Founded 6th February, 1977 | ||
President Mr Muhammad Yasin Arafath Headquarters Purana paltan, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh Ideology IslamismSocial Justice International affiliation Asian Federation of Muslim Youth, International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, World Assembly of Muslim Youth Similar Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal, Bangladesh Students Union, Socialist Students' Front | ||
Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ ইসলামী ছাত্রশিবির), known as Shibir, is a student organization in Bangladesh that works among the students. It was established on 6 February 1977 after six years of Bangladesh Liberation War. Islami Chhatrashibir is the student wing of the Islamist political organization of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a major organisation at many colleges and universities including the University of Chittagong, University of Dhaka, Rajshahi University, Islamic University, Begum Rokeya University, Carmichael College. Nobody can be a member of Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir, unless he/she is a student. All of the member of Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir are young students. It is the largest students organization in southeast Asia.
Contents
History
Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir was established on 6 February 1977 at the Dhaka University central mosque. Their stated mission is "to seek the pleasure of Allah (SWT) by moulding entire human life in accordance with the code, bestowed by Allah (SWT) and exemplified by His Messenger".
Overview
According to the group's policy, their activities are guided by five principles:
- Dawah (Call to Allah) - Conveying the message of Islam to the students and inspiring them to acquire knowledge and to arouse in them the sense of responsibility to practice Islam in full.
- Organization - To organize the students who are ready to partake in the struggle for establishing the Islamic way of life within the fold of this organization.
- Training - To take appropriate steps to impart Islamic knowledge among the students integrated under the organization to make them men of character, capable of braving the challenges of Jahilyah and, thus, to prove the superiority of Islam.
- Islamic Education Movement and Student-oriented Problems - To struggle for changing the existing system of education on the basis of Islamic values to build up ideal citizens and enhance leadership to solve real problems of the students.
- Establishing Islamic Social Order - To strive tooth-and-nail to establish Islamic social order for freeing humanity from all forms of economic exploitation, political oppression and cultural servitude.
Funding
Shibir members, who are students of many educational institutions areas are expected to donate monthly in the name of baitul mal (the party fund). They also rent out facilities in dormitories for funding. There are also several publications that it sells in educational institutions.
Bangladesh Liberation War
In 1971, Shibir's predecessor, Pakistan Islami Chattra Shangha, members of which led the formation of Al-Badr, which was involved in the 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals; some members of Al-Badr had been convicted and executed by International Crimes Tribunal.
Politically motivated attacks
This student group was also involved in violent clashes with other student groups, was extremely militant and was linked to numerous acts of violence. The group was linked to a number of larger terrorist organizations, both in Bangladesh and internationally. Shibir activists are known to attack rival political party members by cutting their opponents' tendons. However, political infighting between rival groups in Bangladesh are rampant, and infighting and killings in the rival Bangladesh Chhatra League are often blamed on Chhatra Shibir.
Armed group designation
In February 2014, US-based defense think tank IHS Jane's published a report titled "IHS Jane's 2013 Global Terrorism & Insurgency Attack Index", where Shibir ranked third in a list of most active non-state armed groups in 2013. The organisation protested the study findings, strongly condemning the ranking.
Crackdowns
Since 2010, Shibir has been targeted by repeated crackdowns. The Awami League led government insists that it is necessary to maintain public order and stop attacks on police, but Amnesty International sees them as political crackdowns. Since 2010, raids on student residences have been carried out at random and any Shibir supporters found there have been detained. Arbitrary arrests as police have made no efforts at the time of arrest to separate ordinary student members of the Chhatra Shibir from those suspected of involvement in the attacks and were denied Legal counsel.