Bipartisan Letter sent to Bangladesh Prime Minister and Chairperson, Bangladesh Nationalist Party Urging Free and Fair Elections

Source: House Foreign Affairs
Washington, D.C. – Today, a bipartisan letter was sent to both Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, urging a free, fair, and credible election process.

The texts of the letters follows:

December 12, 2013
The Honorable Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Old Sangsad Bhaban
Tejgaon, Dhaka-1215
Bangladesh

Dear Prime Minister Hasina:

As an important partner in South Asia, the United States is committed to its relationship with Bangladesh. The very foundation of our partnership is built upon a strong bond of friendship.

It is in this spirit that we strongly urge you to engage in direct negotiations immediately with leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to ensure that the upcoming elections are free, fair and viewed as credible by the Bangladeshi people.

We are concerned that continued political deadlock and related violence, including violence aimed at Hindus and other minorities, will have a negative impact on the real progress that is being made Bangladesh. The country’s economic achievements, including a 6 percent annual growth rate, the decline in the poverty rate, and the tremendous growth in our bilateral trade is progress that we do not want to see stop.

At the same time, we fear the potential impact that politically motivated violence and a flawed electoral process will have on this progress.

We do not see how credible elections can take place unless the parties move quickly to engage in direct negotiations and all sides agree to move ahead. This includes the establishment of a mutually acceptable mechanism to carry out the elections in a credible manner. Furthermore, we don’t believe election related violence is acceptable or a legitimate part of the democratic process. We urge you to do everything within your power to prevent any and all forms of violence.

The United States will work with the future, credibly elected, Government of Bangladesh, and we urge that future government to exact no retribution on whichever party loses the election.

We will continue to closely follow this matter and appreciate your attention to ensuring that democracy is allowed to flourish in Bangladesh.

Sincerely,

Eliot L. Engel Edward R. Royce
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Steve Chabot Joseph Crowley
Member of Congress Member of Congress

George Holding Grace Meng
Member of Congress Member of Congress




December 12, 2013
Begum Khaleda Zia
Chairperson, Bangladesh Nationalist Party
H#06, R#86,
Gulshan-2, Dhaka-1212
Bangladesh

Dear Madam Zia:

As an important partner in South Asia, the United States is committed to its relationship with Bangladesh. The very foundation of our partnership is built upon a strong bond of friendship.

It is in this spirit that we strongly urge you to engage in direct negotiations immediately with leaders of the Awami League to ensure that the upcoming elections are free, fair and viewed as credible by the Bangladeshi people.

We are concerned that continued political deadlock and related violence, including violence aimed at Hindus and other minorities, will have a negative impact on the real progress that is being made Bangladesh. The country’s economic achievements, including a 6 percent annual growth rate, the decline in the poverty rate, and the tremendous growth in our bilateral trade is progress that we do not want to see stop.

At the same time, we fear the potential impact that politically motivated violence and a flawed electoral process will have on this progress.

We do not see how credible elections can take place unless the parties move quickly to engage in direct negotiations and all sides agree to move ahead. This includes the establishment of a mutually acceptable mechanism to carry out the elections in a credible manner. Furthermore, we don’t believe election related violence is acceptable or a legitimate part of the democratic process. We urge you to do everything within your power to prevent any and all forms of violence.

The United States will work with the future, credibly elected, Government of Bangladesh, and we urge that future government to exact no retribution on whichever party loses the election.

We will continue to closely follow this matter and appreciate your attention to ensuring that democracy is allowed to flourish in Bangladesh.

Sincerely,

Eliot L. Engel Edward R. Royce
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Steve Chabot Joseph Crowley
Member of Congress Member of Congress

George Holding Grace Meng
Member of Congress Member of Congress

Jamaat Threat in Lalmonirhat: Panicked, Hindus flee

Source: Daily Star News.

9 killed as Jamaat clashes with cops in 4 districts

Many Hindu families and Awami League men in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat fled their homes yesterday following repeated threats from Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir.

 

 As violence continued to escalate, four people were killed in the upazila and five others in Joypurhat, Laxmipur and Sylhet districts throughout the day. At least 57 were injured across the country.
Minorities came under attack also in Satkhira. In different parts of the district, alleged Jamaat-Shibir men have burned and vandalised at least 36 houses and shops belonging to Hindus since the execution of convicted war criminal Quader Mollah Thursday night.
In the northern district of Lalmonirhat, at least 55 Hindu families of Ghoshpara had fled away, said a villager, 54-year-old Subhash Chandra Ghosh. “We have taken shelter at our relatives’ houses about 50 to 60 kilometres off the village.”
In the same village, Hindus came under attack on November 28 during the opposition’s 71-hour blockade. Alleged Jamaat-Shibir activists beat up at least 12 women and children and torched and looted at least five shops and two houses.
Dharani Kanta Sen, 60, of Shafinagar said, “Many Hindus left the village as the Jamaat-Shibir men threatened to torch their houses at night.”
In this village too, Jamaat-Shibir men along with BNP activists unleashed a terror on a Hindu neighbourhood on October 28.
Sunil Chandra Sen, 48, a Hindu community leader of the village, said, “Local Hindus called me to know what to do, but I myself have gone into hiding.”
Rabiul Islam, an AL activist of Kafir Bazar village, said many of his party colleagues fled away with their family members fearing Jamaat-Shibir mayhem, though law enforcers assured them of tight security.
Sultan Miah, another AL activist who was still home, said “I don’t know what will happen at night.”
Other villages which were deserted include Awliar Hat, Bawra Bazar and Beltoli.
Upazila Chairman Ruhul Amin Babul said many identified ruling party men have abandoned their houses. Around a hundred local AL activists and members of the Hindu community received threats from Jamaat-Shibir men that their houses will be torched at night.
“I’m also not safe,” Ruhul Amin said, adding that law enforcement agencies had increased patrolling in these areas.
Officer-in-Charge Sohrab Hossain of Patgram Police Station said he has information that Jamaat-Shibir men planned to commit atrocities against AL men and Hindu homes in these villages.
Also yesterday, a clash ensued when police tried to disperse Jamaat-Shibir men blockading the Lalmonirhat-Burimari highway in Patgram around 7:30am.
The blockaders threw four crude bombs at police, triggering an exchange of fire that left one Shibir man dead on the spot. Two injured Shibir activists died in hospital. The dead were Manirul Islam, 28, Abdur Rahim, 30, and Saju Islam, 24.
In retaliation, Shibir activists hacked AL activist Mintu Islam to death in broad daylight, dragging him out of his Kafir Bazar house around 12:20pm.
The highway clash also left at least 30 injured. They include seven policemen and 10 ordinary citizens.
At least 11 houses of AL men in Kafir Bazar and two belonging to Jatiya Party men were torched and looted.
Also in the upazila, 180-feet rail track was uprooted and a hundred fish plates were removed near Bawra Railway Station.
With 252 feet of railway tracks at Pirgachha upazila in Rangpur uprooted, train services on Dinajpur-Dhaka and Lalmonirhat-Dinajpur remained suspended till around 9:00pm. A train also derailed in the district.
In Sirajganj, pickets damaged two bridges in Konagati and Bawoitara in the early hours of yesterday. They also vandalised a private car.
At least two cops were injured when Jamaat men hurled bombs at a police van.
In Joypurhat, Mohammad Firoz Hossain, 30, a rickshaw van puller, was killed being caught in a gunfight between Jamaat and law enforcers. Jamaat men Shamim Hossain, 24 and Insan Ali, 22, were also left dead.
After around a thousand Jamaat-Shibir men encircled patrol police team, BGB and Rab members rushed to spot and the gunbattle began.
Mirajul Islam, 22, a Chhatra League activist, was killed in Laxmipur. A group of Jamaat-Shibir activists attacked him on his way to a relative’s house and slit his throat, our correspondent quoted the district Chhatra League president as saying.
In Sylhet, an AL man named Nazrul Islam, 35, was hacked to death early yesterday, while returning home from a procession.
A freedom fighter named Hazrat Ali, 55, suffered serious injuries in a Jamaat-Shibir assault in Shajahanpur upazila of Bogra yesterday morning, his family said.
In Pirojpur, alleged Jamaat-Shibir men torched the house of a union-level AL leader Bidhan Chandra Mistri.
They also dug up the roads leading to the closest fire stations in Pirojpur and Nazirpur, thereby preventing fire fighters from reaching the spot.
At least 25 were hurt in Rajshahi and Pabna during clashes between Jamaat-Shibir and AL and law enforcers.
In Khulna, police arrested district Jamaat Assistant Secretary Zahangir Hossain Helal.
Several bombs were exploded in front of the daily Sangram in Dhaka around 11:30pm yesterday, police say.

