History of Egypt Muslim Brotherhood
Islam as a political program in a modern context was one of the first and most successful movements to do so. In 20 years, the movement had grown to more than 500,000 members, with branches in other Arab countries as well.
The once-powerful Muslim Brotherhood is excluded from Egypt’s political dialogue after years of sweeping crackdowns on dissent. As Egypt’s first modern free election took place in 2012, a year after veteran President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising, the Brotherhood rose to power as the Middle East’s most influential Islamist movement.
After decades of confrontation with its old adversary, the state, the Brotherhood’s success was short-lived. In 2013, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, then the armed forces chief and now president, removed Mohamed Mursi from power following mass protests. As a result, Egypt launched its most ferocious crackdown on the group, handing down death sentences or long prison terms for its leaders and driving its members underground or abroad.
An Egyptian protest camp was attacked by security forces in 2013, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Brotherhood supporters. Security forces attacked the camp using bulldozers, snipers, police, and ground forces, killing at least 817 people and likely more than 1,000, according to Human Rights Watch.
The Egyptian government defended its actions, claiming that it had given protesters a peaceful exit and that armed elements within the Brotherhood were responsible for the violence. Despite decades of repression, the Brotherhood developed an extensive network of committed activists and won public support through its charitable work. In addition, they played an important role in professional organizations, such as the doctors’ and lawyers’ syndicates. The Muslim Brotherhood has some interesting facts to share.
It was partly in response to the British occupation of Egypt that Hassan al-Banna founded the Brotherhood in 1928 in the Suez Canal town of Ismailia. Islam was advocated as a political program in a modern context by this movement, one of the first and most successful of its kind. It had grown to more than 500,000 members within 20 years, with branches in other Arab countries as well.
Through non-violent and democratic means, the Brotherhood said it would bring about political change in Egypt.
Brotherhood was banned in 1954 after the government accused the group of assassinating President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a charge it has always denied.
During the 1970s, repression began to ease under President Anwar Sadat. Under Mubarak, the Brotherhood operated openly within limits that varied according to the authorities’ whims. Mubarak’s government denied the Brotherhood the right to form a political party, claiming that the constitution bans religious parties.
Later, Sisi described the Brotherhood as a terrorist group that threatens Egypt’s existence, an allegation the group denies. There is a commitment to peaceful activism on the part of the Brotherhood.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates view the Brotherhood as a threat to their dynastic systems of government. It has been declared a terrorist group by both countries. Qatar, however, supported the Brotherhood and hosted prominent Brotherhood figures. Mursi’s government was supported by the Islamist-rooted AK Party of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Saudi Arabia’s relations with Turkey and Qatar were strained as a result of their support for the group.
As of 2019, Trump tried to designate the group as a terrorist organization, but this never happened. The group was not linked to terrorist-related activity in or against the UK, according to a British government review from 2015. In a region where political violence is common, it observed a “complex and situational relationship.”
In the past, the group had “engaged politically wherever possible.”. As part of their institutional goals, they have also used violence and terror selectively.” In the Middle East and abroad, the Brotherhood has inspired many political parties and campaign groups. Palestinian militant group Hamas, for example, was founded as a branch of the Brotherhood. As a result of its involvement in fomenting the armed uprising in 1982, the movement was outlawed in Syria.
When the group joined the opposition in protesting electoral restrictions in 1990, it boycotted Egypt’s parliamentary elections in the 1980s. A ban on the Brotherhood’s activities was skirted by fielding independent candidates in elections.
After winning 17 seats in the 2000 parliamentary election, the Brotherhood took 20 percent of the seats in the 2005 assembly, making it the largest opposition bloc despite widespread rigging. Brotherhood members boycotted the 2010 election, which was denounced as rigged by the opposition. Abuses such as these fueled the anger that led to protests in 2011 that brought down Mubarak’s regime.
