly having an affair with her stepson.
Nearly 90% of Bangladesh's estimated 160 million population are Muslims, most of whom practise a moderate version of Islam.
Irshad Alam
Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 10:25am
While I am saddened by the judgment of the kangaroo court, and the death of the girl Hena, I also want to point out the lies against Islam that BBC is making.
BBC lies:
1. if u read the report, you'll see that it mentions one single village elder who was also a low-level Muslim cleric. Then that suddenly becomes "muslim clerics" a plural --- it shows that they're intentionally trying to make it an islamic verdict.
2. a Fatawa is the Muslim analogue of a Rabbanical court ruling. the BBC report says that it was a "religious ruling" and that's a lie. if its a Rabbanical ruling, all the judges will be rabbis, right? the same here, if it were a Fatawa, all the judges will be qualified MUFTIs. in this case none were muftis, although one was indeed a low-level cleric.
3. now its true that the word Fatawa has another meaning except the religious ruling, it is also a decision by a village kangaroo court and that's what the Bangladesh courts have made illegal. BBC should know better, so why r they confusing this?
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Excerpts from Comments:-
John Patrick Mijac
Kazi Azizul Huq
Sohel Nadeem Rahman
BBC lies:
1. if u read the report, you'll see that it mentions one single village elder who was also a low-level Muslim cleric. Then that suddenly becomes "muslim clerics" a plural --- it shows that they're intentionally trying to make it an islamic verdict.
2. a Fatawa is the Muslim analogue of a Rabbanical court ruling. the BBC report says that it was a "religious ruling" and that's a lie. if its a Rabbanical ruling, all the judges will be rabbis, right? the same here, if it were a Fatawa, all the judges will be qualified MUFTIs. in this case none were muftis, although one was indeed a low-level cleric.
3. now its true that the word Fatawa has another meaning except the religious ruling, it is also a decision by a village kangaroo court and that's what the Bangladesh courts have made illegal. BBC should know better, so why r they confusing this?
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Excerpts from Comments:-
John Patrick Mijac
..The media are a circus of acts created to excite and entrance the public, you should ignore them...
Kazi Azizul Huq
We would like to know from the reporter:
Names, Designations and qualifications of the Members of the Village Council referred in the report. Usually rural leaders are local government members or village leaders who have no religious education.
If one or group of qualified Mufti (s) or a recognized Darul Ifta has Issued Fatwa, only then it may be considered that the decision was made under Islamic Shariah. If there is any injustice or misuse or excess, then the matter may be referred to more qualified Mufti(s) or Dariul Ifta.
Names, Designations and qualifications of the Members of the Village Council referred in the report. Usually rural leaders are local government members or village leaders who have no religious education.
If one or group of qualified Mufti (s) or a recognized Darul Ifta has Issued Fatwa, only then it may be considered that the decision was made under Islamic Shariah. If there is any injustice or misuse or excess, then the matter may be referred to more qualified Mufti(s) or Dariul Ifta.
Sohel Nadeem Rahman
As someone intimately familiar with the case and such cases, there is a religious component to such widespread atrocities in Bangladesh. To deny that is a shameful denial of the truth.
That being said, that "religious" component is an evil perversion of religion and most people in this country (Bangladesh) know that in their hearts. Organizations like BBC have the responsibility, in light of journalistic fairness and integrity AND intellectual honesty, to do better and need to discern rather than conflate religion and human crime and error in the name of religion. In fact, as Irshad Bhai suggested here, they also need to qualitatively differentiate the type of courts and cleric (s) involved on a case by case basic.
Let us also stay equally focused on the evil that bury Henas every day here and elsewhere.
Irshad Alam That being said, that "religious" component is an evil perversion of religion and most people in this country (Bangladesh) know that in their hearts. Organizations like BBC have the responsibility, in light of journalistic fairness and integrity AND intellectual honesty, to do better and need to discern rather than conflate religion and human crime and error in the name of religion. In fact, as Irshad Bhai suggested here, they also need to qualitatively differentiate the type of courts and cleric (s) involved on a case by case basic.
Let us also stay equally focused on the evil that bury Henas every day here and elsewhere.
u may ask the reporter in BBC ethirajan.anbarasan@bbc.co
David Rosser-Owen
.. "Organizations like BBC have the responsibility, in light of journalistic fairness and integrity AND intellectual honesty, to do better and need to discern rather than conflate religion and human crime and error in the name of religion". While this ought to be the case, and the profession of journalism as described by John Delane in the 1850s and as personified by such as Ed Murrow in the 1940s held it to be so, print and broadcast media have long abandoned this code in favour of becoming government stenographers and peddlars of corporate propaganda. Currently the target is Islam and Muslims. I wouldn't expect the truth from these "public writers", nor would I think that any of them will any time soon rediscover their duty to "educate and inform". Occasionally, a pet will be allowed to write or say something, but then it'll be buried under a welter of propaganda and soon forgotten.
