Muslims in Bangladesh beat, deprive Christians of work

Source: Christian Today

LOS ANGELES – Muslim villagers last month beat a 63-year-old Christian convert and his youngest son because they refused to return to Islam, the father told Compass.

The next day, another Christian in a nearby village was beaten and robbed in related violence in southwestern Bangladesh.

Aynal Haque, 63, a volunteer for Christian organization Way of Life Trust, told Compass that his brothers and relatives along with Muslim villagers beat him and his son, 22-year-old Lal Miah, on Oct. 9 when they refused to recant Christianity. The family lives at Sadhu Hati Panta Para village in Jhenaidah district, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of the capital city, Dhaka. It is in the jurisdiction of Sadar police station.

Haque’s relatives and villagers said that he had become Christian by eating pork and by disrespecting the Quran, he said.

“I embraced Christianity by my own will and understanding, but I have due respect for other religions,” Haque said. “How can I be a righteous man by disrespecting other religions? Whatever rumors the villagers are spreading are false.”

At a meeting to which Haque was summoned on Oct. 9, about 500 men and women from several villages gathered, including local and Maoist party leaders.

“They tried to force me and my son to admit that we had eaten pork and trampled on the Quran to become Christian,” Haque said. “They tried to force us to be apologetic for our blunder of accepting Christianity and also tried to compel us to go back to Islam. I told them, ‘While there is breath left in our bodies, we will not reject Christianity.’

“When we denied their allegation and demand, they beat us severely. They ordered us not to mix with other Muslim villagers. They confined us in our house for five days.”

Haque has worked on his neighbors’ land for survival to supplement the meager income he earns selling seeds in local markets, but the villagers have now refused to give him work, he said.

“Every day I earn around 50 taka to 100 taka [70 cents to US$1.40] from the seed business,” he said. “Some days I cannot earn any money. So, I need to work villagers’ land for extra money to maintain my family.”

His youngest son also worked in neighbors’ fields as a day-laborer, besides attending school.

“We cannot live if we do not get farming work on other people’s land,” Haque said.

Haque, his wife and youngest son received Christ three years ago, and since then they have faced harassment and threats from Muslim neighbors. His other grown son and two daughters, as well as a son-in-law, also follow Christ but have yet to be baptized. There are around 25 people in his village who came to Christ under Haque’s influence; most of them remain low-profile to avoid harassment from the villagers, he said.

The weekly worship service in Haque’s shanty house has been hampered as some have been too fearful to attend, and the 25 members of the church fear the consequences of continuing to meet, Haque said.

Officials of Way of Life Trust tried to visit the area to investigate the beating of Haque and his son but were unable due to security risks, said Jatish Biswas, the organization’s executive director. They informed the district police chief, who instantly sent forces to provide safety for the Christians, Biswas said.

Villagers thought that if they were able to get Haque to renounce Christianity, then the other Christians would quickly return to Islam, according to Biswas.

Reverberation
Hearing of the incident in Sadhu Hati Panta Para the next day (Oct. 10), Muslims in Kola village about five kilometers (nearly three miles) away beat a Christian friend of Haque’s and robbed his seed shop.

Tokkel Ali, 40, an evangelist in one of the house churches that Way of Life Trust has established, told Compass that around 20 people arrived at his shop at about 11 a.m. and told him to go with them to Haque’s house.

“The presence of so many people, most of whom I did not know, and the way they were talking, seemed ominous to me, and I refused to go with them,” Ali said. “I said, ‘If he wants me to go to his house, he could call me on my mobile.’”

One person in the crowd pointed toward Ali, saying that he was a Christian and had made otherwise innocent people Christians by them feeding pork and letting them disrespect the Quran, said Ali. Islam strictly prohibits eating pork.

“That rumor spread like wildfire among other Muslims,” Ali said. “All of a sudden, a huge crowd overran me and started beating me, throwing my seeds here and there.”

