Weekly Blitz 27 Feb 2007
Blitz: In the international media there have been certain campaign saying that your party is a radical group, which supports terrorism in the name of Islam and also it supports suicide bombing and jihad for killing Jews and Christians. What is your opinion about that?
Huq: The allegations you are referring to specifically ending at Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, I have never heard that way. Because in Bangladesh such a situation is not existent, and as regards international situation, yes, we support the liberation movement of Afghanistan, not the NATO occupation and US occupation. Yes, we support those who are struggling to liberate Iraq from the occupation of USA and their allies and also we support the liberation struggle of the Palestinians. But, we have reservations about fixing human beings, innocent people as targets for military attack. In fact in our opinion, the way now-a-days explosive and other ammunition are used against civilians was initiated by the US military at the end of the Second World War, when they dropped nuclear weapons on the civilians of Japan. And such a practice has become rampant all over the world which in Islam we do not accept. Yes, in modern warfare there are some collateral damages. If the strugglers or the liberation forces are Muslims it is an obligation to minimize collateral damages and to be specific about military targets. Regarding terrorist activities, we mean killing innocent people, putting bomb in railways, putting bomb on residential areas etc., we do not support. We think such practice must be changed. In recent days, for example, in Iraq, they are targeting American helicopters. We think that is the right way of dealing with the matter. We should not target the civilians the way Jamaatul Mujahedin in Bangladesh was doing.
Blitz: You just mentioned that you support the so-called liberation movement in Afghanistan. Does it mean that you support the Talibans to be back in power?
Huq: Yes, we support the Talibans. But we think that they need to be abreast of time. It is very much needed for them to understand that to run a government at our time, it should be acceptable to the international community as well as to the people of the nation. Talibans, I think, they made some mistakes, and such mistakes should not be repeated.
Blitz: You just said that BKA opposes using civilians as human shields. But in recent war between Israel and Lebanon, Hezbollah used so many innocent civilians as human shields. How you would look into this issue?
Huq: I don’t think that Hezbollah used civilians as human shields. Rather the situation is, the area Israel choose to attack, civilians there did not intend to leave their homes in spite of the threat of military attacks from Israel. May be because they had been sympathetic to the Hezbollah and they supported the Hezbollah.
Blitz: But, so far we know, the innocent civilians were not allowed to leave their houses and forced to stay at home by the militant members of Hezbollah, in order to let them become human shields. What would be your comment on it?
Huq: We don’t have exact information in this regard, but whatever we have learnt from the media like Al Jazeera, BBC, and CNN etc., it was made clear that those people voluntarily remained there. They did not want to leave their homes.
Blitz: Do you support religious freedom?
Huq: Surely! Our leader Hafezzi Huzur in many meetings said, “Muslim are my brothers and sister and non-Muslims are my kin’, because we all are the children of Adam & Eve (Peace be upon them). So, non-Muslims always exist in the Muslim society. And they are free to practice their religion. Yes, Muslim clergies will also continue to preach Islam, and if any of them voluntarily decides to adopt Islam they must also be given that option. But no one should be forced to obey Islam.
Blitz: Recently your party has written a letter to the Chief Advisor in Bangladesh, suggesting withdrawal of existing travel ban on Israel. What was the point that moved you in taking such an excellent step?
Huq: We have written to the Chief Advisor of the present government mentioning details of this issue. We see that occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has been clandestinely supported by Iran. They even celebrated these occupations. So in this case, our understanding is that, it is simply unnecessary to quarrel with Israel. When the Muslims themselves are stabbing each-other at the back, what is the necessity of quarreling with Israel? As to the travel ban, it is not a religious ban. Because, Allah never prohibited Muslims from traveling to any country in the world. Even when the Muslims were driven out of Mecca, and the Ka’aba was controlled by the polytheists, Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) traveled to Mecca and performed Umra. So, though at that time, Mecca was under occupation of the polytheists, statues and idols were inside Ka’aba, still Prophet visited Mecca and offered prayer at Ka’aba. So why Bangladesh Government restrictions on traveling to Jerusalem should not be withdrawn? It is one of our holiest places. .. So, Muslims in Bangladesh should not be deprived of visiting holy places in Jerusalem.
Blitz: Finally, what is your opinion about the Palestinian suicide bombers?
Huq: To commit suicide is prohibited in Islam. But Islamic Shariah is non-rigid, flexible and elastic. For example, pork and wine are prohibited in Islam. But if someone is in such a situation that he or she does not have anything to eat and drink but pork and wine, then he or she may take pork and wine as little as possible to save life. Similarly if there is no other way to confront the enemy but to sacrifice one’s own life then it may be permissible as little as possible to confront the armed enemy. But it can not be made a common practice of war. A Muslim must not be revengeful. Muslims must not target unarmed civilians of enemy nation or community.
