How Saudi Arabia plans to fund Wahhabism in Bangladesh
A massive news leak that Saudi Arabia was about to give $1 billion to Bangladesh to build mosques has drawn flak, as the western intelligentsia has come down heavily on the Saudi leadership, most recently, for spreading pan-Wahhabism.
As the news of the Wahhabi propaganda spread, Saudis retracted from the commitment, as reflected by the statement issued by their minister of culture, Dr Awwad Alawwad, who was quick to resort to damage control by "clarifying" that they would go ahead with the funding for building as many as 560 mosques only if a formal request came from the host government, i.e. Bangladesh.
Judging by the so-called clarification, it is clearly evident that Saudi Arabia was all set to donate the huge money for the pursuit of its plans to further Islamise a country like Bangladesh.
Now the question is, why Bangladesh? The answer is simple - because Bangladesh is possibly in the process of fighting Islamic fundamentalism, converting it into a really secular state and trying to extricate itself from the adverse effects of the extremist mindset, as the promotion of fundamentalism has recently seen a growth in terrorist incidents with the IS stepping up its activities with massive radicalisation and killings of liberals and free-thinkers.
Meanwhile, Daniel Pipes, an academic and prime mover behind the thinktank Middle East Forum maintains that Saudi Arabia is engaged in a long term strategy to transform a worldwide culture in promoting Wahhabism.
In this context, it may be pointed out that Bangladesh, in the past, has been warming up to Saudi Arabia, with its president HM Ershad openly accepting any form of donation from the Saudis which also carried diktats from the monarchy, shaping and influencing policies of the Bangladesh government. It also paved the way for future interventions and Islamisation.
Saudi Arabia's help bolstered the Bangladesh government earlier when, for electoral and theocratic conveniences, prime ministers like Khaleda Zia (1991-1996 and in the second term 2001-2006) gave cabinet berths to Jamaat-e-Islami ministers, allocating lucrative portfolios.
Such assignments helped the Jamaat leaders in carrying out Islamic directives and in the process strengthening the roots of fundamentalism. Those ministers, Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Mujahid, continued to swear allegiance to Saudi Arabia.
Their terms in office saw the mushrooming of mosques and madrasas, giving further boost to the growth of fundamentalism and reinforcement of ties with Saudi Arabia. In retrospect, these machinations look part of a grand design initiated by Saudi Arabia, as recently articulated by Pipes and his ilk.
Against this backdrop, fresh Saudi plans to inject $1 billion of monetary help to construct mosques do not surprise Saudi watchers, but it's imperative for the right thinking forces to alert the world against the perils of fanning Wahhabism, which poses a threat to the remaining peace-loving Islamic nations.
Saudis are already perpetrating excesses on the Houthis in Yemen and incessant attempts to check Iran against its nuclear programmes are all Saudi plans to control forces opposed to Wahhabism.
Bangladesh's minorities, already afflicted with the high-handedness of diehard Islamists, are apprehensive of any Saudi financial assistance towards Islamisation in the form of building of mosques endangering their existence.
As this write up goes to the press, US president Donald Trump would be readying for trips to several countries, including a halt in Saudi Arabia. As a world leader, it would augur well if during his parleys in Riyadh, he puts it across to the Saudi monarchy to rein in plans to export extremist Islamic ideology in the shape of large fundings to Bangladesh and other South Asian countries, which will only promote radical Islam but may eventually abet terror.
Also, secular forces within Bangladesh and Asia must make the right noises to stall any Saudi plans to fund proliferation of Wahhabism, so detrimental to a peaceful environ in the world.