The US annual Report on International Religious Freedom last year said although Islamic tradition dictates that only 'muftis' or religious scholars were authorized to declare a fatwa, village religious leaders at times made declarations in individual cases.--- so you know that, why call these declarations Fatawa or islamic justice, when they dont even make such claim? this is only to belittle islam.
David Rosser-Owen
Sohel - I think that none of the state or corporate owned media is living up to the profession of journalism. I would be delighted to be proved wrong. There are occasional survivals of the true journalist among the corporate media, such as Gideon Levy, Eric Margolis, Pepe Escobar, Helen Thomas, but most others aren't. Nearly all of the real journalists are nowadays to be found in the 'alternative media' (or what Mike Rivero calls "the citizen media") that is to be found on the Internet. In this environment one will find such radio podcasts as those of Mark Glenn or Kevin Barrett, newssites like Mike Rivero's (whatreallyhappened.com) or Rixon Stewart's (thetruthseeker.co.uk), or blogs like Mantiq Al Tayr (mantiqaltayr.wordpress.co
Meir Stone Did Clerics in her region condem the flogging ? Are the people who had her Ffloged going to be charged with a crime ?
Irshad Alam
Meir Stone
Thanks Irshad ...Remember if we see an evil we must stop it if we can! If we can't Stop it speak out ! or at lest heat it with all your heart Shalom , Salaam and Peace
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Fariha Karim in Dhaka
yes the people who flogged her r indeed being charged. they r now in jail, in interrogation or r fugitives.
many muslim groups have indeed spoken out. village clerics r quite uneducated and they dont make newspaper statements like US clerics... do. anyway it was not a decision by clerics nor was it an islamic sharia justice. pls read the above. though i know of many clerics who decry such village arbitrations.
many muslim groups have indeed spoken out. village clerics r quite uneducated and they dont make newspaper statements like US clerics... do. anyway it was not a decision by clerics nor was it an islamic sharia justice. pls read the above. though i know of many clerics who decry such village arbitrations.
Meir Stone
Thanks Irshad ...Remember if we see an evil we must stop it if we can! If we can't Stop it speak out ! or at lest heat it with all your heart Shalom , Salaam and Peace
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Bangladeshi girl, 14, dies after receiving 100 lashes
Four arrested and another 14 hunted by police, accused of taking part in lashing ordered by village court
Fariha Karim in Dhaka
Thursday 3 February 2011 19.54 GMT
BBC Reporting
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12344959 Four people have been arrested in Bangladesh after the death of a 14-year-old girl who was given 100 lashes on the orders of a village cleric.
Mosammet Hena died in hospital on Sunday after being beaten with a bamboo cane for allegedly having an illicit relationship with a married cousin. A complaint had been made against her by the man's wife, Shilpi Begum, at a makeshift village court, or shalish, presided over by senior community members.
Shilpi has now been arrested on suspicion of murder alongside three villagers including imam Mofiz Uddin, who allegedly issued the edict. Another 14 villagers who are accused of taking part in the public lashing, or of being complicit in the girl's murder by failing to prevent her from being whipped, are still being hunted by police.
"What sort of justice is this? My daughter has been beaten to death in the name of justice," Mosammet's father, Dorbesh Khan, 60, told the BBC.
Mosammet was buried yesterday in her family graveyard in Naria, Shariatpur, about 40 miles south of the capital, Dhaka.
Police said Shilpi told the shalish she had seen Mosammet speaking to her husband, Mahbub, 40, near their home. The shalish ruled that Mosammet and Mahbub should each be flogged 100 times, according to Assistant Superintendent Talebur Rahman. Mosammet was dragged inside a house by about 20 to 25 people, including four women. She collapsed unconscious halfway through and was taken to hospital, where she died a week later. Mahbub, who was beaten by his father, is said by police to be on the run.
The case has sent shockwaves around Bangladesh, where punishments in the name of fatwa – a religious edict – have been outlawed since last year. Authorities were ordered by the high court to act to stop punishments, and told that a failure to do so breached their constitutional duties.