Although the Brotherhood was able to function under Mubarak, it was also subject to repression. The police routinely arrested Brotherhood members, including senior leaders, and held them without charges for an indefinite period of time.
As a result of fears that Mubarak’s internal security could deliver a crushing blow, the group backed away from Mubarak’s revolt. The uprising was largely driven by activists who put national pride before religion. While some Brotherhood members took part independently throughout the 18-day uprising, the Brotherhood only came out in full support later in the uprising.
Do you know about the Razakars?
In Persian and Urdu, Razakar means ‘volunteer’ or ‘helper,’ but in Bangladesh, it has come to mean ‘collaborator’ and is associated with betrayal.
According to Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, six members of the ‘Razakar Bahini,’ a local paramilitary force that collaborated with the Pakistan army during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, were sentenced to death on Thursday (July 28) for committing crimes against humanity.
Those given the death penalty are A Amjad Hossain Howladar, Sahar Ali Sardar, Atiyar Rahman, Motachim Billah, Kamal Uddin Goldar, and Nazrul Islam, who is currently fugitive. They were found guilty of ‘crimes against humanity,’ including mass killings, torture, and arson, by a three-member tribunal headed by Justice Mohammad Shahinur Islam.
After almost 40 years of violent independence struggles from Pakistan, Bangladesh established the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010 to deal with war crimes committed against its citizens.
As part of Pakistan’s auxiliary forces during the 1971 Bangladesh War, the Razakars served as an auxiliary force. Mostly Bengalis and Biharis from Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), the Razakars were accused of committing horrific atrocities against the local population and assisting the army in raids.
Razakar literally means volunteer or helper in Persian and Urdu, but in Bangladesh, it means collaborator and is associated with betrayal. It is used as a form of abuse, according to anthropologist Nayanika Mookherjee.
Razakars were mostly Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslims and religious parties opposed to the separation of East and West Pakistan, like Jamaat-e-Islami, Al Badr, and Al Shams. According to Mookherjee’s 2015 book, The Spectral Wound: Sexual Violence, Public Memories, and the Bangladesh War of 1971, ethnic Bihars who moved to Bangladesh after the partition in 1947 were in particular denounced as foreigners and collaborators.
Pakistani forces and allied Razakars brutally suppressed the nationalist struggle in Bangladesh, killing 300,000 to 3 million civilians, raping 100,000 to 400,000 women, and forcing 25,000 to 195,000 women into pregnancy. It is unclear how many people died, however, and the exact numbers are unknown.
Bangladesh’s newly formed government quickly banned organizations that collaborated with Pakistani state forces, including Jamaat-e-Islami, and many of its influential leaders fled to Pakistan after independence in December 1971.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s government passed the Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order in 1972, followed by the International Crimes (Tribunal Act) in 1973, to investigate and prosecute those responsible for atrocities during the war.
According to Mookherjee, 37,000 collaborators were identified, but about 26,000 were granted general amnesty by the government in November 1973, while the rest were sentenced to different punishments or remained on trial.
When Mujibur Rahman was assassinated by sections of the Bangladeshi army in August 1975, the generals who took over allowed Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim League, and other Islamic parties that flee to return, gaining important positions in government over the years.
The de facto head of state during the period of military rule between 1975 and 1990 was General Ziaur Rehman (1975–81). Shah Azizur Rahman and Ghulam Azam, controversial high-profile figures who had opposed the Bangladesh nationalist movement and had earlier been accused of being traitors, were released after Zia repealed the Collaborator’s Act.
When Ziaur Rahman became president of the country in 1977, he invited Shah Azizur Rahman to join his newly formed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and made him minister of labor and industry. Ziaur then appointed him as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister in April 1979.
After returning to Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami, which had been accused of aiding atrocities against Bangladeshi nationalists in 1971, allied with the BNP, and its leaders served as cabinet ministers from 2001 to 2006.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina established Bangladesh’s three-member International Crimes Tribunal in March 2010 to investigate and administer justice to those suspected of torture and killings during Bangladesh’s struggle for independence. Awami League won a landslide victory in the 2008 general election after promising to prosecute 1971 war criminals.
