Raising Children to be Soldiers of Allah

by Monir Hussain • March 28, 2015 at 5:00 am

"Moreover [the children's] mindset [in the Islamic Madrasa education] is nurtured with a message of hatred towards all non-Muslim communities... Islam is the only true religion, all other religions are false -- this is what they are taught from the beginning by the Madrasa teacher. They also chant nonstop the mantra that all nonbelievers (in Islam) are Kafirs and infidels fit to be destroyed by all true Muslims." — Shudhansu S. Tunga, author of A 20 Million Billion Trillion Dollar Loss: The Story of India's Downslide Independence.

In such a small land as Bangladesh, roughly the size of the U.S. state of Iowa, there are 15,000 officially registered madrasas, accompanied by 200,000 teachers "teaching" four million "students." If one adds to it the number of unregistered madrasas, the number is as high as 64,000.

"Bangladesh is appeasing the most insidious and violent strains of Islam... That appeasement of theocratic demands and naked threats must end, now." — Bob Churchill, Director of Communications, International Humanist and Ethical Union.

One can imagine from the number of madrasas and mosques -- abetted by a government that turns a blind eye to lawlessness -- how many people listening to hate preaching are now being raised to be "Soldiers of Allah."

Dissent is not tolerated in the monolithic Islamic society of Bangladesh. Extremist Islamic forces not only vandalize the idols and temples of the Hindus or Buddhists, they are also kill anyone who speaks out against radicalization or Islamization.

The extremist Islamic forces mostly target university teachers, engineers, writers and bloggers, one after another -- whoever is not in total accord with their faith, including anyone secular-minded.

Notably, it was after the founding the International Islamic Front for Jihad in 1998, that Bangladesh experienced the first major attack conducted by Islamists, on March 6, 1999. It killed 10 and critically injured 105 innocent people who were listening to music at a cultural program organized by Udichi, a secular cultural organization.