Ali said he lost consciousness, and someone took him to a nearby three-storey house. When he came to, he scrambled back to his shop to find his seeds scattered, and 24,580 taka (US$342) for buying seed had been stolen, along with his bicycle.

Accustomed to earning just enough each day to survive, Ali said it would be impossible for him to recover and rebuild his business. He had received loans of 20,000 taka (US$278) from Grameen Bank (Nobel Peach Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus’ micro-finance entity), 15,000 taka (US$209) from the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and 11,000 taka (US$153) from Way of Life Trust to establish the business. Ali ran a similar seed business in Dakbangla market in Kola village.

“How can I pay back a weekly installment of 1,150 taka [US$160] to the micro-credit lending NGOs [Non-Governmental Organizations]?” he said. “I have already become delinquent in paying back some installments after the looting of my money and shop. I’ve ended up in deep debt, which has become a noose around my neck.”

Ali said he has not dared filed any charges.

“If I file any case or complain against them, they will kill me, as this area is very dangerous because of the Maoists,” he said, referring to a banned group of armed rebels with whom the villagers have links. “Even the local administration and the law enforcement agencies are afraid of them.”

Ali has planted 25 house churches under Way of Life Trust serving 144 people in weekly worship. Baptized in 2007, he has been following Christ for more than 10 years.

“Whenever I go to bazaar, people fling insults at me about that beating,” he said. “Everyone says that nothing would have happened if I had not accepted Christianity, an abhorrent religion to them. People also say that I should hang myself with a rope for renouncing Islam.”

Since the beating, he has become an alien in his own village, he said.

“Whatever insinuation and rumors they spout against me and other believers, there is no language to squash it,” he said. “I have to remain tight-lipped, otherwise they will kill me.”

He can no longer cross the land of one of his neighbors in order to bathe in a nearby river, he said.

“After that incident, my neighbor warned me not to go through his land,” he said. “Now I take a bath in my home from an old and dysfunctional tube-well. My neighbors say, ‘Christians are the enemy of Muslims, so don’t go through my land.’ It seems that I am nobody in this village.”

Biswas of Way of Life Trust told Compass that Christians in remote villages lack the freedoms guaranteed in the Bangladeshi constitution to practice their faith without any interference.

“Where is religious liberty for Haque and Ali?” Biswas said. “Like them, many Christians in remote villages are in the throes of persecution, though our constitution enshrined full liberty for religious minorities.”

Way of Life Trust has aided in the establishment of some 500 house churches in Bangladesh, which is nearly 90 percent Muslim. Hinduism is the second largest religion at 9.2 percent of the 153.5 million people, and Buddhists and Christians make up less than 1 percent of the population.

HC issues directives to stop stalking

Source: The Daily Star News

Star Online Report

The High Court on Tuesday directed the inspector general of police to take immediate steps to arrest all stalkers on charge of harassing girls and women in public and work places.

It also ordered deputy commissioners across the country to remain on high alert over the incidents of stalking.

A division bench comprising Justice Md Imman Ali and Justice Obaidul Hasan passed the order following a writ petition by Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association.

Advocate Shahina Nasrin, a Supreme Court lawyer and a leader of the association, filed the writ petition with the HC on Monday in the backdrop of the persistent incidents of stalking across the country.

The judges directed the home secretary and the IGP to take steps for the protection of the victims of stalking.

They also ordered the police to take legal actions against perpetrators and stalkers.

The court asked the law secretary to consult with other high officials concerned for formulating guidelines and a policy to address the problem.

It also directed the government to turn in a report within a month on steps it will take to implement the directives.

December 6 has been set for further hearing on the issue.

Girl takes her life on kidnap

Source: The Daily Star News

Rajshahi stabber held; writ petition filed for guideline against stalking

L-R: Sushil Shil and Nabibur Rahman

Just six days after Chanpa Rani Bhowmik had been fatally run over by two bike riding stalkers of her daughters in Faridpur, a thirteen-year-old girl committed suicide yesterday after her male stalker kidnapped and confined her in a room in Sirajganj.

