News & Comment
Justice can only be given to women of Bangladesh
under the Khilafah "Caliphate"- not under the secular democratic ruling

News

According to the news of bdnews24.com, police have failed to figure out why college student Sohagi Jahan Tonu has been killed in Comilla, much less recognize the killers even a month into the killing. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police say they can only confirm that the murder, which triggered nationwide protests, was premeditated. On seeing Tonu’s corpse inside the Comilla Cantonment on the night of Mar 20, police suspected she had been raped before the murder. Amidst raging protests throughout Bangladesh, forensic experts said they did not find any evidence of rape during examinations on her remains. A second post-mortem was conducted following a court order 17 days ago, but the findings have not been made public. http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2016/04/19/a-month-on-comilla-student-tonu-murder-investigation-goes-nowhere

Comments

Any Bangladeshi citizen who has minimum knowledge regarding the country’s judicial system knows what fate is awaiting ahead of the sensational Tonu murder case. Human rights organizations, reputed lawyers and conscious citizens of the country have already raised serious doubt about the total investigation process. The law enforcement agencies are accused of destroying the evidences and threatening Tonu’s family. In an interview with The Daily Star, BNWLA's (Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association) Executive Director Advocate Salma Ali said, “I have serious doubts about the first autopsy report. It failed to ascertain the cause of Sohagi Jahan Tonu's death.... The inquest report submitted by the police is also unacceptable. It did not find any sign of injury or assault on any part of the victim's body.” Tonu's father, who was the first to find her daughter dead claimed that the back of Tonu's head was smashed, and there were injuries in her nose particularly. But none of these evidences was mentioned in postmortem report. Moreover, on 2nd April, terming the existing laws of the country obsolete, Chief Justice SK Sinha said it is not possible to arrange the trial of the Tonu killing with the traditional and 18th century’s law.” Also, by showing his resentment about the massive backlog of cases and the lengthy legal procedure, he further added “Nobody is getting justice. In my knowledge the second, third generation of the person who goes to the court, may get the result (verdict). Is this justice? This is mockery, I feel...”

One question has risen all over the country after this horrific incident: “Will Tonu’s case ever receive justice?” The answer is certainly “NO”. The alarming statistics of women abuse in Bangladesh proves that, after 46 years of its so-called independence, this manmade system has failed to bring any kind of justice to women. Rather, thousands of women had been subjected to the tragic fate like Tonu and no justice was ever done to them. After 18 years, this democratic judicial system has failed to provide justice for Shazneen just as it has failed to provide justice for Jayanti Reza for the past 12 years. Examples such as these are too numerous to mention.

The irony is, although the secular ruling class and so-called progressive society in Bangladesh always blame Islam and the Shariah law for oppressing women, under this liberal democratic ruling the women of Bangladesh cannot even dream of a society which Islam had produced 1400 years ago. During the time of Khilafah "Caliphate", a woman’s honor was the honor of the State and the Khulafa used to declare war if any woman’s dignity was put to question. Rasul (saw) declared war against Banu Qainuka for assaulting a single Muslim woman. Khalifah Mu’tasim Billah declared war against the Romans for assaulting a Muslim woman who was not even a citizen of the Khilafah "Caliphate" and Khalifa Hajjaj ibn Yusuf sent his young general Muhammad bin Qasim to fight the Hindu King Dahir Sing to rescue Muslim women from his captivity. However, in democratic Bangladesh, where women presently hold hundreds of important positions in society, like the position of Prime Minister, opposition Leader, minister, parliament member, government official, police officer etc., rape, gang-rape or brutal murder of thousands of women have become the norm. Moreover, the ignorance of the law makers about laws, lengthy legal procedures, loopholes in laws, political intervention, dishonesty of the law enforcement agencies create huge barrier to establish justice in society. Hence the Muslims of Bangladesh should know that justice can only be given to women under the Khilafah "Caliphate" (Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood- not under the secular democratic ruling. Allah (swt) says in the Quran,

(أَفَحُكْمَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَبْغُونَ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللّهِ حُكْمًا لِّقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ)

“Do they then seek after a judgment of (the Days of) Ignorance? But who, for a people whose faith is assured, can give better judgment than Allah?” [al-Maida: 5:50]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Fehmida Binte Wadud