Dhaka’s all out offensives on militants

Special Correspondent

Finally, members of the law enforcing agency arrested 22 members of notorious Islamist militancy group, Hizbut Tahrir. The arrestees, most of who are students of Dhaka University and North south University, were holding a secret meeting at a house on the third floor of a five-storied building at Mohammedpur in Dhaka.

Raiding the meeting venue, the law enforcers also seized a huge quantity of party leaflets, posters, compact disks (CDs) and party books. Some of the posters read: "Awami League and BNP alliances' sycophancy to the United States and India is responsible for the present situation of the country.

By arresting the members of the notorious Hizbut Tahrir, the present interim government has shown its sincerity in combating Islamist militancy from Bangladesh.

It may be mentioned here that, Weekly Blitz is the first newspaper in Bangladesh to expose the notoriety of Hizbut Tahrir. Since February 2006, we have published a number of reports, commentaries and editorials on the existence of Islamist militant groups in Bangladesh, which had been ignored by the former BNP-Jamaat Coalitions government. We are giving some excerpts from our previous reports on Hizbut Tahrir for the reference of our readers:

“Hizbut Tahrir, an extremist organization, openly opposing the theme of war on terror and banned in more than 20 countries, has recently intensified its notorious activities in Bangladesh. Taking the excuse of protesting the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper, this organization called for ‘Grand Rally’ and procession to set seize at the Danish Embassy in Dhaka recently. Their program however was stopped by members of law enforcing agencies in Bangladesh. Later, this organization started campaign against Danish products exported to Bangladesh. Initially, they picked up a popular milk powder named Dano. Millions of posters were circulated in the country, which might cost a large amount of money. Earlier the same organization distributed millions of posters protesting the cartoons. On investigation, it was revealed that, Hizbut Tahrir was lead by some teachers of Dhaka University. Although it was not allowed for the government job holders to participate into any political parties, affiliation of Dhaka University teachers in this extremist organization is still being ignored by Bangladesh authorities for unknown reason. It is also learnt that, this organization is receiving millions of dollar from unknown sources. Although some of the intelligence wings of the country are already monitoring the activities of Hizbut Tahrir, there is virtually no initiative by the government to ban it in Bangladesh, taking the instance of many countries in the world.

On condition of anonymity, a source in Hizbut Tahrir told this correspondent that, their leaders are having excellent relations with some of the top figures in al Qaeda. The source further added saying that, their ultimate goal is to capture power in Bangladesh and turn the country into an Islamic republic. Hizbut Tahrir openly opposes democracy and existing judicial system in the world. They promote Islamic Sharial law in all the courts.

According to information, Hizbut Tahrir is a Middle East-based political organization. Its Indonesian branch advocates sharia through public rallies and campaign. They argued that the Indonesian government should run the economy according to Islamic principles. Their well-known slogan is "sharia is the answer." Its main mastermind Omar Bakri says, “With Afghanistan gone, the Muslims don’t really have a place where they can come back to, regroup and have time to think and relax without the authorities breathing down their necks

Hizbut Tahrir also advocates the establishment of a "khilafah Islamiyah" -a global Islamic state composed of all the Muslims in the world. Yusanto said the recent establishment of the European Union, where the currency is united and the borders are opened, should illustrate that in the future European states are going to be even more closely united.”

In one of the sites, the extremist organization claims that, Hizbut Tahrir ("Party of Liberation") argue that Islam is no longer a powerful force in world politics because Muslims have been divided by a nation-state system imposed by the West.
Muslims must therefore reject Western forms of government, including democracy, and reestablish the caliphate as a government for all Muslims. Like "Hizbut Tahrir", "neo-Salafi" groups reject democracy as un-Islamic, but they believe that violent struggle is not necessary to resist efforts by the United States and Israel to destroy Islam.