Count down for a Hindu-less Bangladesh. One million Hindu minorities vanished from Bangladesh in just one decade.

Source: HinduExistence.org 

Opinion

One million Hindu minorities vanished from Bangladesh in last decade. Is it a count down for a Hindu-less Bangladesh?

~ Upananda Brahmachari. 

Attacks after attacks upon Hindu minorities in recent times

Hindu women in Banshkhali Upazila, Bangladesh surveying the remains of their demolished homes after being attacked by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Photo:  globalvoicesonline

With a great danger posing to their existence as citizen of Bangladesh, the minority Hindus have been kept under attack, allegedly by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its students wing, in Patgram, northern Lalmonirhat district, for the second time in the last month, mainstream Bangladesh newspapers highlighted the matter all along. The first major attack in the same district on Hindus in the recent turmoil in Bangladesh, was made at inSatpatki Majhipara in Lalmonirhat on Nov 4, 2013.

In Patgram, the attackers beat up Hindu women and children and torched and looted at least five shops and two houses at Ghoshpara village on the third day of the opposition-sponsored recently held 71-hour blockade, said the dailies quoting police and eyewitnesses .

The incident fueled concerns over a fresh spell of attacks on the minority Hindus as men of the village have fled in fear.

Again if you consider the cases of last month as reported by Sri Rabindranath Ghosh, a Hindu Human Rights activist and an advocate of Bangladesh Supreme Court, you cant simply imagine the present situation of Minority Hindus Bangladesh really.

The email as sent by Mr Ghosh to our mail box 0n 30th Nov, narrates the below:

“Hindu Deities (Murthi) broken/set on fire by unknown perpetrators at Shahjadpur and Rangulnia Upazila of  both Serajgonj and Chittagong districts on 26th November, 2013 ( The Daily Protom Alo dated 28.11.2013)

A sense of insecurity amongst the Hindu communities at Rangunia and Shahjadpur prevailing,because their places of worships and deities were broken, desecrated and set on fire by unidentified perpetrators.More than 11 Hindu deities were broken on last Tuesday to defame their religion. As a result the belongings of the Temple were set ablaze.

It is alleged that  “Uttaar Para Kali Mondir” and” Hari Mondir” at Shahjadpur within the district of Serajgonj are the oldest ( two hundred years old) situated. Side by side two temples were attacked on Tuesday night and eleven statues of Hindu deities were broken and set fire on the houses of Shebait –Sree Jowtish Chandra Ghosh and Aynal

Hossain before they escaped. As soon as the fire broke out neighbour came at the spot and tried to control the fire from further extinguishing.

In Rangunia Upazila another Temple named “Rajjwa Bhawan Shib Temple” at Rajanagar was attacked on the same night on Tuesday by some unknown perpetrators, the belongings and utensils were stolen and the temple was vandalized.

I, on behalf of Bangladesh Minority Watch (BDMW) and Global Human Rights Defense (GHRD) enquired about the situation. The Assistant Superintendent of Police, Shahjadpur Circle Md. Zillur Rahman informed me, on query, over cell phone No.01713374036 said that a case number 20, dated 27.11.13 under section 295/297 of Bangladesh penal code started but they could not arrest any perpetrators. Md. Zillur also gave me to understand that only two Hindu deities were broken not eleven, but the local people informed us that 11 deities were broken and damaged. But expressed inability to apprehend the criminals to justice as their names are not mentioned in the F.I.R. No accused has yet been apprehended.

Bangladesh Minority Watch also contacted with Md. Waliullah Oli,Officer in Charge of Rangunia Police station at Chittagong over his cell number 01713373645 who game me to understand that a case has been recorded under section 295/336/224 of Bangladesh Penal code without mentioning the names of the accused. No person has yet been arrested.

Bangladesh Minority Watch is very much concerned about the attack on religious places of Minority communities at Shahjadpur and Rangunia and we also demand immediate arrest of the perpetrators and they should be brought to book as per law.”

The email exactly reflected the agony and anxiety of  Bangladeshi Hindus.

In Bonogram bazaar in Santhia upazila, about 40 kilometres from Pabna sadar, Hindus were attacked in Pabna on 2nd Nov, as ’Jamaat-BNP men’ used false Facebook post concoction for rampage upon frightened Hindu minorities.

The series of persecution upon Bangladeshi Hindu minorities by the majority Muslim persecutors are endless.

No reason or only reason to attack the minority to make a Hindu Less Bangladesh 

An elderly woman laments over the loss of her home at Bonogram of Pabna after 25 houses belonging to Hindus were vandalised. Photo: Star

For the case of Lalmonir Hat, the minority leaders alleged that the villages had come under attack for ‘no specific reason’. However, local union Parishad Chairman Ruhul Amin Babul said, taking the advantage of countrywide blockade they attacked the Hindus who do not belong to any political party. “They did so to create panic in the area and use that to their advantage,” the chairman concluded.

Another minority village also came under havoc where Hindus were allegedly attacked by BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men on October 27 in Shafinagar under the same district, in the first day of the opposition-called shutdown. The vandals beat 12 women as the males fled the scene.

Quoting police and eyewitnesses, newspapers said about 200 to 250 Jamaat-Shibir activists led by Shibir leader Rana Islam brought out a procession in the area and swooped on Hindus’ shops and houses. A number of aggrieved villagers alleged that some local Awami League men, too, were responsible for inciting the violence.

The case of Bonogram bazaar in Santhia upazila had an uniqueness of Islamic rumouring as it was leveled  blasphemy against an innocent minor Hindu boy. Was that a ‘fundamentalism without reason’?

But, for the cases of Serajgonj and Chittagong, Sri Rabibdra Ghosh categorically stated over telephone that the recent spate of communal violence  arising out of the BNP-Awami League political tussle, is nothing but a ‘definite conspiracy’, leading to an end of Bangladesh Hindus very soon, if not checked.

The voice of Sri Ghosh seemed to me very frightened and a matter of fact that Sri Ghsoh was attacked several times by Muslims goons to stop his Hindu defense activities through legal and rights movement.

While this is a reality for a Rights activist and Advocate of Supreme Court, the common Hindu minorities of Bangladesh have the only way to flee from their home and hearth under a silent exodus.

In his article “Future Of The Hindus In Bangladesh“ written in Sri Lanka Gurdian, Mr. Swadesh Roy, Executive Editor, the Daily Janakantha, Dhaka, Bangladesh has hinted such trend of Hindus about to leave Bangladesh.

But, if you talk about this trend of exodus of Hindus from Bangladesh, no Govt authority is ready to accept this truth. Whether it is Bangladesh Govt. or the authorities of India, who are very apathetically sinner for this final countdown  for Hindu-less Bangladesh.