Since Mosammet's death lawyers have filed a case against the government at the court, and a team of investigators from a human rights organisation has travelled to the village. Its director of investigations, Nur Khan Liton, said: "This is an absolutely horrific crime. It shows that despite court judgments banning punishments in the name of fatwa, an aggressively religious group who are capable of committing such barbaric crimes of torture against women are still present in our society."
Local media have reported that Mosammet was raped by Mahbub and Shilpi heard her cries, then came out and began beating her. Police do not accept this.
• This article was amended on 4 February 2011. The original gave the name of one of the arrested as Shilpi Begum, and Begum thereafter. In Bangladesh, Begum is a title that is roughly equivalent to Mrs and so should not have been mistaken as the woman's surname. This has been corrected.
===0=== Mosammet Hena died in hospital on Sunday after being beaten with a bamboo cane for allegedly having an illicit relationship with a married cousin. A complaint had been made against her by the man's wife, Shilpi Begum, at a makeshift village court, or shalish, presided over by senior community members.
Shilpi has now been arrested on suspicion of murder alongside three villagers including imam Mofiz Uddin, who allegedly issued the edict. Another 14 villagers who are accused of taking part in the public lashing, or of being complicit in the girl's murder by failing to prevent her from being whipped, are still being hunted by police.
"What sort of justice is this? My daughter has been beaten to death in the name of justice," Mosammet's father, Dorbesh Khan, 60, told the BBC.
Mosammet was buried yesterday in her family graveyard in Naria, Shariatpur, about 40 miles south of the capital, Dhaka.
Police said Shilpi told the shalish she had seen Mosammet speaking to her husband, Mahbub, 40, near their home. The shalish ruled that Mosammet and Mahbub should each be flogged 100 times, according to Assistant Superintendent Talebur Rahman. Mosammet was dragged inside a house by about 20 to 25 people, including four women. She collapsed unconscious halfway through and was taken to hospital, where she died a week later. Mahbub, who was beaten by his father, is said by police to be on the run.
The case has sent shockwaves around Bangladesh, where punishments in the name of fatwa – a religious edict – have been outlawed since last year. Authorities were ordered by the high court to act to stop punishments, and told that a failure to do so breached their constitutional duties.
Since Mosammet's death lawyers have filed a case against the government at the court, and a team of investigators from a human rights organisation has travelled to the village. Its director of investigations, Nur Khan Liton, said: "This is an absolutely horrific crime. It shows that despite court judgments banning punishments in the name of fatwa, an aggressively religious group who are capable of committing such barbaric crimes of torture against women are still present in our society."
Local media have reported that Mosammet was raped by Mahbub and Shilpi heard her cries, then came out and began beating her. Police do not accept this.
• This article was amended on 4 February 2011. The original gave the name of one of the arrested as Shilpi Begum, and Begum thereafter. In Bangladesh, Begum is a title that is roughly equivalent to Mrs and so should not have been mistaken as the woman's surname. This has been corrected.
BBC Reporting
2 February 2011 Last updated at 11:57 GMT
Four arrested after Bangladesh girl 'lashed to death'
Four people including a Muslim cleric have been arrested in Bangladesh in connection with the death of 14-year-old girl who was publicly lashed.
Hena Begum's family members said a village court consisting of elders and clerics passed the sentence.
She was alleged to have had the affair with her cousin and received 80 lashes.
Punishment received
The family members of the married man also allegedly beat the girl up a day before the village court passed the sentence in the district of Shariatpur.
Hena Begum died after being taken to hospital
He said it had not been established yet whether she died because of the punishment she received or another reason.
"We are still waiting for the post-mortem report. In the meantime, we are also looking for another 14 people including a teacher from a local madrassa in connection with this case," Mr Rahman said.
Activists say dozens of fatwas - or religious rulings - are issued under Sharia law each year by village clergy in Bangladesh.
"What sort of justice is this? My daughter has been beaten to death in the name of justice. If it had been a proper court then my daughter would not have died," Dorbesh Khan, the father of Hena Begum, told the BBC.
He said those responsible for the death should be punished.
A group of people held a rally on Wednesday in the town of Shariatpur in protest against those who gave the fatwa and demanded action against them.
This is the second reported fatality linked to a Sharia law punishment since the practice was outlawed last year by the High Court.
A 40-year-old woman in the district of Rajshahi died in December, days after she was publicly caned for allegedly having an affair with her stepson.
Nearly 90% of Bangladesh's estimated 160 million population are Muslims, most of whom practise a moderate version of Islam.