Another site says, Hizbut Tahrir is one of the most radical groups operating in the world today and is an offshoot of Al Muhajiroun, whose leader Omar Bakri Mohammed broke away from HT to form what became AM. To permit Hizbut Tahrir to hold a conference openly calling for the implementation of the Caliphate in the world is a travesty on the war on terror and will only attract those who will follow in the footsteps of the London bombers.

Meanwhile, a secret meeting of some of the notorious cadres of this organization held on 27^th February at Sea Palace restaurant at city’s Uttara area. This meeting was although called in the name of seminar, but on practical investigation, it was found that, there was no any seminar of Hizbut Tahrir at the mentioned location. Rather, some of the derailed youths were seen at the program listening to sermons by the leaders of Hizbut Tahrir, mostly with provocation of Jihad. The speakers were strongly criticizing democracy saying it was the rules of devils. They categorically told their palls that United States is master mind of spreading democracy in the world to damage Islam. They called upon their supporters to stand against democracy and promote Islamic law in Bangladesh. It may be recalled here that, recently banned Jamiatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) also started its activities a few years back in the same way of Hizbut Tahrir, when the government was seen reluctant in taking any actions. Experts opine that, Hizbut Tahrir will also turn into a potential threat to the country in near future.

Another source confirms that recently some Bangladeshis who fought against Israel in Palestine and in Afghan war (in favour of Talibans) joined Hizbut Tahrir. The supremos of Hizbut Tahrir are actively considering beginning orientation, motivation and training courses for their supporters to prepare them for any Jihad.

Meanwhile, we have got various information on this extremist group. In one of such information, it was revealed that, Hizbut Tahrir was founded in Jerusalem 50 years ago and banned in many countries, Hizbut Tahrir is using the war in Iraq to seek converts to its cause: uniting Muslims in an Islamic superstate. Since the war began, hundreds of Hizbut Tahrir members have gathered outside the United States and British embassies in Jakarta chanting "destroy America" and demanding the implementation of Islamic law in

Indonesia. According to Muhammad Ismail Yusanto, a spokesman for Hizbut Tahrir, the war offers the group an opportunity to broaden its appeal.”

