Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman did not uphold the repentance (Tawba) he once made. Back in 2007, when the entire nation—including Islamic scholars (Alems) and the general public—protested against Matiur Rahman and demanded his arrest and the banning of Prothom Alo for allegedly insulting religion, he publicly apologized and repented.
This was done through the mediation of former caretaker government advisor Barrister Moinul Hossain, in the presence of the Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, Maulana Ubaydul Haque. At that time, Matiur Rahman vowed never to do anything again that would hurt religious sentiments.
However, on the eve of the recent holy Eid-ul-Fitr, on March 30, Prothom Alo published an Eid greeting cartoon on its front page featuring a dog alongside the words “Eid Mubarak.” This inclusion of a dog’s image in an Eid greeting has drawn strong criticism from Islamic scholars and the general public, who are calling it an insult to religion. Many are demanding legal action against Matiur Rahman and a ban on Prothom Alo.
When asked, Maulana Ahmad Abdul Qayyum, assistant secretary general of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, said that placing a dog’s image next to the Eid moon is offensive and constitutes religious disrespect. “What were they trying to imply with that image?” he questioned.
Muhammad Abdul Hakim, general secretary of Bangladesh Islami Front (Dhaka Metropolitan), stated that portraying a dog during Eid celebrations undermines the religious sentiments of Muslims and equates to an insult to religion.
Maulana Md. Abu Bakar Siddiq, Dhaka divisional organizer of the Islami Oikko Andolon, said that drawing a dog alongside the Eid moon in a cartoon is intentional and deeply offensive. He stated that this cartoon by Prothom Alo has seriously hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims by pairing the sacred Eid moon with a dog. He called the act a grave insult to the celebration of Eid and an unforgivable offense, and demanded that Prothom Alo apologize to the nation.
The Bangladesh Nizam-e-Islam Party strongly condemned this disgraceful act by Prothom Alo. In a statement on Friday, the party’s Executive President Maulana AKM Ashraful Haque and Secretary General Maulana Muminul Islam said that by including a dog in the Eid special cartoon, Prothom Alo has hurt the hearts and faith of millions of Muslims. They added that the newspaper has a history of periodically attacking Islam and Muslims since its inception and continues to fuel anti-Islamic narratives.
They called on Prothom Alo to apologize to the nation and abandon its anti-Islamic activities. Observers say that the media houses under Mediastar Ltd. have contributed the most to portraying Bangladeshi Muslims as extremists and terrorists in the international arena.
According to sources, the newspaper created a “terrorist drama” involving retired Major Mohammad Mohsin Karim, who stated that Prothom Alo had labelled people with beards and caps as terrorists. Many say that if someone follows the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) by keeping a beard, Prothom Alo is quick to tag them as extremists.
Meanwhile, Prothom Alo has, at various times, published articles that allegedly incite extremism, such as “Is Your Child Becoming a Terrorist?” Critics say such stories do more to label Bangladesh as a terrorist state than to raise awareness. Many believe that Prothom Alo is pushing an agenda to destroy the image of Islamic scholars and Muslims in Bangladesh.
Bd-pratidin English/FNC