One million Hindu minorities have been vanished from Bangladesh in just last decade

If you want to talk about the silent Hindu exodus from Bangladesh or the Hindu genocide in Bangladesh, the others suspect the reason behind. So far the Hindu minorities have been benefiting  the political gain for both the country Bangladesh and India. While these refugees or the non-legalized Hindus coming from Bangladesh are treated by the politicians as an instrumental of voting in West Bengal (even some portions of Delhi and Mumbai also), in Bangladesh these minority Hindus are treated as kaffir, jimmi and the resource for bare exploitation and pleasure in the hands of majority Muslims there.

But, the scale of such exodus or the genocide have been recorded by very authenticate version, which cannot be denied.

As per Dr. Sabyasachi Ghosh-Dastidar’s book, ”Empire’s last casualty: Indian subcontinent’s vanishing Hindu and other minorities”s, over three million Hindus have been killed in the process of Islamisation in the area now known as Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) since India was Partitioned in 1947. This loss of three million lives remain suppressed from the world. This book claimed a huge 49 Million Hindus Missing From Bangladesh Census due to Islamic atrocities.

But, most recently, the Biggest Hindu Genocide in modern-times has been exposed. 10 million Hindus were massacred by Pakistan Army in Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

In his research book,  ”The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide”, writer Gary J Bass holds the truth that ahead of Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971, the Pakistani Army systematically committed genocide of the Hindu community in the then East Pakistan and the Nixon Administration kept a blind eye to it.

Execution of Jamaat-e-Islami leader sparks violent protests in Bangladesh

Source: Post


Picture (Courtesy: Post. Vehicle carrying body of Abdul Quader Mollah)

Mollah, the first person to be hanged for war crimes in 1971 independence war, was buried at the family graveyard at Amirabad village in Faridpur district around 4: 20 am after funeral prayers, District Magistrate Md Mamun Shiblee, who supervised the burial, was quoted as saying by a news website.
  
The execution of the 65-year-old Jamaat leader, infamous as 'Butcher of Mirpur', took place on Friday night after the Supreme Court rejected his review petition.
  
Activists of Jamaat and its student wing, Chhatra Shibir, vandalized, torched and looted around 50 houses and business establishments of AL supporters and minorities in different areas of the district after Mollah's execution, said Joybeb Chowdhury, additional superintendent of police in Satkhira.
  
Two AL supporters and a child were killed in Satkhira while Jamaat activist Sukkur Ali, 25, was killed in Pirojpur, a newspaper reported.
  
In Sadar upazila, police recovered a bullet-riddled body this morning.
  
Jamaat supporters also took out flash processions and exploded crude bombs at several other areas. They clashed with police at many places. At many places, the police opened fire and shot several rounds to disperse the protesters.
  
Jamaat supporters’ torched shops owned by AL leaders and activists at different Unions at Banshkhali in Chittagong.
  
The Islamist party has announced a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest the execution of Mollah.

Amnesty fears attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh after execution

Source: Z News

Dhaka: Execution of a top leader of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for war crimes in Bangladesh could lead to reprisal attacks on minority communities, especially Hindus, a leading human rights watchdog has warned.

Bangladesh executed Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah, infamous as the "Butcher of Mirpur", for 1971 war crimes last night, making him the first politician to be hanged for such crimes.

"At this volatile time many people including minority Hindus are at risk of reprisal attacks....They are at particular risk of violence now the execution has been carried out," said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International's Bangladesh Researcher.

"Authorities must ensure that anyone at risk, especially Hindus are given the protection they need at this tense time. Whole villages were burned down in the violence against Hindus this year and no one has been brought to justice," he said in a statement.


"It is also crucial that all politicians in Bangladesh make it crystal clear to their supporters to refrain from human rights abuses, and that attacks on Hindu communities are unacceptable," said Faiz.

Jamaat cadres have targeted Hindus over the International Crimes Tribunal trials of the party's leaders relating to the 1971 liberation war. Many of the prosecution witnesses have been Hindus.

‘Hindus come under attack in Bangladesh’

Source: The Hindu
url: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/hindus-come-under-attack-in-bangladesh/article5407627.ece

The minority Hindus came under attack, allegedly by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its students wing, in Patgram, northern Lalmonirhat district, for the second time in a month, major Bangladesh newspapers reported on Friday .

The attackers beat up women and children and torched and looted at least five shops and two houses at Ghoshpara village on the third day of the opposition-sponsored 71-hour blockade, said the dailies quoting police and eyewitnesses .

The incident fuelled concerns over a fresh spell of attacks on the minority members as men of the village have fled in fear.

No reason

Minority leaders alleged that the villages had come under attack for no specific reason. However, local union Parishad Chairman Ruhul Amin Babul said, taking the advantage of countrywide blockade they attacked the Hindus who do not belong to any political party. “They did so to create panic in the area and use that to their advantage,” the chairman concluded.

Another Hindu-populated village Shafinagar under the same district also came under attack allegedly by BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men on October 27, the first day of the opposition-called shutdown. The vandals beat 12 women as the males fled the scene.

Quoting police and eyewitnesses, newspapers said about 200 to 250 Jamaat-Shibir activists led by Shibir leader Rana Islam brought out a procession in the area and swooped on Hindus’ shops and houses. A number of aggrieved villagers alleged that some local Awami League men, too, were responsible for inciting the violence.

Attacked Hindu communities in Lalmonirhat left unsecured

Source: Dhaka Tribune

Police said Jamaat-Shibir and BNP activists attacked the Hindu residents of Shafinagar village on October 27, during an ongoing nationwide 60-hour hartal

A five-member team from the Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights body, have visited and conducted inquiry at two Hindu-populated villages in Lalmonirhat that were recently attacked allegedly by organised gangs.

Over the past two days, the team spoke to the victims of the attacks at Satpatki Majhipara and Shafinagar villages in Lalmonirhat sadar and Patgram upazilas respectively.

Abu Ahmed Fajlul Kabir, the ASK team leader and in-charge of the ASK investigation unit, said the Hindu communities of the two villages were still left unsecured and might face further attacks by organised gangs.

“I have talked to the Lalmonirhat Deputy Commissioner Habibur Rahman and Superintendent of Police Habibur Rahman about the attacks on the minority Hindu people. They confirmed providing all legal support to the Hindu people at these two villages,” he said.

The police said Jamaat-Shibir and BNP activists attacked the Hindu residents of Shafinagar village on October 27, during an ongoing nationwide 60-hour hartal.

Sixteen shops belonging to Hindu owners were looted and vandalised, while some of the stores were also torched, resulting in damages worth Tk3m.

Police sources also said a gang of miscreants, consisting of men who had been expelled from the BNP, vandalised and looted four houses belonging to Hindu families at Satpatki Majhipara village on November 4, during another spell of 60-hour hartal by the opposition alliance. The gang also searched through 40 more houses of Hindu families in the area and assaulted 15 people, including six women.

Two separate cases had been lodged with Patgram and Lalmonirhat sadar police stations on October 29 and November 4.

Only three of the 111 accused on the Patgram case have been held so far, while none of the six identified accused in the Lalmonirhat sadar case was yet to be arrested, members of the local Hindu community said. 