Former Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abul Kalam Azad (also known as Bachchu Razakar) was the first person to be convicted by the tribunal in 2013. He was found guilty on eight charges of murder, rape, arson, and looting, mostly towards Bangladesh’s Hindu community, according to witness testimony. As he fled the country in 2012, he was sentenced to death in absentia.
The government released a list of 10,789 Razakars who collaborated with the Pakistani army to commit atrocities against Bengalis during the war on December 15, 2019, the day before Bangladesh’s 49th Victory Day (a national holiday celebrating the surrender of the Pakistani army in Dhaka). Bangladesh’s government published this list for the first time, which included 127 names of politicians and influential people, according to the Daily Star, Bangladesh’s largest English-language newspaper.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque had said in 2019 that the names had been published so that the next generation would know about the collaborators.
ITR filling deadline
Individuals who are salaried must file their income tax returns by July 31. Corporations and individuals who are auditing their books of accounts must file their returns by October 31.
In light of the fact that Sunday (July 31) is the last day for salaried individuals to file income tax returns for AY 2022-23 (FY 2021-22) and the deadline is not likely to be extended, the IRS has released a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about filing ITRs.
Individuals who are salaried must file their income tax returns by July 31. Corporations and individuals who are auditing their books of accounts must file their returns by October 31.
The income tax department reported that 19,53,581 tax returns had been filed as of 1 p.m. today. For queries and issues related to the filing of returns, it also provides its email address [email protected] or helpdesk numbers 1800 103 0025 or 1800 419 0025.
Those who fail to file their returns of income by the due date – July 31 for FY 2021-22 – will be penalized under Section 234F. The penalty amount is Rs 5000 if the return is filed before December 31 of the Assessment Year and Rs 10,000 if it is filed after December 31 but before March 31 of the Assessment Year.
If an individual fails to file an ITR by the due date and has an outstanding unpaid tax amount, then Section 234A imposes interest on that amount at 1 percent per month since the due date. An individual with taxable income who fails to file his ITR or underreports his income must pay 50 percent of the total tax due on the income for which no return was filed.
We have released FAQs regarding issues such as self-assessment tax paid but not reflected in prefilled details, prevalidation of bank accounts for refunds, absence of the drop-down option while filing ITR-7, the difference in income reported in 26AS and Annual Information Statement, and opting for the new Section 115 BAC tax regime.
Taxpayers without Aadhaar registered mobile numbers who wish to reset their password on their income tax e-filing portal can do so by using DSC or internet banking.
According to the I-T department, banks take 3 to 4 days to provide information about self-assessment tax paid, but not reflected in prefilled details. Once that is done, a prefilled JSON file is created for Tax-returns/Prefilled JSON.
“Taxpayers may opt to wait for the required time period before automatically reflecting the details of their taxes paid in their ITR. If the Taxpayer has already filled in additional details over and above those prefilled, such payment details can be entered manually after clicking on the ‘Add Details’ link for Advance Tax and Self-Assessment Tax Payment details under Schedule “Taxes Paid,” according to the I-T department.
A user can reset the password without an e-filing OTP (in cases where the registered mobile has changed) or without an Aadhaar OTP (if the mobile is not linked to Aadhaar or if Aadhaar is not linked to PAN) by using an appropriate digital signature certificate (DSC) or by logging into E-filing directly through Internet Banking.
According to the I-T department, any difference between income shown on AIS and 26AS is due to information received from different sources and tax compliance made by different stakeholders.
In the event that the TDS/TCS or tax payments provided in Form 26AS differ from those provided in AIS, the Taxpayer may rely on the TDS/Tax payment information provided in 26AS to file a tax return and calculate pre-paid taxes.
edited and proofread by nikita sharma