According to various reports and information, there are at least 90 Islamist militant groups active in Bangladesh, which are yet to be banned by the government. Earlier Bangladesh government banned four Islamist militant groups including Harkatul Jihad, Shahadat-e-Hikma, Jagrata Muslim Janata and Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB). But, according to the latest information, much notorious groups are still active in the country. These groups are secretly gaining strength and are planning so-called Islamist revolution in Bangladesh. Names of these Islamist militancy groups are: Hezbollah-Bangladesh, Hizbut Taohid, Hizbut Tahrir, Al Habat Al Islamia, Al Markajul Islami, Jamaatul Falaiya, Towhidi Janata, Biswa Islami Front, Jum-atul Al-Sadat, Shahadat-e-Nabuat, Allah’r Dol, Joise Mustafa Bangladesh, World Islamic Front for Jihad, Joise Muhammad, Warat Islamic Front, Jamat-as-Sadat, Al-Khidmat, Hezbollah Islamist Somaj, Muslim Millat Shariah Council, Hizbul Mahadi, Al Qaeda, Al Islam Martyr’s Brigade, International Khatmey Nobuat Movement, Amra Dhakabasi, Khatmey Nabuat Andolan, Arakan Rohingya Force, Islamic Solidarity Front, Arakan People’s Army, Liberation Myanmar Force, Arakan Mujahid Party, Rohingya Independent Force, Rohingya Independent Army, Rohingya Patriotic Front, Rohingya Solidarity Organization, Rohingya Islamic Front, Muslim Liberation Front of Burma, Arakan Liberation Front, Arakan-Rohingya National Organization, Arakan-Rohingya Islamic Front, Arakan Liberation Party, National United Party of Arakan, Arakan Army, Democratic Party of Arakan, Ibtedatul Al-Muslemin, Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadis Andolan, Jamiatul Yehhiya Ut-Turaz, Hayatul Igasa, Satyabad, Ahle Hadis Jubo Sangha, Anjuman Talamij-e-Islamiyah, Tahfuz-e-Haramine Parishad, Aiyamma Parishad, Al-Haramine, Khedmat-e-Islam, Hifazat-e-Khatmey Nabuat, Young Muslim Society, Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, Al-Jajeera, Islami Jihad Group, Islami Sanya (Soldiers), Ahle Hadis Tablig-e-Islam, Isnahuk Muslemin Parishad-Bangladesh, Kalemaar Jama’at, Far East Islami Sangathan, Al Tanzib, Bangladesh Islam Rokkha, Jamiatul Mudarresin Bangladesh, Tanjim Bangladesh, Iqtadul Tulah Al-Muslemin, Amanatul Furqan Al Khairiyyah, United Student’s Association of Arakan Movement, Luzna Mekka Al Khairiyyah, Al-Sayeed Mujahid Bahini (Force), Ta’amir Ud-din Bangladesh, Allah’r Dol Brigade (Suicide Squad), Ketan Bahini, Ehsab Bahini, Shahid Nasrullah Al-Arafat Brigade (suicide squad), Al Islami Sanghati Parishad Bangladesh, Islami Prochar Media, Muslim Mujahidin Bangladesh, Amirat-e-Din, Islami Liberation Tiger of Bangladesh, Sahaba Sainik Parishad, Islami Biplob Parishad, Al-Islam, Kalima-e-Daoat, Tanzin-e-Khatmey Nabuat, Qital Fi Sabilillah and Muslim Aid Bangladesh. According to information, these groups are active in various parts of the country including Dhaka. Most interestingly, the banned organizations are also getting organized under new names. There are solid allegations of affiliation of some of the ruling coalition leaders with such groups. Recently 18 Congressmen expressed their concern about these organization in their letter addressed to the Prime Minister. When this letter was just drawing the attention of policy makers in Dhaka, an organization named ‘Sachetan Islami Janata’ organized a rally at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National mosque, where cadres of banned Harkatul Jihad were also seen. Intelligence and law enforcing agencies remained tight lipped at these activities, which also raised questions in the minds of the people of the country. During the recent rally, a member of Harkatul Jihad, in his interview to a private television channel pronounced that this organization is not any extremist group. They even announced to participate in the next general election in the country with the objective of seizing power. They have also announced to declare a new political party in next few days.

