The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been receiving much criticism from various quarters recently for its inability to tackle the myriad issues in the Muslim countries.
Although the international organisation, founded in 1969 and comprised of 57 member states, claims to be the “collective voice of the Muslim world” and aims to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony”, the popular view seems to be that the OIC has failed to proactively provide that support amid all the crises being faced by Muslim communities worldwide.
In a recent interview with the Dhaka Tribune, Ambassador Muhammad Zamir, head of the political division of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretariat in Jeddah from 1991 to 1995, said OIC was not competent enough to tackle the problem of sectarian divide.
“OIC becomes inactive due to sectarianism, mainly the Shia-Sunni conflict. OIC, really, has no answer to that issue,” he explained.
International relations expert Prof Delwar Hossain shared this view and took the explanation further during a different interview with the Dhaka Tribune, saying: “OIC failed to cope with globalisation. I think the OIC has lost its relevance now. It should be re-organised with the present global context in mind.”
“After 9/11, the USA expanded its dominion in the middle-east. Thus, it became more complicated for the OIC to achieve its goals: politically, diplomatically and strategically. Dissonance within the OIC member countries, created due to sub-regional alliances being formed, is another major reason for its failure,” he said.
The OIC failed to unite the Muslim Ummah due to sectarian divisions in Islam, Arabic Islam and non-Arabic Islam conflict, Iraq-Iran war and so forth, the expert explained, adding that currently, the OIC has turned into merely a diplomatic forum where the head of the governments of the OIC member countries meet formally.
Delwar further said that in a bid to settle the problems of the Muslim community, the OIC should be more proactive in initiating dialogue.
“It is high time to address the problems of the Muslim countries. The OIC should become a little introspective in this changing scenario and must find a way to assert itself in order to resolve these issues,” he added.
Abul Hasan Chowdhury, the former state minister for Foreign Affairs, concurred with the popular opinion, pointing out that in spite of the suffering of the global Muslim community caused by religious extremism and the resultant Islamophobia, the OIC has been largely inactive.
“The OIC member countries should take up a strong stance against the unfortunate violence that is being perpetrated by groups and individuals in the name of our religion; a religion which actually stands for peace, for harmony, for brotherhood and for understanding among mankind,” he opined.
However, he did hold out the hope that though the pace of the OIC was slow, it would eventually be able to pull together and take action.
“We cannot lose heart. We hope that Bangladesh will take steps toward revamping the OIC,” said Abul Hasan.
According to Ambassador Zamir, Bangladesh, which was formally admitted to the OIC during the organisation’s Second Summit in 1974, has played an important role in tackling some of the major crises faced by the Muslim world, particularly the Iraq-Iran war, the Palestine situation, the Afghan crisis and the Bosnian issue.
Abul Hasan echoed Zamir, adding: “As the third largest Muslim populated country among the OIC members, Bangladesh is naturally expected to play a very dynamic role.”
After attaining independence in 1971, Bangladesh had to fight diplomatically to remove misconceptions in the Arab world in order to integrate with the Islamic world and the OIC, the highest body of the Islamic Ummah.
Ambassador Zamir said: “In 1971, the OIC was heavily influenced by Pakistani propaganda against Bangladesh and failed to function properly in terms of looking after the Muslim community's best interest.”
Pakistan used leftist elements in politics, secular and socialist ideology and Indo-Soviet inclination to campaigning against Bangladesh in the Arab and other Muslim states, he explained.
However, former state minister Abul Hasan was more lenient in his understanding of the OIC’s role, especially as it pertains to Bangladesh.
“OIC, as an organisation, cannot interrupt bilateral issues between Bangladesh and other Islamic countries. We cannot blame the OIC for this,” said Abul Hasan, adding: “There are multiple opportunities of engagement with the OIC from which Bangladesh can benefit.”