Threat to Women's Rights
Mitchell | 09.12.2005 19:07
DHAKA (Reuters) - A banned Islamist militant group blamed for a series of bombings in Bangladesh has threatened to kill women, including non-Muslims, if they do not wear the veil, a statement said.
The statement by the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen came hours after Thursday’s suicide bomb attack in a northern town that killed at least eight people, the latest of a series of blasts blamed on militant groups in their campaign for an Islamic state.
“Women will be killed if they are found to move around without wearing burqa (veil) from the first day of Jilhaj,” the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen said in the statement sent to a Dhaka newspaper office.
Jilhaj refers to the Arabic month beginning early January.
“Women, including non-Muslims, are hereby advised not to go out of home without burqa. Seclusion has been made compulsory for you,” said the statement in Bangla language, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Friday.
The group, which wants the introduction of sharia laws in mainly-Muslim Bangladesh, also ordered women students at Dhaka University not to step out after sunset, prompting police to increase security around the campus.
“Women will be killed if they are found to move around without wearing burqa (veil) from the first day of Jilhaj,” the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen said in the statement sent to a Dhaka newspaper office.
Jilhaj refers to the Arabic month beginning early January.
“Women, including non-Muslims, are hereby advised not to go out of home without burqa. Seclusion has been made compulsory for you,” said the statement in Bangla language, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Friday.
The group, which wants the introduction of sharia laws in mainly-Muslim Bangladesh, also ordered women students at Dhaka University not to step out after sunset, prompting police to increase security around the campus.
Mitchell