The hate-inciting Islamist sect Hizbut Tahrir has three clear goals: to establish a community of like-minded Hizbut Tahrir members in host states, to sway public opinion in one or more host states to facilitate change of government, and, finally, to install a new government that implements Islam generally and comprehensively, carrying (its particular brand of) Islamic thought to people throughout the world.
Hizbut Tahrir’s constitution is a typical, dark, Islamist, totalitarian, freedom-removing, theocratic and extremist formula for an Islamic Caliphate. Hizbut Tahrir has distributed leaflets inciting the murder of lesbians and gay men. It has referred to suicide bombings as “legitimate” acts of “martyrdom”. One Hizbut Tahrir member recently expressed his regret to the religious freedom organization Forum 18 that Hitler had not succeeded in eliminating all Jews. Hizbut Tahrir is proscribed in Russia, Germany and many Muslim countries.
Embarrassingly, Britain is now Hizbut Tahrir’s de facto headquarters, from where it fundraises and recruits, whilst supporting its extremist brothers and sisters across the globe. A ban on its activities is currently being reviewed by the British Government following the delivery of two dossiers of information on the sect’s activities by the anti terrorist group VIGIL in November 2006 and March this year.
The main spokesman for Hizbut Tahrir, Dr Imran Waheed, who led a rally of 8,000 people in London in December 2005, is recorded as saying that there can be “no possibility of harmonious co-existence between Islam and the West. Ultimately one has to prevail.” Hizbut Tahrir is – and has been for years - a systematic dissemination of venom and poison through duplicity; cloaked in a flawed and blatantly apostate interpretation of Taqiyya.
Hizbut Tahrir – like most extreme Islamist groups (Al Qaeda, the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front, the Taliban and Hezbollah) – seeks that elusive state from which they think they will be able to launch their religious and political ideologies and thus grow an Islamic empire. An empire – Hizbut Tahrir refers to a caliphate - which, according to an archived webpage of the Hizbut Tahrir website, would "wrest the reins of initiative away from other states and nations" and become the dominant hegemony before Islam ultimately takes over the world.
Since its inception in Jerusalem in 1953, Hizbut Tahrir’s attempts at winning over a state – like almost all extreme Islamist parties’ attempts – have failed pitifully. In 1968 then 1969 Hizbut Tahrir was allegedly involved in two failed coup attempts in Jordan and Syria. In 1974 Hizbut Tahrir failed in a coup attempt in Egypt. Upset that they’d overestimated the number of nuts in their target states, in 1978 Hizbut Tahrir begrudgingly acknowledged “that the Muslim Ummah had reached a state of total surrender and despair and was not responding to anything”.
After twenty years of banging its head against the wall (virtual silence punctuated by the occasional arrest of a member), in 1998 – incidentally the year of the Tanzanian and Kenyan US embassy bombings by Al Qaeda, and a year of marked Internet take-up – Hizbut Tahrir suddenly decided once again that the world should know that “the Caliphate is the wish of all Muslims” and thus busily set about making as many people as possible believe in their parallel universe, hanging onto the coat-tails of 911 and consequent “victimization” of Muslims. Hizbut Tahrir began a two level recruitment strategy – recruiting students who, when they found work, would keep the sect financially buoyant and uneducated “foot soldiers” who would eventually do their dirty work, when called upon to rise up and seize power.
Hizbut Tahrir’s failures to get hold of a state rankle it most in Central Asia where it has large followings in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, as well as in China's traditionally Muslim Xinjiang Province. Its expansion into Central Asia coincided with the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s but it came across unexpectedly tough national leaders where it tried to grow – one of whom is alleged to have got so fed up with Hizbut Tahrir that he boiled some of its members alive - and consequently Hizbut Tahrir huffed and puffed but failed to make the breakthroughs it was banking on.
Hizbut Tahrir has developed a considerable support base in Bangladesh and in the Bangladeshi community in the UK, describing the last 16 years of government in Bangladesh as ”a failure of the so-called democratic system run according to the dictates of foreign imperialists”. Hizbut Tahrir Bangladesh has recently published its “Islamic Manifesto” for the country demanding a Khilafah (caliphate), widespread implementation of Shariah law and – perhaps most worrying for the impoverished Bangladeshi economy - for such measures as no foreign ownership of any of the country’s resources.
Yet Hizbut Tahrir refuses to enter democratic elections wherever it is in the world, claiming elections contrary to Shariah law thus null and void – instead, in Bangladesh, according to its chief in Bangladesh, Mohiuddin Ahmed, wishing to establish Bangladesh as an Islamic state through “systematic movement”.
