An update on this story. "200 hurt in Dhaka as Islamist bodies protest law for women," from Indo-Asian News Service:
Dhaka, April 12 (IANS) Bangladesh's top judge and an Indian jurist have come out strongly in support of a move to formulate a law to ensure equal rights for women even as Islamist bodies termed it 'anti-Quran' and clashed on the streets, leaving 200 wounded.
'Women are about a half of the total population. Hence, their demand for equal rights is logical. Then why are various incidents taking place now on the issue?' Chief Justice M. Ruhul Amin remarked at a seminar Friday as protests entered the second day.
He said: 'The demand for equal rights for women in every aspect of life is logical.'
Ombudsman of West Bengal, Samaresh Banerjee, who addressed the event as the guest of honour, said judicial systems in South Asian countries are not well equipped to deal with crimes on gender issues.
'Gender justice is a new jurisprudence all over the world,' Banerjee said, underscoring the need for initiating judicial education on gender issues in the eight member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).
Meanwhile, the police battled protestors in Dhaka and the Chittagong port city, the United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency said.
Bangladesh's Ismalist bodies that have forged a front are protesting the recently announced national women development policy.
The marchers outside Dhaka's Baitul Mukarram mosque chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Women and Children Affairs Adviser Rasheda K. Chowdhury and of the interim government of Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed.
Three members of Islamist outfits beat up a policeman after the cop fell behind his retreating colleagues who chased the agitators near the mosque, The Daily Star newspaper said Saturday.
The police used batons and fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the demonstrations. At least 52 policemen and five journalists were injured.
Hundreds of people who had gone to the mosque for Friday prayers were trapped inside.
Chief Adviser Ahmed, performing the prime ministerial functions, announced the National Women Development Policy-2008 on March 8, triggering protests from Islamist organisations.
Since then, some radical groups have been claiming that the policy gives equal inheritance rights to men and women, while the government maintained there is no such provision.
Can't have that!
In efforts to scotch the discontent, four advisers of the caretaker government met Islamist leaders on March 27 and formed a review committee headed by the acting Khatib of Baitul Mukarram Mosque.
Sometimes I think that many of these Islamic countries like Bangladesh would have benefited greatly had the Communist taken control early on.
Communism wasn't very pretty for those who lived under it, but neither is Islam.
At least Communist regimes never catered to anyone, least of all, religious groups. They got down to the grass roots and weeded out any opposition to their ideological agenda.
Sounds harsh, but that's the only kind of regime that can deal effectively with the Muslim religious establishment, and which one is the more tyranical and hostile to progress and human rights? It's probably a draw, but 20 years under the Communist might have at least taught them to think outside the Islamic box.
Imagine believing, to the core of your soul, that you are entitled by God to beat, sexually abuse, completely control, and even kill any female (regardless of age or relation) that comes within a certain defined purview. Imagine having the state back you up. Imagine seeing your power, your superiority, manifested in the bowing, scraping and systematized debasement of females you see every day.
The United States had to fight a long and horrible war to rid itself of slavery. How much harder will it be for Islam?
"Bangladesh's Ismalist bodies that have forged a front are protesting the recently announced national women development policy."
...read as...Muslim Men object to giving rights to women..
further proof Islam considers women as property, not as humans..
Muslim women already may know this.
"Gender justice is a new jurisprudence all over the world....""
Only in backward, uncivilized, mysoginistic societies.
He said: 'The demand for equal rights for women in every aspect of life is logical.'
I really haven't noticed a lot of logical reasoning in the Qur'an. In fact, isn't the scientific method one of those inventions of the decadent West? Hey, so is that idea of equal rights for women!
Where is Rage Boy?
Hey, stupid Western feminist groups, you'd better wake up and pay attention!
If you don't wake up soon, you, too, will be wearing a tent!
And Gordon Brown thinks there's nothing wrong with allowing sharia in Britain?
"Women are about a half of the total population. Hence, their demand for equal rights is logical."
Even if there were only 1% of women in this area, then they should still receive equal rights. It isn't a numbers thing, it's a what-is-right thing.
God sees women equally, so why are some men blind to this?
rational said "but 20 years under the Communist might have at least taught them to think outside the Islamic box"
HaHa, this a joke right? Almost decades of communist rule in Russia and China hasn't taught muslims to think outside the box. After the collapse of the soviet union, these muslims are picking off right after they left off in islamic barbarisim.
decades of Turkish enforced secularism has not erased islamic fanatacism it's making a come back.
Saddam and the Baath party ran a secular Iraq where they all had religous freedoms. Now after this liberation by the USA, these people are back discriminating against Christians,Kurds, Sunnis, shias, Assyrians, you name it. As well as making calls for sharia laws. You see in all these cases the unholy book of muslims, the koran has not changed. It's the same manual for islamic terrorisim, discrimiation, slavery, etc.
They sure are afraid of women aren't they.
Sounds a bit gay to me.
"They sure are afraid of women aren't they.
Sounds a bit gay to me.
Posted by: DaveMate "
...they are terrified of easily availiable porno movies...we should flood them with free dvds..
This was a demonstration against freedom. Yet, the average lunatic "liberal" and "leftist" in the West, cannot comprehend a demo against freedom and liberty.
This reminds me of the Mahdi Revolt in the Sudan about 1880. It is often referred to in books as a revolt for freedom and against imperialism. In fact, it was a revolt in favor of the Muslim right to raid non-Muslims and take slaves among them. The British had stopped the slave trade in the Sudan, distinctly showing a lack of consideration for native Muslim culture. So the Mahdi Revolt must have been justified. On the other hand, how did those non-Muslim tribes feel that were the target of the slave raids???