Blitz: In the international media there have been certain campaign saying that your party is a radical group, which supports terrorism in the name of Islam and also it supports suicide bombing and jihad for killing Jews and Christians. What is your opinion about that?
Huq: The allegations you are referring to specifically ending at Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, I have never heard that way. Because in Bangladesh such a situation is not existent, and as regards international situation, yes, we support the liberation movement of Afghanistan, not the NATO occupation and US occupation. Yes, we support those who are struggling to liberate Iraq from the occupation of USA and their allies and also we support the liberation struggle of the Palestinians. But, we have reservations about fixing human beings, innocent people as targets for military attack. In fact in our opinion, the way now-a-days explosive and other ammunition are used against civilians was initiated by the US military at the end of the Second World War, when they dropped nuclear weapons on the civilians of Japan. And such a practice has become rampant all over the world which in Islam we do not accept. Yes, in modern warfare there are some collateral damages. If the strugglers or the liberation forces are Muslims it is an obligation to minimize collateral damages and to be specific about military targets. Regarding terrorist activities, we mean killing innocent people, putting bomb in railways, putting bomb on residential areas etc., we do not support. We think such practice must be changed. In recent days, for example, in Iraq, they are targeting American helicopters. We think that is the right way of dealing with the matter. We should not target the civilians the way Jamaatul Mujahedin in Bangladesh was doing.
Blitz: You just mentioned that you support the so-called liberation movement in Afghanistan. Does it mean that you support the Talibans to be back in power?
Huq: Yes, we support the Talibans. But we think that they need to be abreast of time. It is very much needed for them to understand that to run a government at our time, it should be acceptable to the international community as well as to the people of the nation. Talibans, I think, they made some mistakes, and such mistakes should not be repeated.
Blitz: You just said that BKA opposes using civilians as human shields. But in recent war between Israel and Lebanon, Hezbollah used so many innocent civilians as human shields. How you would look into this issue?
Huq: I don’t think that Hezbollah used civilians as human shields. Rather the situation is, the area Israel choose to attack, civilians there did not intend to leave their homes in spite of the threat of military attacks from Israel. May be because they had been sympathetic to the Hezbollah and they supported the Hezbollah.
Blitz: But, so far we know, the innocent civilians were not allowed to leave their houses and forced to stay at home by the militant members of Hezbollah, in order to let them become human shields. What would be your comment on it?
Huq: We don’t have exact information in this regard, but whatever we have learnt from the media like Al Jazeera, BBC, and CNN etc., it was made clear that those people voluntarily remained there. They did not want to leave their homes.
Blitz: Do you support religious freedom?
Huq: Surely! Our leader Hafezzi Huzur in many meetings said, “Muslim are my brothers and sister and non-Muslims are my kin’, because we all are the children of Adam & Eve (Peace be upon them). So, non-Muslims always exist in the Muslim society. And they are free to practice their religion. Yes, Muslim clergies will also continue to preach Islam, and if any of them voluntarily decides to adopt Islam they must also be given that option. But no one should be forced to obey Islam.
Blitz: Recently your party has written a letter to the Chief Advisor in Bangladesh, suggesting withdrawal of existing travel ban on Israel. What was the point that moved you in taking such an excellent step?
Huq: We have written to the Chief Advisor of the present government mentioning details of this issue. We see that occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has been clandestinely supported by Iran. They even celebrated these occupations. So in this case, our understanding is that, it is simply unnecessary to quarrel with Israel. When the Muslims themselves are stabbing each-other at the back, what is the necessity of quarreling with Israel? As to the travel ban, it is not a religious ban. Because, Allah never prohibited Muslims from traveling to any country in the world. Even when the Muslims were driven out of Mecca, and the Ka’aba was controlled by the polytheists, Prophet Muhammed (Peace be upon him) traveled to Mecca and performed Umra. So, though at that time, Mecca was under occupation of the polytheists, statues and idols were inside Ka’aba, still Prophet visited Mecca and offered prayer at Ka’aba. So why Bangladesh Government restrictions on traveling to Jerusalem should not be withdrawn? It is one of our holiest places. .. So, Muslims in Bangladesh should not be deprived of visiting holy places in Jerusalem.
Blitz: Finally, what is your opinion about the Palestinian suicide bombers?
Huq: To commit suicide is prohibited in Islam. But Islamic Shariah is non-rigid, flexible and elastic. For example, pork and wine are prohibited in Islam. But if someone is in such a situation that he or she does not have anything to eat and drink but pork and wine, then he or she may take pork and wine as little as possible to save life. Similarly if there is no other way to confront the enemy but to sacrifice one’s own life then it may be permissible as little as possible to confront the armed enemy. But it can not be made a common practice of war. A Muslim must not be revengeful. Muslims must not target unarmed civilians of enemy nation or community.
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