Police said Jamaat-Shibir and BNP activists attacked the Hindu residents of Shafinagar village on October 27, during an ongoing nationwide 60-hour hartal

A five-member team from the Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights body, have visited and conducted inquiry at two Hindu-populated villages in Lalmonirhat that were recently attacked allegedly by organised gangs.
Over the past two days, the team spoke to the victims of the attacks at Satpatki Majhipara and Shafinagar villages in Lalmonirhat sadar and Patgram upazilas respectively.
Abu Ahmed Fajlul Kabir, the ASK team leader and in-charge of the ASK investigation unit, said the Hindu communities of the two villages were still left unsecured and might face further attacks by organised gangs.
“I have talked to the Lalmonirhat Deputy Commissioner Habibur Rahman and Superintendent of Police Habibur Rahman about the attacks on the minority Hindu people. They confirmed providing all legal support to the Hindu people at these two villages,” he said.
The police said Jamaat-Shibir and BNP activists attacked the Hindu residents of Shafinagar village on October 27, during an ongoing nationwide 60-hour hartal.
Sixteen shops belonging to Hindu owners were looted and vandalised, while some of the stores were also torched, resulting in damages worth Tk3m.
Police sources also said a gang of miscreants, consisting of men who had been expelled from the BNP, vandalised and looted four houses belonging to Hindu families at Satpatki Majhipara village on November 4, during another spell of 60-hour hartal by the opposition alliance. The gang also searched through 40 more houses of Hindu families in the area and assaulted 15 people, including six women.
Two separate cases had been lodged with Patgram and Lalmonirhat sadar police stations on October 29 and November 4.
Only three of the 111 accused on the Patgram case have been held so far, while none of the six identified accused in the Lalmonirhat sadar case was yet to be arrested, members of the local Hindu community said.  

- See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/nov/23/%E2%80%98attacked-hindu-communities-lalmonirhat-left-unsecured%E2%80%99#sthash.cRFRVVmg.dpuf

Police said Jamaat-Shibir and BNP activists attacked the Hindu residents of Shafinagar village on October 27, during an ongoing nationwide 60-hour hartal - See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/nov/23/%E2%80%98attacked-hindu-communities-lalmonirhat-left-unsecured%E2%80%99#sthash.cRFRVVmg.dpuf

Police said Jamaat-Shibir and BNP activists attacked the Hindu residents of Shafinagar village on October 27, during an ongoing nationwide 60-hour hartal - See more at: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2013/nov/23/%E2%80%98attacked-hindu-communities-lalmonirhat-left-unsecured%E2%80%99#sthash.cRFRVVmg.dpuf

Hindu houses, shops looted in Lalmonirhat 12 hurt in attack by 'Jamaat-Shibir men'

Source: The Daily Star

A villager watches a shop vandalised and looted by Jamaat-Shibir activists at Ghoshpara village in Jongra union of Patgram upazila under Lalmonirhat district. The activists vandalised, torched and looted five shops and two houses of Hindus at the village yesterday, the third day of the main opposition BNP-led 18-party sponsored countrywide blockade programme. PHOTO: STAR

Hindus came under attack allegedly by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir at Patgram upazila in Lalmonirhat for the second time in a month yesterday.
The attackers beat up at least 12 women and children and torched and looted at least five shops and two houses at Ghoshpara village of Jongra union on the third day of the opposition-sponsored 71-hour blockade.
The incident fuelled concerns over a fresh spell of attacks on the Hindus as men of the village have fled in fear of further attacks.
Earlier on October 28, Jamaat-Shibir men along with BNP activists unleashed a terror on another Hindu majority area at Shafinagar in Bawra union during hartal, torching at least 18 shops.
Ghoshpara, situated nearly 87 km from the district headquarters, is only three kilometres away from Shafinagar.
Opposition activists on November 4 also attacked another village at Satpatki Majhipara in Sadar upazila. They vandalised and looted several houses after villagers had refused to pay them toll.
About 200 to 250 Jamaat-Shibir activists and supporters led by Patgram upazila unit Shibir president Rana Islam yesterday made a sudden attack on the shops and houses from a procession, said police and witnesses.
They vandalised and looted three groceries owned by Manik Chandra Ghosh, Subhas Chandra Ghosh, and Jamini Ghosh, a fertiliser shop of Khokan Chandra Ghosh, and a pharmacy of Koyel Chandra Ghosh. The attackers also vandalised two houses belonging to Koyel Chandra Ghosh and Dhanjit Ghosh Tapos, president of Bangladesh Chhatra League of Rangpur district unit.
Locals were confused about the reason behind the attack. Some said the Jamaat-Shibir men were angry with Dhanjit and attacked his and other Hindu houses.
A number of Hindu villagers however alleged that ruling party men had instigated the attack.
Police arrested Nazrul Islam, member of local Union Parishad and former president of Shibir of Patgram upazila.
Officer-in-charge of Patgram police Sohrab Hossain said Rana was a listed criminal and was on the run.
Gopal Chandra Barman, general secretary of district Puja Udjapan Parishad, said several male members of at least 23 Hindu families had left the village and were in need of security.
Rabindra Ghosh, president of Bangladesh Minority Watch, said after the two incidents, the Hindus of Patgram were living in fear and a sense of insecurity.

Attacks on Hindus in Lalmonirhat, Pabna Judicial inquiry demanded

Source: The Daily Star

Civil society and minority community leaders at a rally yesterday demanded judicial inquiry into the recent attacks on the Hindu community in Pabna and Lalmonirhat and exemplary punishment for the perpetrators.
Some of them demanded resignation of State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku for failing to stop the attacks and blamed the government of failing to bring the culprits to book.
Meanwhile, leaders of Gonotantrik Baam Morcha, an alliance of several left leaning parties, demanded immediate arrest of the attackers.
At a press conference in its office in the capital’s Topkhana Road, they observed that the victims were still living in insecurity and should be provided protection and compensation.
Tuku, a lawmaker from Pabna, was 10 kilometres away from the crime scene in Pabna, former state minister for information Abu Sayeed had alleged on Friday.
The Daily Star took photos of two men, whom the victims identified as the attackers, welcoming Tuku and two lawmakers during their visit to the affected areas in Pabna.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad and Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad organised the rally in the capital’s Central Shaheed Minar premises protesting the attacks.
Addressing the rally, Shahriar Kabir, executive president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said at least 400 such attacks took place in Bangladesh in the last one year.
Like in 2001, a communal force is attacking the minorities ahead of the national election, “which is very much alarming”, he said, urging people to defeat the forces just as they did during the Liberation War in 1971.
Eminent cultural activist Kamal Lohani said, “It is a matter of great regret that we have to fight communal forces even 40 years into achieving independence. Our existence will be at stake if we fail to resist the communal forces.”
Eminent educationalist Prof Emeritus Anisuzzaman said the attackers were not enemies of Hindus or any other community but the enemy of Bangladesh and humanity.
“They attempted to destroy the spirit of the Liberation War, stop progress of the country. But we can not go for a compromise with them. We have to fight against this force,” he added.
Liberation War Museum Trustee Ziauddin Tariq Ali and the oikya parishad leaders Hiralal Bala, Subrata Chowdhury, Nirmal Chatterjee, Nirmal Rozario, and Ramen Mandol, among others, spoke.
Prof Neem Chandra Bhowmik chaired the rally, moderated by Tapos Kumar Paul.

Muslim mob vandalises 26 Hindu houses in Bangladesh

Source: The Financial Express

Summary: The attack was provoked after alleged reports of a Hindu boy committing blasphemy.