So what is this “systematic movement” Ahmed refers to, and does Hizbut Tahrir really have a chance of gaining the keys to the unstable Bangladeshi state?
Hizbut Tahrir denies sending death threats to politicians, journalists and intellectuals in Bangladesh, though this extremist sect has a record of sending death threats to try to get its own way. (Notably, the gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell received numerous death threats from Hizbut Tahrir representatives in the 1990’s). Through infiltrating government positions, Hizbut Tahrir has brought pressure to bear on politicians through fear and finance.
Hizbut Tahrir is recruiting followers at Bangladesh’s universities and several of its student activists have recently been arrested in the country for distributing inflammatory leaflets. It uses the old excuses of Palestine, Iraq and Western colonialism as the grounds for opportunistic recruiting – saying that its own policies will bring Bangladesh into a “Golden Age”, as once Islam (they allege) experienced. Any opportunity - whether it be cartoon protests or Papal utterances - presents the grounds for a Hizbut Tahrir protest and recruitment drive.
Subsequent to a massive bombing attack on cities in Bangladesh on August 17th, 2005, Hizbut Tahrir responded by accusing India of initiating a campaign to destabilize Bangladesh. Investigation later revealed the terrorist attack was carried out by another extremist Islamist faction in Bangladesh, Jama'atul Mujahideen. (Hizbut Tahrir habitually accuses India, along with "Western colonial powers" of 'conspiracy' against the Bangladeshi populace, using speechifying not dissimilar to that used against the United States or Britain in the Middle East)
Certainly, Bangladesh is ripe for political change. And students – unlike in many other democracies – play an important part in Bangladeshi government. Student politics is particularly strong in Bangladesh, a hangover from the liberation movement era of the early 1970’s. Almost all parties have highly active student wings, and students have been elected to the Bangladeshi Parliament while still students.
The two major parties in Bangladesh are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Awami League. BNP finds its allies among Islamist parties like Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and Islami Oikya Jot, while Awami League teams up with leftist and secularist parties. Another important player is the Jatiya Party, headed by former military ruler Ershad. The Awami League-BNP rivalry has been bitter and punctuated by protests, violence and murder – the three environments Hizbut Tahrir thrives in.
Hizbut Tahrir garners support and funds for its Bangladeshi designs in Bangladesh and in the UK.
One investigator from the anti terrorist organization VIGIL has been spending a considerable amount of time in the Tower Hamlets area of London – an area synonymous with Bangladeshi immigration and (in world-famous Brick Lane) Bangladeshi restaurants. 33 percent of the Tower Hamlet’s inhabitants are of Bangladeshi origins. It’s a deprived area with high levels of unemployment (like South Croydon, the kind of void area Hizbut Tahrir look to expand their “foot-soldier” recruitment in) .
From her investigations of the area, it has become clear that Hizbut Tahrir (1) are spending considerable sums of money recruiting Bangladeshi Muslims in the area (2) taking out whole-page, cash-paid Hizbut Tahrir recruitment ads in Bangladeshi newspapers (which keep some of the papers going according to one editor) (3) inviting Bangladeshis to Hizbut Tahrir study circles and events (4) telling Bangladeshis not to vote in local or national elections as this is against the principles of Islam (5) distributing inflammatory propaganda leaflets in the area daily, which aim to attract the youth (6) at meetings declaring the West and, in particular, British life as deviant and corrupt – declaring even the Brick Lane festival as an event which Muslims should not be seen at because of the free mixing and alcohol present (7) underlying the “great work” Hizbut Tahrir is doing in Bangladesh – how their work there is a portent of the Hizbut Tahrir sponsored caliphate to come there (8) taking considerable funds off Bangladeshi recruits (9) apologizing for their failure in the past to recognize Bangladeshi Muslims as equals (Hizbut Tahrir Britain consists predominantly of Pakistani Muslims who, as a group, have a well-documented superiority complex over Bangladeshi Muslims) and are actively looking to elect a British, Bengali-speaking Bangladeshi to their visible British leadership (10) are aggressively engineering takeovers of cash-cow Bangladeshi mosques in the Tower Hamlets area (11) are fishing the Tower Hamlets Bangladeshi community for useful, particularly Bangladesh Nationalist Party, political connections and routes for infiltration (12) are openly rejecting integration into British society, underlying the superiority of “Muslim identity” and the irrelevance of British “kuffar” laws (13) are privately distributing radical Islamist literature amongst members of the Bangladeshi Diaspora in Tower Hamlets (14) are particularly “providing structures of support” (radicalizing) Bangladeshi Muslims from the community in or recently out of jail and (15) are discreetly attending study circles and seminars in well-known private premises, who have been made aware (16) reports are coming through UK Bangladeshis that terror training camps are now springing up in Bangladesh to which British Bangladeshis are being sent.
