Also published in CNN iReport

Couple of months back, majority people were talking about the possible outburst of a third force, a non-political platform that may become a factor to decide the fate of the next general elections due before January. The unpleasant situation became evident because of the widespread misdeeds of the ruling government led by Awami League- and the opposition alliance helmed by the BNP.

Why third force was evident! It’s not because several think tanks [pro-AL] anticipated or incited the need for such a venture to campaign for the AL to bring it out of the ditch it has been in for the last four years — thanks to poor management of govt and party by corrupt leaders through shameless nepotism. Failure to check the usual noncooperation from officials supporting the opposition parties has made the task for the govt tough to handle the unexpected situations created by the opposition alliance.

Even the AL couldn’t utilise the best from Shahbagh protest, some leaders of which are pro-govt activists, which has created a mass hype among the pro-liberation Bangladeshis to stand together demanding death sentence for all razakars [collaborators or traitors] so that they can’t enjoy anymore the taste of “impunity” and an immediate ban on Jamaat for war crimes and the recent massacres. The administration also didn’t do justice to “atheist [and anti-Jamaat] blogger” Ahmed Razib Haider by not publishing its probe report on the gruesome killing and “his blog Nurani Chapa”. Independent IT experts revealed within two days that the WordPress blogsite, having derogatory contents about Prophet Muhammad (sm), was launched the day after he was killed by some radical Islamists linked to Shibir, young striking force of Jamaat.

And even though opportunist daily Inqilab and Jamaat-BNP-sponsored daily Amar Desh had published much of those 19 blog posts on their newspapers days within Razib was killed, the acting editor of the papers weren’t arrested within hours, not till either! They did it to assist the opposition gaining some voters’ support for the next polls by inciting fundamentalists [most of who are allies of the opposition alliance or anti-AL] and “raise” them against the pro-liberation Spirit of Shahbagh, and the leadership of the online activists, the govt and the people, who have become the greatest threat for BNP & Jamaat politics as a whole. Amar Desh, Sangram and Naya Diganta newspapers and Diganta TV have always been upbeat against the govt and since February 5, Shahbagh, saying “all the Shahbagh supporters and the govt are atheists”, echoed by the BNP chief and AL ally and military dictator HM Ershad!

The Amar Desh propaganda worked as the devils in the fundamentalists woke up and they brought out violent processions against “blasphemy by some “atheist [and anti-Jamaat] bloggers” linked to Shahbagh” on February 20 across the country from mosques [after praying, or not, their Friday prayers] and attacked the state security forces; vandalised Gonojagoron Moncho, set up in different places in solidarity with the Shahbagh protesters; and monuments erected in memory of the 1952 Language Heroes; burned national flag… these Muslims, backed by Jamaat-Shibir, weren’t as violent as their boss, who on February 28 and afterwards has been orchestrating the incidents of 1971 Liberation War [same targets, plus the temples, houses and businesses of the Hindu communities in over 35 districts] to create panic and stop the tribunal that is holding the trials of the top Jamaat leaders for committing crimes against humanity during the war [for assisting the Pakistani occupation army in genocide, rape, loot and arson]. Even though the trials began in March 2010, Jamaat-Shibir took to the streets against the trials in September last year on regular intervals.

Within the first week of March, the BNP joined hands with Jamaat’s violent protests as Khaleda Zia returned from Singapore [after treatment] and started shutdowns amid similar attacks co-ordinately with Jamaat and the Islamists parties.

Hefazat-e-Islam appeared in the scene early March too. Through harsh speeches against the “atheist [and anti-Jamaat] bloggers” [identified by Shibir, Amar Desh, Inqilab], leaders of the Jamaat-sponsored [but anti-Jamaat, as claimed by its leadership] group [not a political party] on March 5 declared a long-march [motor march] for April 6 towards Dhaka demanding death sentence to the “Shahbagh bloggers” and 12 other [offensive] points. All the opposition parties began their preparations for the showdown to counter Shahbagh’s anti-Jamaat movement by an Islamic campaign to attract mass participation of the blind Muslims.

The protesters kept Shahbagh Occupied for 17 long days while on the eve of the mass rally of Hefazat, it says they would have brought in 10 million people in Dhaka if they hadn’t been barred by the govt and pro-govt organisations. Seeing their preparations under a huge fund, the govt made a U-turn and arrested four bloggers just days before the long-march, only to be rejected by the unpopular radical Islamist group. The Shahbagh protesters and those supported the cause enraged by the govt move which was supposed to be acted upon the pro-opposition media and Jamaat leaders across the country for inciting violence, and the other perpetrators who have been carrying out mayhem ruthlessly.

Now that the days of holding back are over, we can see the real face of Hefazat-e-Islam, who never protested any act of the Jamaat-Shibir, and has been adamant to demonstrate against the bloggers and the govt.

It’s also astonishing how the BNP chairperson could agree with the demands of Hefazat since it also demands that men and women can’t converge publicly or study together at institutions; monuments be demolished; no candlelight vigil; annulling the progressive policies for women development and education; declaring another group of Muslims [Qadianis] “non-Muslims”… the other demands could only be accepted by radical Muslims or puppets of the fraud clerics, not anyone having a free mind to think and gather knowledge to try to become a HUMAN BEING first.

Such an attempt by Islamists [the opposition parties] in this context is dangerous for the whole nation as anything can happen now, and if be, it’d be more disastrous than what we’ve been experiencing in the recent days. The reason is: the Shahbagh protesters since Friday evening have been observing a shutdown and also a blockade of road, rail and waterways to thwart the long-march while the govt is firm to take necessary measures to any unprecedented situation than the rally at Motijheel.

Seeing this, how the non-Muslims [10% of the total population and regular victims of attacks by fundamentalists] would feel and think?

All set for the show! Let’s hope for the best — elimination of the devils from a peace-loving & liberal Bangladesh.