A Muslim mob burned down 26 Hindu houses in Bangladesh's Pabna district on Saturday. The attack was provoked after alleged reports of a Hindu boy committing blasphemy. (Reuters image)



A mob went on a rampage in a Hindu-dominated neighbourhood in a village in Bangladesh's Pabna district following reports that a boy from the minority community had committed blasphemy, prompting the country's High Court to order arrest of attackers within 24 hours.
The mob attacked the Hindu neighborhood at Bonogram village in Santhia upazila in Pabna district on Saturday, vandalising 26 houses, damaging several idols and forcing about 150 families to flee the area.
The incident prompted the High Court to take suo motu cognisance, asking the Inspector General of Police to ensure the arrest of the culprits within 24 hours and deployment of adequate police forces in the area to protect the minorities.
"We have arrested nine of the perpetrators of the attack in the past two days and are looking for the others," officer in-charge of the local police station Rezaul Karim said.
He said that most of the suspects belonged to supporters or activists of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party or their crucial ally Jamaat-e-Islami while the scene was the home of the fundamentalist party's chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, who is being tried for 1971 crimes against humanity.
"The situation here is now normal," Karim said.
The High Court bench comprising judges Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and ABM Altaf Hossain also asked the police chief to launch a probe into the attack and assess the amount of loss it caused and submit the report before the court.
The media reports, meanwhile, came up with a finding that a group of extortionists, mostly belonging to the BNP and their fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami, had planned to frame Hindu schoolboy Rajib Saha for maligning Islam after his businessman father refused to pay them.
The Daily Star newspaper said it found that the Facebook page, photocopies of which were used to incite the attacks, had no links with Rajib.

Attacks on Hindus: TIB for probe, punishment to culprits

Source: The Daily Star

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed concern over the attacks on minority communities and their places of worship in Lalmonirhat, Pabna, Rajshahi, Faridpur and Khagrachhari in the last few days.
In a statement yesterday, the anti-graft watchdog demanded a fair investigation into the incidents by a powerful judicial committee and exemplary punishment to the culprits.
It also demanded appropriate administrative steps to put an end to such barbarism in no time.
These attacks on minority communities are “against the spirit of the country’s Liberation War and independence,” TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said in the statement.
In no way are these incidents acceptable in a Bangladesh committed to communal harmony and equal rights of all citizens irrespective of religion and race, he stressed.
“Attacks have been carried out on minority communities under the auspices of politicians and powerful persons centring on elections in the past. Similar attacks for intimidation and mean and destructive political purposes ahead of the next elections are never acceptable,” he added.
Iftekharuzzaman noted that the situation might take a grave turn if steps are not taken immediately, adding, “We are more concerned to know that those incidents are planned and motivated.”
The TIB urged the media and the concerned citizens to take a stand against such crimes.
Bangladesh Sonatoni Dhormio Sammilito Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajot and Bangladesh Minority Sangram Parishad also condemned the attacks on Hindus and other minorities in different parts of the country.
Gono Forum will visit Santhia in Pabna to see the Hindu houses that were vandalised and looted last week, said a press release.

Bangladesh: Genocide Now, Taliban Soon

Source: American Thinker
Madeline Brooks

Bangladesh is on the road to becoming another Afghanistan, fulfilling the clearly stated desires of jihadists and fundamentalists, according to Bangladeshis who have fled their homeland.

Imams describe women as filth and demand that they cover themselves.  They accuse exploited female garment workers of prostitution when they are forced to work late into the night to earn a living.  Schoolchildren have to dress in Islamic garb, even if they are not Muslims.  Workers are discriminated against if they are other than Muslim.  Land grabs by Muslims of property owned by minorities occur all the time -- with impunity.  Atheist bloggers are beaten and even killed for "insulting Islam," and all this under the supposedly secular Awami League administration.

The Hindu empire once stretched from Afghanistan to Indonesia, before the Muslim invasions whittled it down.  According to Dr. Sachi Dastidar, professor of politics at the State University of New York at Old Westbury, Long Island, forty-nine million Hindus are missing from the Bangladesh census over the period of 1947 to 2001.  At the time of the partition of India in 1947, Hindus comprised thirty-one percent of the population of Bangladesh.  The population of Hindus in Bangladesh is now down to a mere nine percent.  The numbers are shrinking very fast due to coerced conversions; the kidnapping of girls and women, as well as rapes followed by murder; forced flight -- and genocidal massacres.

In the near future, all the non-Muslims may be "ethnically cleansed" from Bangladesh.  The world will have lost one more part of the globe to fundamentalists and gained one more staging ground for new attacks on the West.

The minority population in Bangladesh lives under constant fear of loss of life and property, especially in the countryside, where Muslim transgressions more easily escape being publicized.

Imagine this: You are a peasant farmer living in a thatched house in a remote area.  You and your brother try to keep a vigil during the night, expecting another raid, since there have been frequent attacks on your neighbors.  Men with torches come at three in the morning and set fire to your house, after dragging out your wife and two daughters, ages nine and thirteen.  You must fight alone, because your brother was mutilated by the same men in a previous raid.  All his fingers were cut off, and his right leg was amputated at the hip so that he would suffer lifelong humiliation as well as disability.

You are beaten and bound, forced to watch the gang-rapes of your wife and daughters.  Your house and all your possessions are burned beyond use.

Your wife and daughters are afraid to file a complaint with the police, because they know that the police usually do not prosecute the attackers -- and they may even turn on the victims.  (All this, to say nothing of having to bear the shame of being sexually violated.)  You have talked with your neighbors about mounting a stronger defense against the frequent attacks, but all of you feel demoralized, knowing that scores or even hundreds of armed men have descended on others like you to punish you for having the temerity to fight back. 

You consider fleeing with your family but do not want to give up the land that has belonged to your ancestors for hundreds of years.  But if you stay on your land, which is the only life you know, you may very well be killed. 

Such is life today in Bangladesh for Hindus, as well as for all the other minorities: Buddhists, Christians, atheists, and animists.  The details of this sketch are all too real.  They were culled from photos and verbal descriptions of the persecution of the minorities compiled by a human rights organization of Bangladeshi Americans, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council.

The Bangladesh Unity Council will meet on November 20, 2013 in Washington D.C. with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.  Hopefully this time they will see results, since the same group has been meeting with other U.S. officials since 1999 without any sign of improvement.

An immediate concern is the upcoming national elections in Bangladesh, because in this aspiring democracy, ironically, elections bring fresh new pogroms against the minorities.

This is not to say that every Muslim in this Muslim-majority country participates in or accepts these atrocities.  On the contrary, there are Muslim intellectuals who write frequent articles decrying their country's slide toward sharia and jihad.

The international press, however, has barely noticed Bangladesh's descent into fundamentalist hell, and the threat it poses to world security. 

Worldwide attention and political intervention may be able to help slow down this disaster.  But that takes time.  Most immediately, however, support is needed to stop the ongoing genocide.  To meet immediate needs for survival, non-violent physical assistance to protect endangered communities must be considered.

Madeline Brooks is a counter-jihad activist and writer, based in New York City.  She can be reached at ResistJihad@aol.com.

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US lawmakers express concern over attack on minorities: Bangladesh

Source: Z NEWS

Washington: Expressing serious concern over increasing attack on religious minorities like Hindus in Bangladesh, top US lawmakers have said they are worried that the country is falling into the lap of fundamentalist groups.


During a Congressional hearing, the lawmakers urged the Bangladeshi government to take immediate steps to prevent the country from slipping into hands of fundamentalist groups.

"In Bangladesh today, if we go back to 1947. You have a total of 49 million Hindus missing from the rolls, many of them of course went to India. But recently we have got a situation where you got 1500 Hindu homes, 50 Hindu temples burnt to the ground," Congressman Ed Royce, the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during hearing.

Not just Hindus, but people from other religious minorities including Christians are increasingly becoming victims of this attack, he alleged.

Royce said it is because a small percentage of Bangladeshi population has been radicalised and has not been given a wider broader education.

"I am particularly concerned over issues regarding religious freedom, and specifically, over attacks on the minority Hindu community remaining in Bangladesh today," said Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the Acting Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

"It is up to the Government of Bangladesh to act authoritatively against those who incite and commit violence against anyone and protect the rights of all minorities," she said. "This is an essential step toward ensuring the safety and basic rights of all of Bangladesh's citizens, regardless of their faith."