Meanwhile, police yesterday arrested a stalker of a woman from Rajshahi, who is accused in a case for stabbing his victim's husband, son, and a relative in Naogaon.

A Faridpur court, the same day, placed stalker Debashish Saha Rony on a three-day remand in connection with the murder of Chanpa Rani, whose twin daughters Hira and Mukta were his targets.

Against the backdrop of an alarming rise in stalking of women by unruly men in the country recently, Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) filed a public interest writ petition with the High Court yesterday, seeking direction for the government to formulate a policy and guidelines for protection of women and girls from stalking.

Petitioner Fahima Nasrin, a BNWLA leader, said under the existing law the highest punishment for stalking is three-year imprisonment, which seems inadequate as a deterrent in the face of increasing instances of the crime. The HC will hear the petition today, she added.

Yesterday's victim Rupali Rani of Bogra bordering Sirajganj, who was a student of class IX at Simabari SR Girls' School, hanged herself from a ceiling beam around 8:30am after stalker Sushil Shil, 18, kidnapped her and kept her confined in a room of his residence in Sirajganj.

Sushil kidnapped Rani around 6:30am on her way to a coaching centre in Sirajganj. He also forcefully put vermilion on her forehead to imply that she was married to him according to the Hindu custom.

Discovering Rani's body hanging from the ceiling, Sushil tried to flee the area, but local residents caught him and handed him over to police, said Amirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Raiganj Police Station.

Locals said Shushil had been harassing Rani with unwelcome advances on her way to and from school and the coaching centre over the last few months.

Rani's brother Kanak Kumar filed a case with Raiganj police in connection with his sister's death.

In another incident, police yesterday arrested stalker of a woman, Nabibur Rahman alias Luku, 35, from Rajshahi, who on Saturday had stabbed his stalking victim's husband Abdul Hannan, her son, and one of her relatives in Khash-Naogaon area of Naogaon.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday visited the residence of murdered Natore College teacher Mizanur Rahman in Chawk Laxmipur village under Charghat upazila of Rajshahi, and also Abdul Hannan and his son in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

Mizannur died in a hospital of the capital on October 24, after being severely injured from an attack by two stalkers of women, for protesting against their harassment of college girls.

HC direction sought to prevent females from stalking

Source: The Daily Star News

The High Court was requested on Monday to direct the government to formulate guidelines and a policy for the protection of women and girls from stalking on their way to and from educational institutions and other public places.

Filing the writ petition as public interest litigation, Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association also sought directions upon the government to take immediate steps for enactment of a proper legislation to address the problem.

Advocate Fahima Nasrin, a lawyer of the country’s apex court and a leader of the group, filed the petition. She told The Daily Star that the HC will hear the petition on Tuesday.

She said the highest punishment for stalking is three years’ imprisonment as per the existing law.

The jail term should be enhanced since the incidents of stalking are taking place on regular basis.

Yet another minority girl falls victim to stalking

Source: The Daily Star News

Tari Rani (middle), mother of Sirajganj stalking victim Rupali Rani, cries out loud on Monday after hearing the news of her daughter’s death. (Inset) Rupali Rani. Photo: STAR

A 13-year-old girl on Monday committed suicide in Raiganj upazila of Sirajganj in the house of a stalker who had abducted and confined her for hours, police said.

Stalker Sushil Shil, 18, of Nijhuri village in the upazila was arrested.

Victim Rupali Rani, a class nine student of Simabari SR Girl's School, was on her way to a coaching centre in Sirajganj just crossing the boundary of Bogra district at around 6:30am.

Sushil waylaid her and forcibly took her to his house. He also forced her to wear vermilion on her head--- implying that she was married under the Hindu law, our Bogra correspondent reports quoting Sherpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Amirul Islam.

When Rupali protested the incident, Sushil confined her to a room, prompting her to commit suicide at around 8:30am, the OC added.

