Protests in Bangladesh against equal rights to women.

Islam is the first one to give basic human rights to women, says Muslim apologists, and Indian Islamic scholar Ashgar Ali Enginner says it is indeed revolutionary. Islam has emancipated women from cruel pre Islamic ear in Arabia!! Islamic ulema (or scholars) have vested interest in promoting terrible image of pre-Islamic religious beliefs - but they over look the facts like Islam has adopted many pagan rituals like circumventing Ka'ba, running between hills, shaving of head, sacrificing animals, stoning of devil - values and way of life for the simple reason that is to justify its advent and what is in Koran as enlightenment they needed to project pre Islamic era as dark age; in simple words, it is age of darkness vs. age of enlightenment. Considering Islam's fondness to destroy every thing not Islamic in its path, it is quite difficult to establish facts and actual situation that prevailed  in pre-Islamic era.

If women are given basic rights or equal rights, why do we see such terrible images from countries like Afghanistan under Taliban (present day is not much different), Saudi Arabia and countries like Sudan? I recalled what is the actual problem in all these superfluous claims in my earlier article, women in islam. In line with mentioned protests, in that article, in Yemen against raising of minimum age for girls to be qualified for marriage, we have protests in 'secular' Bangladesh against granting more rights to women under the argument that such laws are against Koran; the great irony in all this is such kind of protests taking place in a country known for having only women prime ministers for much of its time.

Islamists protest women's rights in Bangladesh (or here or here)
{{{

Dozens of people were injured in Bangladesh as riot police clashed with thousands of Islamists protesting women's rights, authorities and witnesses said. 

The protesters damaged buses and cars Monday, setting several on fire, while police used clubs and tear gas to disperse the Islamists, who were wearing skullcaps and burial cloths. 

"We'll die for the cause of Islam, but (will) not allow the government to disrespect (the) Quran," one protester shouted during the demonstration near the national mosque in downtown Dhaka. 

The government recently announced its National Women Development Policy 2011, which ensures women expanded rights in property and education. The protesters said the policy is against the Quran. 

Fazlul Huq Amini, leader of a coalition of Islamic groups called the Islami Oikya Jote, asked his followers to take to the streets to protest the policy. Amini said the Quran defines how much property a woman should inherit, and the government should not allow women more than that.
"It's against the principle of the Quran, and we'll resist it at any cost," Amini said. 

Thousands of students in madrassas, or Islamic schools, carried sticks and logs as they marched the streets. Protests also took place in the southern port city of Chittagong and several other areas. Business activities ceased, and schools remained closed because of fears of violence.
"We had sufficient security measures to avert any violent incidents," said Benazir Ahmed, Dhaka's police chief. 

The government said it had done nothing against the Quran. "Amini is misleading the people," said government spokesman Mohammad Shahjahan Miah. 

Earlier on Monday, a madrassa student was shot to death in western Jessore district when police opened fire on the protesters. 

Amini, a former lawmaker, said the protests will continue until the policy is scrapped.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party lent support to the protests.

}}}

To read more on regarding Muslim women, click on the label: islam on women.