Congressman Brad Sherman expressed serious concern over the violation of human rights of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Royce alleged that fundamentalist groups in Bangladesh are indulging in forced conversions by kidnapping girls and women and by showing terror.

"We also have a situation where in the local police sometime blame the Hindu population for destruction," he said.

"Unless the State in Bangladesh is ready to come forward and close these particular Deobandi schools, Bangladesh is going down the path where the consequences of this would eventually engulf itself. You can see what is happening in Pakistan, when you do not confront it," Royce said, adding that the Government is not doing enough to protect them.

Responding to questions from lawmakers, Ali Riaz, Public Policy Scholar from Woodrow Wilson Center, conceded that the issue has not been addressed as robustly as it should be.

"Instability in Bangladesh is contributing to this kind of situation. The State has never done it should be doing (to protect minorities). Irrespective of the political parties in power, the State has failed to protect the minorities," he said.

The lawmakers said that Bangladesh was currently in a state of political turmoil and attributed this mainly to the political stalemate between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the opposition leader Begum Khalida Zia.

"As Bangladesh approaches national elections, which are likely to take place in early January the country is in a state of political turmoil," Congressman Steve Chabot, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during the hearing.

"As the major political parties' ramp up their campaigns, operatives utilize riots, strikes and blockade to destabilize the country and call attention to their grievances," said Chabot, who had visited Bangladesh a few weeks ago during which he met both Hasina and Zia.

Insisting that the national elections should be free and fair, transparent and without violence, Chabot rued that both leaders were adamant in their positions.

"Sheikh Hasina insisted that the provisions were in place to conduct a fair election. Madam Zia held the position that a fair election could not be held without a caretaker government in place to ensure transparency. As of today, the two side remain at large and it is still uncertain whether or not the opposition BNP would boycott the election," Chabot said.

Any further violence, he cautioned would lead to strengthening of extremist groups in the country.

"The US continues to be concerned about the political deadlock between the two major political parties, in particular around the upcoming elections and the increase in violence that this deadlock creates," said Gabbard.

"Our Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal just returned from Bangladesh and reiterated the US' position that the opposing parties must come to an agreement over the elections to ensure that there is a prevention of any further violence," she said.

"We hope that both parties engage directly in a constructive dialogue in order to create this environment for free, fair, and credible elections to occur. I think that this will be a critical measure as we look at US-Bangladesh relations moving forward," Gabbard said.

Testifying before the committee, eminent experts expressed concern over the political stalemate in Bangladesh and cautioned that the country could very well head towards an uncertain phase of efforts were not made to resolve this.

Maj Gen A M N Muniruzzaman, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, warned that there is greater chance of post poll violence in case of an one-party election, which might spread across the border.

How Islamists Stole a Congressional Hearing

Source: American Thinker

Oppressed Hindus from Bangladesh asked for a congressional committee hearing to make known their victimization by Islamists.  They got their hearing, but they were not given a chance to speak; instead, Islamists took over.

Not one Hindu was invited to be on the panel of speakers.  The Islamists trashed the only political movement in Bangladesh that offers some hope of secularism.

Evidence suggests that an American lobbying firm working for a Bangladeshi war criminal bought influence with the hearing.  The same day, the NY Times wrote a staggeringly pro-Islamist editorial, raising the question that perhaps they too were bought with lobbyist money.

On November 20, 2013, a group of loyal Hindu Bangladeshi American citizens were granted a long-awaited hearing by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.  The Hindus wanted to ask the U.S. to stay the hand of the religious extremists who are pushing their compatriots remaining in Bangladesh toward genocide, described more fully here.

Bangladesh is erroneously considered a moderate Muslim country by the State Department.  Hindus and other minorities -- Buddhists, Christians, animists, and atheists -- live in continuous anxiety, even terror.  Minorities have scant protection against Islamist depredations such as murder, rape, and burning of their houses and places of worship, as well as theft and discrimination in the Bangladeshi legal system.  Protection from the police is uncertain, since Bangladeshi police often either ignore minorities' complaints or are themselves the perpetrators.  This land, which was once solely inhabited by Hindus and Buddhists, now has a minority population of non-Muslims of only about nine percent.  Mass murders, forced conversions, and forced flight account for the drop in numbers.

Right now is an especially frightening time for Bangladeshi minorities, because elections will happen soon.  Historically, that has always meant heightened danger, with Muslim mobs attacking vulnerable minorities no matter what the outcome of the election might be. 

Two major forces vie for control of Bangladesh: secularists and Muslim fundamentalists.  The incumbent party, the Awami League, is nominally secularist and offers some hope for minorities.  Opposing it is the Bangladesh National Party, allied with a group called Jamaat-e-Islami, which wants to impose a totalitarian form of Islam on everyone in that country.  In the 1971 war of liberation, Jamaat was involved in war crimes against Bangladeshis, especially Hindus, who wanted freedom from Pakistan and Islamic fundamentalism.

The AL is currently conducting trials of the war criminals, which the BNP objects to on procedural grounds.  While some of AL's judicial practices may be questionable, at bottom, the BNP wants to spare their Jamaat affiliates from possible execution for their past deeds.  The AL views Jamaat as a potential disaster for democracy, much as we would if al-Qaeda were included in our elections, and is trying to keep Jamaat out of the electoral process.

Whatever its flaws might be, the AL is the only present-day bulwark against the Talibanization of Bangladesh. 

The contentious issue of the war crimes tribunals so dominated the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that the problem of spreading Islamism and the persecution of minorities received short shrift.  Although the BNP members did mention minorities in passing, not one Hindu or other minority was on the panel.  The drift of the BNP position was that by excluding Jamaat, there would -- somehow, mysteriously -- be disturbances which would destabilize the country and affect minorities, too.  BNP sidestepped the intolerance and disrespect for non-Muslims that is the root of the problem.  It was a bizarre and revolting reversal of justice.

The hearing appears to have been hijacked.  Hindu activists believe that a strong BNP lobby is operating in Washington.  It is already established that a major lobbying firm, Cassidy & Associates, represents war criminal Mir Abdul Qasim Ali (pictured left), who is held in custody in Bangladesh awaiting trial and possibly execution.  Ali was implicated in a wartime killing spree and is a major fundamentalist player.  He is a senior member of Jamaat who supports Wahhabist values, and he heads a Saudi-based bank that launders money for Jamaat and terrorists. 

Gregg Hartley (pictured right), vice chairman and CEO of Cassidy & Associates, has been conducting a publicity campaign in Europe and the U.S. to get Ali released from jail, according to his home-state newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Disclosures of lobbyist records show that Cassidy and Associates has received more than $500,000 in the past year from Ali and his very wealthy family. 

Hartley's battle to free Ali involves discrediting the purpose as well as the methods of the war crimes tribunals, thereby legitimizing Islamism and its abuses.  Hartley also lobbies for Pakistan and other Islamist clients, as stated on his firm's website. 

Apparently Hartley does not object to working for Islamists, even if they would limit his own freedom if they came to power in the U.S.

An inescapable question arises: was a paid campaign waged to discredit the war crimes tribunal at the Foreign Affairs hearing in order to spare Hartley's client?  Were Hindus kept off the panel so that they could not give evidence of the complete Islamist take over Bangladesh is facing, and of the persecution that minorities are suffering even now?  This is a very reasonable speculation, and an investigation of Cassidy's activities and finances is in order.

A similar question must be raised about the alarming editorial in the NY Times published on the same day.  The Times lays the blame for Bangladesh's growing instability solely on the AL and states that Jamaat should be legitimized by including it in the upcoming elections.