More worrying is the evidence uncovered on the area’s East London Youth Forum, which is operating as a front organization for Hizbut Tahrir. The Youth Forum engages Muslim youths in activities ranging from hiking to paint-balling – activities, which on the face of it, their (often 18 hour working day) parents are happy to see them partake in. Only, when these youths are away, then Hizbut Tahrir starts the brainwashing. Undercover Sunday Times journalists accompanied members of the group to one paint-balling session last September in Zulu wood, Manchester, where an imam present described Osama Bin Laden as a "Muslim brother" and said it was the "responsibility" of every Muslim to bring back the caliphate. Kasim Shafiq, 28, a senior member of Hizbut Tahrir who was present, declared that Muslims should not vote in British elections. "Our own shahadah [creed] tells us that the authority and law do not belong to the non-Muslims, so why are we going to vote for non-Muslims?" According to the Sunday Times, “The Asian group paid no attention to the 300 or so other players at the six-acre site, although they kept their voices down when, at the end of a game, the winning team called "Allahu Akbar [God is great]". During one game, a player said: "I’ve been shot." His team-mate replied: "Don’t worry, the shahid [martyr] never dies."
Hizbut Tahrir’s focus in search of its “elusive state” has swung away from the Central European states like Uzbekistan – for now. It is focused primarily on a takeover of Bangladesh, from within Bangladesh and using the financial and political muscle of the Bangladeshi population living abroad. Or as one Bangladeshi Tower Hamlets resident put it to VIGIL’s investigator, “Bangladesh is home to corruption and political violence – in that chaos, any vaguely ordered Islamist group with cash and influence coming from abroad could seem like the solution.”
What are the odds of Hizbut Tahrir succeeding in taking over Bangladesh, when they’ve failed in the past in all their coup attempts?
On the one hand, they have a chance. If the Jamaat e Islami party can be sufficiently infiltrated, bought out and threatened by Hizbut Tahrir, they are already the largest partner of the largest political party in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has already banned two radical Islamist parties in Bangladesh –the JMJB and the JMB – so a likely deal with a group which is clearly in the pockets of Hizbut Tahrir seems unlikely, unless Hizbut Tahrir have sufficiently infiltrated the BNP (which, according to a BNP source, they have not).
Moreover, other factors play against Hizbut Tahrir. For one, Bangladesh has instituted a unique system of transfer of power; at the end of the tenure of the government, power is handed over to members of a civil society for three months, who run the general elections and transfer the power to elected representatives – it is unlikely, even in the current political crisis, that Hizbut Tahrir would not be revealed during these three months as the force behind a government looking to come to power. As a party seeking the caliphate, and therefore an end to democracy in Bangladesh, the three months would reveal their illegal attempt, by deception, at ending Bangladesh’s popular parliamentary representative democratic republic.
Moreover, Bangladesh is surrounded by India on all sides except for a small border with Myanmar to the far southeast and the Bay of Bengal to the south. Bangladesh is heavily dependent on India for direct foreign investment and much trade. India will not sit idly by while an extremist sect (of any kind) attempts a state takeover – nor will the wider international community.
There are several reasons why extreme Islamists will find assuming power in Bangladesh like pushing water uphill. But the key reason is that Bangladesh just isn’t a very religious place, particularly amongst the upper, ruling classes. A very traditional group of mullahs have a monopoly over religious institutions and their staid, unimaginative, conservative approach has made religion rather passé. This dullness was encapsulated in the award-winning Bangladeshi film Matir Moina – homeopathy and prayers instead of antibiotics, punishments for using one’s left hand to write and grim sermons on the conviction needed for Islam all commonplace.
