by Shiraz Maher
February 1, 2012 at 5:00 am
February 1, 2012 at 5:00 am
Last week the government of Bangladesh announced that it had foiled a potential military coup led by the radical Islamist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir ["Party of Liberation"]. Brigadier General Muhammed Masud Razzaq told a press conference in the capital, Dhaka, that 16 members of the Bangladeshi Army – including retired and active Officers – had conspired to dismiss the government of Sheikha Hasina after she made the country's constitution more secular.
He described those involved as "fanatics... with extreme religious beliefs." Two retired officers, Lt. Col. Ehsan Yusuf and Major Zakir, have been arrested, although the main perpetrators are believed to be operating from abroad.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is an Islamist party whose members seek to revive an Islamic state, or Caliphate. They are deeply opposed to democracy, and believes in adopting violent jihad as the cornerstone of their foreign policy – with the aim of subjugating the entire world to Islam. Founded in 1953 in Jerusalem, the movement now operates around the world, with an international leadership in Lebanon directing its activities.
The group is no stranger to controversy. It is banned across the Middle East, as well as in Pakistan, and Germany. Anti-Semitism laws in Germany were used to outlaw the group after incendiary leaflets were published shortly after 9/11 calling for jihad against Israel and the eradication of the Jewish state. When the war in Iraq started in 2003, the group again published a leaflet telling Muslims to fight jihad in Iraq and to "exterminate your rulers if they stand in your way."
Since 2003, when a new leader took over, Hizb-ut-Tahrir has been increasingly aggressive on the world stage. It has sought to re-establish itself on the Arab street by organizing demonstrations in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. More recently, its members have been seen in Egypt's Tahrir Square as well. The most notable sign of its renewed venom has come with the increased emphasis on trying to stage coups in strategic Muslim countries.
In June 2011, the group was also linked to a failed coup attempt in Pakistan during which a brigadier and four other senior officers were arrested. As Pakistan is a nuclear power wedged into one of the world's most dangerous regions, bordering Iran, Afghanistan, China, and India. it is hard to understate the ramifications if that coup had been successful.
The Sunday Times in London reported:
The Sunday Times has obtained the names of a dozen British Hizb-ut-Tahrir activists based in Lahore and Karachi, or commuting between Britain and Pakistan. There are believed to be many more.
Tayyib Muqeem, an English teacher from Stoke-on-Trent, said he had moved to Lahore to convert Pakistanis to the movement.
At Lahore's Superior College, where Muqeem has set up a Hizb-ut-Tahrir student group, he said the organization's aim was to subject Muslim and western countries to Islamic rule under sharia law, "by force" if necessary.
In a caliphate, 'every woman would have to cover up,' and stoning to death for adultery and the chopping off of thieves' hands would be the law, he said. Read the rest on:
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