The identity of the Hefajat-e-Islam’s new leadership was in the end no surprise. The two leaders below the late Allama Shafi and his son graduated to the top rungs of the ladder. Maulana Junaid Babunagari, who was the secretary general, got elevated to the position of amir and Maulana Nur Hossain Kashemi, the naib-e-amir, moved up to the office of the secretary general. The decisions were made and announced at the 15-member Shura council which was held at Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam madrasa, better known as Hathazari Madrasa, which is the main bastion of the Kawami movement. Overseen by late Allama Shafi, the Hathazari madrasa remained the centre point of the Kawami movement representing thousands of unregulated Kawami madrasas of the country. Allama Shafi, prior to his death, lost his control over the Hathazari madrasa following a power struggle between two rival factions that forced out his youngest son Maulana Anas Madani and his associates. More interesting is the nat...

  In recent weeks Bangladesh was back in the international headlines due to large demonstrations organised by a number of Islamist groups protesting the French President Emmanuel Macron’s stance on the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. According to the police 50,000 people attended the protests as they tried to reach the French embassy in Dhaka, while organisers claimed there were more than 100,000 protestors. What we do know is that the march was two kilometres long. Macron’s comment that Islam was “in crisis” and his defence of the “offensive” caricature, which Muslims say is an insult to their prophet, has prompted a global backlash, with many Muslims across the world holding protests and calling for a boycott of French products. The march in Bangladesh which ignored coronavirus social distancing rules carried effigies of Macron. The current secretary general of Hefajat, speaking as the main speaker at the rally demanded closure of the French embassy in Dhaka wi...