At one stage, Sushil discovered her hanging body and tried to flee the area. But soon the villagers caught him and handed him over to Raipur Police Station, Raipur police chief Samsul Haque told our Sirajganj correspondent.

Locals from both the districts informed the correspondents that Sushil had been harassing Rupali for the last few months.

The body of Rupali, the daughter of Sunil Bayati of Khalisabari village in Sherpur Upazila of Bogra, was kept in Sirajganj Sadar Hospital morgue.

Hill people still victim of land grabbing: Larma

Source: The Daily Star News

Santu LarmaOur Correspondent, Rangamati

Chief of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma yesterday said Bangla speaking people from the plain land are still grabbing the lands of jummo (indigenous) people in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) under the shelter of a vested interest group.

Security personnel are maintaining dominance over the hilly areas in the name of peacekeeping while the people of CHT region are passing their days amidst insecurity, the PCJSS leader, who is popularly known as Santu Larma, said at 'freshers' reception' on the campus of Rangamati Government College.

He was addressing as chief guest at the event organised by the college unit of Pahari Chhatra Parishad (PCP), a student front of PCJSS, in the morning.

Referring to the government's decision to set up a university of science and technology and a medical college in Rangamati, Larma, also chairman of CHT Regional Council, said new problems will be created in CHT if those institutions are set up without considering whether CHT people want them.

"Many indigenous people were evicted due to the creation of Kaptai Dam. They lost their arable land and homesteads. The jummo people do not want to lose their lands any more," said the former guerrilla leader.

"During the 39 years of independence, we have failed to establish a progressive and democratic government in the country. And so, crime and corruption has grabbed the country and human right is being violated everywhere," he lamented.

Blaming the government for politicising all the three hill district councils in CHT, he said nowadays the poor people have hardly any scope to get help or assistance as the ruling party men are enjoying all the facilities from the organisations.

Suggesting the students to acquire knowledge from the outside environment alongside academic education to become worthy citizen, Larma called upon them to come forward for full implementation of the CHT deal.

Chaired by Dhiresh Chakma, a student and president of PCP Rangamati College unit, the function was also addressed, among others, by civil society leader Prakriti Ranjan Chakma, former PCP central president Udoyan Tripura, its central committee general secretary Sunirmol Dewan and district secretary Nitol Chakma.

Later, a band show programme was held at the college campus.

Generating awareness on minority rights with a play

Source: The Daily Star News

The play and performances aim to generate awareness and disseminate information among the mainstream communities about indigenous people and dalit groups.Photo: STAR

Quamrul Islam Rubaiyat, Thakurgaon

“Handi Kutum”, a play that aims to generate awareness on the rights of indigenous people and dalit, was staged at different villages under Sadar and Pirgonj upazila of Thakurgaon last Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Tuesday the play was staged at Matrigaon and Kaharpara villages under Sadar upazila. On Wednesday Bashmonipara and Azlabad villages witnessed the play.

Artistes of a cultural team, consisting of indigenous people, under the project 'Promotion of Rights for Indigenous And Dalits Improvement Programme' (PRODIP) staged the play.

Eco Social Development Organisation (ESDO) organised the programmes in association with HEKS Bangladesh with a view to develop awareness among the indigenous people and dalits about their rights.

The programme also aims to generate awareness and disseminate information among the mainstream communities about indigenous people and dalit groups, so that they can live harmoniously and uphold their traditions.

The play also addressed different social issues, including women's rights, necessity of education, health care, evils of drug abuse and early marriage.

The cast of the play included Chaina Ram Tirki, Rani Kujur, Kanchan Singh, Maggi Toppo, Rana Kujur, Ekka, Shuren Toppo and Shanchoy Miniz. Mohammad Shahin coordinated the play.

Earlier discussions were held at these venues where General Secretary of Pirgonj Upazila Adibashi Unnayan Forum, Dandu Mormu and human rights activists Mominur Rahaman Bishal, Mohammad Shahin, among others, spoke.