Inserts:

00:03 Report / B. Javed, A. Saxena & S. Ronie
00:40 Azizul Haque Islamabadi / Hefazat-e-Islam leader 
02:00 Sharmeen S. Murshid / Adviser to the Ministry of Women

Script: 

They are relentless in their demands...one by one in emotionally charged speeches they are denouncing reforms that Bangladeshi women say will finally grant them equal rights .

Hefazat-e Islami, a coalition of Islamic groups, wants to disband the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission - that has proposed among many reforms women’s right to inheritance, an increase in women’s parliamentary representation and protection of sex workers.

But the religious group sees the proposed changes as targeting Islamic values.

+++ Azizul Haque Islamabadi
Hefazat leader 
''00:26:06:00 - 00:26:27:00
You’re mocking Allah’s law. You have not been given that right.These women's rights contradict the Quran and Hadith directly. Secondly, this is a conspiracy to destroy the long-standing family and social bonds rooted in Bangladesh’s traditions, culture, and civilization''.

Women's rights activists say the proposed reforms are in line with the Bangladesh's Constitution’s fundamental principles of democracy and secularism.

And the women are not backing down . 

At this protest they claimed the women's rights commission and its proposed reforms are being unfairly targeted.

+++ Shima Akhtar
Women protester
''00:01:14:000 – 00:01:36:000
We will not hand this country over to fundamentalists.The people of Bangladesh are religious, but the so-called religious extremists are playing politics in the name of religion, and the main instigating issue of this politics is women.''

The government  says the opposition to reforms is politically-motivated and the state is open for dialogue.

Sharmeen S. Murshid -
Adviser to the Ministry of Women
"This hue and cry was political because a regime was thrown out before the interim government took over so there are those who turn everything into a political issue to destabilize the country and to create chaos.

Bangladesh's constitution is secular but for decades Islamists in the Muslim majority country have tried to influence social and political affairs. 

These women say they are determined to not bow down to attacks on their rights.

+++END+++