Hizbut Tahrir is – according to one BNP (Bangladesh) source – more likely to face a ban in Bangladesh than get even the slightest grip on the reins of power. Once again, it seems, the people are just not ready (or unwise?) enough to want to return to the Middle Ages and embrace Hizbut Tahrir’s idea of a Caliphate.
Perhaps the people can remember what it was like in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Perhaps they can remember the Islamist factions’ attempts at taking control in Algeria in the 1990’s – where, in a Monty Pythonesque series of events which shocked even Al Zawahiri – Islamist sects began declaring that only they held the absolute truth and so set about slaughtering anyone who didn’t believe in their particular version of Islam (to the point where one Islamist sect leader, who also happened to be an illiterate chicken farmer, gathered his six disciples and went around murdering everyone else because they were, so he said, the only seven people in the world who held the truth, so all others, according to the Qu’ran he couldn’t even read, must die). Or maybe they just see through a sham when they are faced by one. (At the last time of counting the population of Bangladesh was 147,365,352. That’s an awful lot of people for Hizbut Tahrir to con – an awful lot of paint-balling trips).
Hizbut Tahrir’s actions are once again a worry for states across the world. The conveyor belt to terrorism, which they are part of, is still rolling and remains active in far too many countries. While Hizbut Tahrir is an ever-present danger in that it radicalizes youths who may well go onto more extreme things, in relation to this extreme sect taking over a state perhaps we should worry less – for Muslims the world over think they are unbearably ugly and understand exactly why they have to wear a mask.
Even Muslim extremists warn about Hizbut Tahrir. In a website “HT exposed” set up to warn fellow Muslims about the group’s dangers, an extremist Muslim group warns:
In reaction to this loss of the Khilafa in 1924 there arose many Islamic groups who claim to be fulfilling the obligation of working for the return of the Islamic State. Amongst these groups is one known as the "Hizbut Tahrir." This group has been the cause of many of the youth being led astray, indoctrinated in false Islamic beliefs and fooled by false methodology. By this, they fall into those who maybe included in those astray sects who will be punished in the Fire of Jahannam (hell), as made clear from the following aayah and hadeeth. "And whoever contends with and contradicts the Messenger after guidance has been clearly conveyed to him, and chooses a path other than that of the faithful believers (the companions and those that follow them in faith), We shall leave him in the Path he has chosen and land him in Hell, what an evil refuge" [Surah An-Nisa 4:115] "And this Ummah will divide into seventy-three sects, all of which except one will go to Hell and they (i.e. the saved sect) are those who follow what I and My Companions are upon." [Hasan Hadeeth, At Tirmidhee]. In particular they take a opinion on aahad narrations which is in opposition to the understanding of the scholars of the salaf, and they seek to confuse the youth by playing with words and their meanings, as will be made clear insha'Allah. We sincerely advise our brethren that maybe confused by these people to not let their eloquent speech confuse you. To the callers who call to misguidance after having the truth made clear, we remind you that the Fire of Jahannam is no joke.”
But let the last word go to Hanif Qadir, a moderate Muslim leader in East London who confirmed that Hizb ut Tahrir targeted “vulnerable young teenagers”, adding, “They can’t see the damage they cause to the Muslim community. If you want Sharia, then go and ask for it in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.”

Meanwhile the 22 activists of Hizbut Tahrir were sent to jail on a 30-day detention after the police produced them in the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court.
The police registered a case against them for violating the emergency rules for holding indoor meeting. Officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur police, Shibli Noman said they had confiscated posters, leaflets, compact disks and a computer from the house.
The arrested people were brought to detective branch office on Minto Road before they were taken to the court.
Hizbut Tahrir claimed that its members were discussing preparation for a religious program scheduled for the occasion of Eid-e-Miladunnabi.
The youths, who included university students, were members of Liberated Youths, Hizbut Tahrir’s student wing, the party claimed.
The student activists were not holding any indoor political meeting, they were watching a video on Islam and preparing for a religious program, which was not a violation of the emergency rule, it argued.
Party chief Mohiuddin Ahmed said they had suspended all their political activities after promulgation of the emergency rules. Meanwhile, several sources indicated that mastermind of Hizbut Tahrir in Bangladesh, Mouddin Ahmed, who also serves as a professor with Dhaka University might be taken into custody for interrogation.