Remember that Germany voted the Nazis into power.  A similar fate could await this vulnerable country, already teetering on the brink of totalitarian Islam.  One has to wonder why the NY Times took such a disastrous editorial position. 

Madeline Brooks is a counter-jihad activist and writer, based in New York City.  She can be reached at ResistJihad@aol.com.

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Minority Hindus Targeted in Bangladesh

Source: GateStone Institute
url: http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4058/hindus-bangladesh

The leading newspaper in Bangladesh, the Daily Star, found that the page used to incite the attack had no links to the boy. The Additional District Magistrate to the jurisdriction stated that no one had found any substance to the claim made against the schoolboy.
The US Embassy expressed its "deep concern" about the recent attacks on Hindus and urged the Bangladeshi government to take action against the criminals and protect the rights of minorities.

Hundreds of Islamists recently stormed 26 homes belonging to minority Hindus in the Bangladeshi sub-district Santhia, and more in other areas. On the morning of November 2, 2013, a group of Islamists began distributing photocopies of what they claimed was a "Facebook page." They accused a Hindu boy, Razib Saha, who was preparing for a Secondary School Certificate examination, of demeaning the Prophet Mohammad on that page. An hour after distributing the photocopies, the Islamists caught the father of Razib Saha at his shop and beat him. They then attacked and vandalized houses in the Hindu neighborhood, destroyed two shrines, damaged several idols and forced 150 families to flee the area.
Meanwhile, protesting against the supposed defamation of the prophet Mohammad, for five hours people from different villages blockaded the highway that runs through the area.
The leading newspaper in Bangladesh, the Daily Star, found that the page used to incite the attack had no links to the boy. The Additional District Magistrate of the jurisdiction stated that no one found any substance to the claim made against the schoolboy.
In another incident, a group of masked criminals attacked 18 shops belonging to members of the Hindu community in a rural area in the district Lalmonirhat. The attack was allegedly launched by the main opposition party, BNP, and its crucial ally, Bangladesh Jammat-e Islami, the largest Islamist political party.

Hindu women in Banshkhali Upazila, Bangladesh surveying the remains of their demolished homes after being attacked by the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. (Image source: globalvoicesonline.org / WikiMedia Commons)

The US Embassy expressed its deep concern at the recent attacks on Hindus in both the areas and urged the Bangladeshi government to take action against the criminals and protect the rights of minorities.
Transparency International Bangladesh, a body of the Berlin-based Transparency International, also expressed its deep concern about seven incidents that have taken place over the last few days. It said, "Onslaughts and intimidation on minorities for ill and destructive political purpose before the election are not acceptable."
According to Hindu community leaders, so far, more than 50 Hindu temples and more than 1,500 Hindu homes were destroyed in 20 districts in 2013 alone.
Community leaders claimed that the Jihadi groups responsible for these attacks are funded by Hefajat-e-Islam, Jamaat-e-Islam and BNP. The president of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said, "Conspirators are out to create a situation so that the Hindus can be attacked."
There is a commoniy cited statistic that the Hindus of the country are roughly 8.5% of the population, but since 2001, the Hindu minority population of the country is noticeably vanishing. They have, however, been supporting the Bangladesh Awami League, the party that led country's liberation struggle in 1971 against Pakistani occupation, and the leading party of the current alliance government.
The Awami League maintains good ties with India, a predominately Hindu country. The Party is considered a secular one, likely not to the liking of the millions of fundamentalists of the country.
Moreover, the government has initiated an International War Crimes Tribunal, in which nine members of the Jammat-e-Islami and two top BNP leaders have already been convicted for war crimes, and sentenced to life in prison or death.
The country is currently in deep political turmoil on the issue of election, scheduled for January 24, 2014.
It is a threatening situation for minorities, with the country's Islamists repeatedly using the Quran and the name of the Prophet Mohammad as tools to incite the massive and combustible Muslim community.
In the last year, an estimated 25,000 Islamists attacked 12 Buddhist temples and monasteries and 50 homes in reaction to the alleged tagging of an image, supposedly depicted as a "desecration of Quran," in the Facebook profile of a young man. Subsequently, several Hindu temples were destroyed and the violence spread.

BJP meets Bangladesh envoy over attacks on Hindus

Source: Z NEWS

New Delhi: A Bharatiya Janata Party delegation Wednesday met Bangladesh High Commissioner Mahbub Hassan Saleh and lodged a protest over attacks on Hindus in that country.

The delegation was led by BJP's convenor of overseas affairs Vijay Jolly.


"He (Jolly) pointed out that the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh today lives in the shadow of fear," a statement released to the press said.

"The Hindus in Bangladesh are regular victims of communal violence. Desecration of Hindu deities in Bangladesh is reported in the media repeatedly. Hindu families are identified, targeted, threatened and forced to convert," the statement said.

Muslim mob vandalises 26 Hindu houses in Bangladesh

Source: The Financial Express



A Muslim mob burned down 26 Hindu houses in Bangladesh's Pabna district on Saturday. The attack was provoked after alleged reports of a Hindu boy committing blasphemy. (Reuters image)


A mob went on a rampage in a Hindu-dominated neighbourhood in a village in Bangladesh's Pabna district following reports that a boy from the minority community had committed blasphemy, prompting the country's High Court to order arrest of attackers within 24 hours.
The mob attacked the Hindu neighborhood at Bonogram village in Santhia upazila in Pabna district on Saturday, vandalising 26 houses, damaging several idols and forcing about 150 families to flee the area.
The incident prompted the High Court to take suo motu cognisance, asking the Inspector General of Police to ensure the arrest of the culprits within 24 hours and deployment of adequate police forces in the area to protect the minorities.
"We have arrested nine of the perpetrators of the attack in the past two days and are looking for the others," officer in-charge of the local police station Rezaul Karim said.
He said that most of the suspects belonged to supporters or activists of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party or their crucial ally Jamaat-e-Islami while the scene was the home of the fundamentalist party's chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, who is being tried for 1971 crimes against humanity.
"The situation here is now normal," Karim said.
The High Court bench comprising judges Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and ABM Altaf Hossain also asked the police chief to launch a probe into the attack and assess the amount of loss it caused and submit the report before the court.
The media reports, meanwhile, came up with a finding that a group of extortionists, mostly belonging to the BNP and their fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami, had planned to frame Hindu schoolboy Rajib Saha for maligning Islam after his businessman father refused to pay them.
The Daily Star newspaper said it found that the Facebook page, photocopies of which were used to incite the attacks, had no links with Rajib.

Future of the Hindus in Bangladesh

Source: The Guardian

( November 16, 2013, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) After the death of the father of the nation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman, the noted intellectual of India Annada Shankar Roy wrote regarding the future of Hindus in Bangladesh. He wrote, a day would come when, if somebody found any person, who is Hindu in religion, in Bangladesh, he would ask why his forefather came in this land, they would not believe that he was a Bengali kayesto by cast. In fact, he wanted to say that, one day this land would be a Hindu free country. This article was published in 1976 or 77. Then freedom fighters of Bangladesh were young. So it was very shocking matter for those Hindu boys who fought for the freedom of this country because before the assassination of Sheikh Mujib ,they never thought that they are Hindus and they have not equal rights in this country and they have to leave this country.

