Hefajat threatens to bring govt down

Hefajat-e Islam yesterday threatened to launch a movement to overthrow the government if its demands, widely criticised as conflicting with the constitution, are not met by May 5.
The Islamist group labels some bloggers "atheists" and demands their hanging through enactment of a blasphemy law and scrapping of the women development policy.
Rallying in Khulna city, the Hefajat leaders accused the government of "propaganda" that the Islamist group, created by teachers and students of Qawmi madrasas, was anti-women.
Addressing several thousand activists and followers at Dakbangla Chattar, Hefajat central Nayeb-e-Ameer Nuruddin Kasemi said the 13-point demand was rather aimed at "ensuring" women's rights.
BNP-led opposition alliance leaders, Khulna Peshajibi Somonnay Parisad, and a section of Khulna University teachers and employees expressed solidarity with the rally, while some organisations supplied food and drinks to the protesters and pro-BNP Doctors Association of Bangladesh and National Doctors Forum provided medical care.