However, after the death of Sheikh Mujib, thirty eight years have passed and in these thirty eight years many things have been happened in Bangladesh and a much water has flown through the river Padma but still more than twelve million Hindus are living in Bangladesh. They are not only living in this country but also fighting for changing the political and economic situation. In politics, from 15 august of 1975 to still now Bangladesh is fighting for restoring its political spirit, which the country has lost in 15 august 1975 through the assassination of Sheikh Mujib by the defeated force of 1971. Simultaneously, the Hindus are fighting for building the economy of the country put shoulder on the shoulder of the majority people. On the other hand, a large number of Hindus have left the country and most of them have gone to India. A small portion of them has gone other countries. Those people who have gone to India, they were bound to leave Bangladesh, the motherland.

However, it is a big question, why a large number of Hindu people have left the country; on the other hand, more than twelve million Hindus are living and fighting for this countries good fate. First thing is that though immigration is the nature of the human being from the very beginning of the civilization; but people try their level best to stay in their birthplace because of their culture, heredity and habits. Besides, an uncertainty always remains in any kind of immigration; it is economic and social insecurity. Therefore, the Hindu people of Bangladesh are trying their best to stay in their own land. It is a natural cause. The socio-political cause is that, a large number of people in Bangladesh are non-communal; they want a religious harmony in the society. Besides, the most organized and big political party in Bangladesh, `Bangladesh Awami League’ and some other small political parties want a secular country and they are fighting for this at least three and a half decades. Similarly, a large number of intellectuals of Bangladesh are fighting for a secular Bangladesh by their heart for a long; even for this reason some of them have lost their jobs, the Muslim fundamentalist attacked some of them and some of them were captive in jail by the fundamentalist government. Overall, in Bangladesh a good number of educated young generations are now very much vocal in favor of secular Bangladesh. They are modern, secular and love the freedom struggle spirit of Bangladesh from their eternal heart. Thus, the progressive people are helping the Hindu people of Bangladesh, thinking that it is their country too. Besides, after the assassination of Mujib, Awami League was in the movement against the reactionary military government. In those twenty-one years, Awami League was lead by Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib for sixteen years. The Hindu people of Bangladesh have kept faith on her. When Awami League was in the movement, the Hindu people took a lot of pain but they had hoped that, one-day Awami league would win the movement and then they would get their full rights.

From the assassination of the Mujib, the Hindu community has been gradually loosing many of their rights in the state. After the birth of Bangladesh, they would live under a constitution, which gave them equal rights in every sector but after the assassination of Mujib, the quasi military ruler made a lot of change in the constitution by the proclamations of the martial law. By changing the constitution they cut the equal rights for all citizens, they divided the citizen of Bangladesh in the name of religion. From then the state had started discriminating the people of Bangladesh through religion. It had started by the military ruler Ziaur Rahaman and the next military ruler gave its finishing. Amending constitution the next military ruler Earshad, introduced Islam as a state religion in the constitution. From then according to the constitution Hindus have not equal rights in Bangladesh due to their religion. However, it is not the full scenario, there is another picture in Bangladesh. A number of progressive people are not with this dirty works of the military and fundamentalist. They want to repel it from the constitution and they are fighting for it with the minor communities from the very beginning. However, reality is not in favor of it. Indeed, after getting freedom, Bangladesh had been run for twenty-seven years by the military and their successors; they had always been patronizing the Islamic fundamentalists. So, now the Islamic fundamentalists are very strong in Bangladesh, besides they have been trainen by Al Qyeda and Taleban; so they have a power that they can mislead people in the name of religion. That’s why, present government of Bangladesh has changed the constitution, they have tried to return the constitution, which, the country got through the freedom struggle, but they could not do it properly due to the fear of Islamic fundamentalists. Despite of their all efforts, they could not erase the Islamic religion words and Islam is the state religion from the constitution introduced by the two military rulers. However, the present government has failed to do the constitution very secular, but it is true, if this government of Awami league continues in Bangladesh, one-day constitution will be a secular constitution. It is not only for the present leadership but also for the new generation. Recently in Bangladesh, a huge number of new generation came on the road demanding a capital punishment of war criminals. They stayed on the road more than one month; it was a revolution, it has changed the mind of the huge portion of the new generation. In this uprising of the new generation, it has made clear that the new generation will be a big and strong force of the secular politics. So if government of Awami league continues upholding the secular politics, in very near future they will get a big supporter, they would be in favor of secular politics. So, if Awami league lead government can continue their power up to that time, then in Bangladesh the Hindus and the other minorities will live with equal rights in all sectors. Nobody could dare to discriminate anyone in the name of religion.

But in Bangladesh, after the uprising of the secular young generation a notorious thing has been happened. After this uprising of the secular new generation the Islamic fundamentalist groups, those who have been consolidating their economic and political power last thirty-nine years, they come out on the street under the leadership of the present opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Making people confused they blame that, the secular young generation is atheist and they have insulted the prophet of Islam. By using the Islamic cards they came out on the street, they ruined many parts of the capital of the country, and the main opposition went to take the advantage of it. The main opposition tried to topple the elected government with the help of those notorious fundamentalists, but they failed and the fundamentalist groups were driven away from the capital. In spite of that, they are working with the main opposition in favor of Islamic fundamentalism. in the mean time, the world knows very much that the government of Bangladesh is trailing the war criminals, those who committed war crime in 1971, the freedom struggle time of Bangladesh. The war crime tribunal has given nine verdict and most of them got death sentence and the Supreme Courte has given one verdict, which also death penalty. However after starting the war crime trial, the war criminal party Jammat-E- Islami ( Jammat) with the help of their ally Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have targeted the Hindu people along with all the minorities. For last one and half years the Jammat and BNP men have attacked more than thousands of Hindu houses and vandalized their many Gods statue. Even their sketch is now very clear that they will force the Hindu people to leave this country. Because, they know that Hindus are the supporter of the secular politics. On the other hand, they think that, the culture, which is upheld by the progressive Bengali people as Bengali culture is Hindu culture. They never admit that, it is the culture of this soil. They think that this culture is the main enemy of their Islamic fundamentalism. The young generation who are called by them atheist, they are to uphold the Bengali culture. That is why from the epoch of Pakistan they have identified that Bengali culture as their main adversary and they believe that Hindu people patronize this culture.

So now, they have understood that, if the present government can be successful to get power in the next election,they will continue and finish the trial of the war criminals and the war criminal party Jammat would be banned; then scenario will be different. If jammat become banned in Bangladesh and government can finish the trial and execute the criminals then the root of the Islamic fundamentalist in Bangladesh will be cut. Then the Middle East groups and ISI will not get chance to do their terrorist works in Bangladesh. For this reason, they are trying their level best to win the next election. That is why for three and half years with the help of their Middle East friends and Inter Service Intelligence (ISI), they are spending huge amounts of money inside and outside of the country. They have engaged lobbyists in America and Europe by huge money. They have purchased media inside of the country and abroad. They have employed a huge number of women in the city, town and the village to confuse the women in the name of religion that present government is the enemy of Islam, so for saving Islam they should cast their vote for the present opposition party. Besides, their policy is that before the election they want to terrorize the Hindu locality by killing, looting, arson, raping and vandalizing the statue of the Gods. Now they are doing this. Now they are doing this for stopping the Hindu people going to the vote center. By using all the weapons if they can win the election under the leadership of BNP then from the very victory night Bangladesh will fall in real danger. The Jammat people, fundamentalists and a group of BNP people will start the genocide. Their first target will be the Hindu people, intellectuals and the progressive new generations. Then thousands of people will die and hundreds thousands people will try to take Shelter in India.

So the minority Hindu people in Bangladesh is now living in a dangerous border line. If fundamentalist groups lead by BNP win in the election, the forecast of Annada Shankar Roy will be correct; then Bangladesh will be a Hindu free country. On the other hand if the Awami league lead ally win the election, Bangladesh will be a modern and secular country where a generation will come in the front line who are like son of God, they won’t make the country Hindu free and it will be fundamentalist free country.