Author:
Publication: Publications Parliament.uk
Date: March 26, 2005
URL: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmfaff/109/109we13.htm
There has been an exponential rise of militant
Islam in Bangladesh under the patronage of the ruling Islamic nationalist
Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. The armed cadres of her own Islamic nationalist
party, BNP, and her Islamic extremist partners in the government, the Jamaat-E-Islami,
and Islamic Unity Council, along with other militant Islamists are conducting
barbaric atrocities against the countries dwindling minorities. They want
to rid the country of its 20 million minorities thus transforming it into
a monolithic Islamic state, like Taliban Afghanistan. The government harbours
militant Islamists, Afghanistan veteran Al-Qaeda Warriors, who are training
Islamic jihadis in the country's 64,000 madrassahs. Please act without delay
to (i) stem the surge of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh thus preventing the
country from turning into another Afghanistan, and (ii) save the country's
minorities who are living there like caged animals or the Jewish people in
Hitler's Germany. In 1204, there had been no Muslim people in Bangladesh,
only the Hindu and Buddhist. In 1947, 40% of the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian
and the other religious minorities were residing in Bangladesh (the then East
Pakistan). In 1965, the Enemy Property Act was passed. It means if any one
from a Hindu family would flee to India, an enemy's country, their land property
would be confiscated. This Act still exists for the Hindu in the name of Vested
Property Act 1971: in the liberation War with Pakistan, three million people
were killed, 250,000 women including children were raped, nine million people
were driven out of the country, 80% of whose were the religious minorities.(Hindu,
Buddhist, Christian) (Bangladesh: a portrait of covert genocide, USA, p-iii)
1988: In 8th amendment, "Islam" was declared "the State religion
in Bangladesh." This has openly pushed the people of other faiths in
the second grade status which is a flagrant violation of Human Rights.
An Exponential Escalation in Religious &
Ethnic Cleansing: A Glimpse of the picture of today's Bangladesh (Last six
weeks):
- 19 November: 11 Hindus were burnt alive
(including a four day old boy, two minor girls of age 11 & 7, one teenage
girl (17) and a 70 year old man) at Banshkhali in Chittagong, Bangladesh (All
national dailies). Government is trying to portray this as a robbery.
- 3 November: "Convert to Islam in seven
days or Face death", an ultimatum to Hindus by Harkat-E-Islam Al-Jihad
in Manikgang. The letter says: "Listen the Kafirs (Non-believers), Jews
and the infidels, you are living in a Muslim country . . . Our mission is
to annihilate people like you . . . Our main objective is to exterminate people
like you" (Sangbaad, 3 November).
- 12 November: Gang rape, plucking of both
the eyes and killing of Radha Rani Saha of Thakurgaon. Radha, mother of four
and wife of Malin C Saha was gang raped and then brutally killed. Police did
nothing, no one arrested although everybody knows Rafiqul Islam, Yunus Ali
and Naziruddin of Chilarong Telipara village did the heinous act of barbarism
(BHBCOP).
- 18 October: Minority tribal girl Bobita
Rani Bobby was gang raped by criminals and as well as by two police at Hatgangapara,
Bagmara, Rajshahi (Sonali Sangbad).
- 14 November: 10 member of a minority Hindu
family stabbed in broadday light for resisting abduction of an 18 year old
girl Sabita Rani Mallick in Brahmanbaria (Vorer Kagaj).
- 14 November: 7 members of a Hindu family
abducted and two acres of land grabbed in Banaripara, Barisal. Police did
nothing (Sangbad).
- 24 October: Vandals raid temple, set Lord
Shiva's image on fire in Manikgang (Daily Star). No actions taken.
- 14 November: Temple desecrated and Shitala
idol beheaded in Gouranadi, Barisal, none were arrested (Sangbad).
- 28 October: A destitute Hindu widow Kamala
Rani Sarkar (60) of 41 D.N.Road. Nandipara, Narayanganj was evicted from her
own home, everything looted, deity desecrated. Government official involved
(HRCBM, Dhaka).
- 12 November: Torture of Gyanendra Bain and
demand of Ziziya kar (Infidel security tax) in Gopalganj, Faridpur (Jugantor).
08.02.1989: 400 Muslim from a neighbouring
village attacked Hindus at Sobahan village, in Comilla. December, 1992: the
Bangladeshi Muslim extremists attacked the Hindu. 15 Hindus were murdered,
2,600 women were raped, and 3,600 temples razed, 200,000 rendered homeless,
though 08.12.1992: In Bhola, 10,000 families rendered homeless. Several areas
in Bhola became "Wasteland". On 15.12.1992: Only in Chittagong,
700 Hindu houses reduced to ashes. 02.10.2001: Purnima (a minor hindu girl)
was gang raped by BNP cedars and Muslim extremists. (The Guardian. UK 1 July
2002) on 11.10.2001: two women were raped in front of their husbands in Khandazpur,
Barisal. On 15.10.2001: Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action expressing
the fact of persecution and protection for minorities. (No response so far
they received from the government). 03.11.2001: Within a month after the BNP
came into power, 4 million minorities were affected where 269 women were reported
raped (actual figure would be much more), 2,690 men and 1,430 women were physically
tortured, 100 men and women were kidnapped, 38,000 families disposed their
ancestral properties, 155 Churches and temples razed and 4581 dwelling houses
and business set ablaze.
On 09/03/2003 Tapan Vattachargee (Komor pukur,
Bagerhat) was killed and three women (including mother and daughter) were
gang raped by BNP caders (The Daily Janakantha, 24 March 2003).
On 20 August 2000, the distinguished Hindu-Buddhist-Christian
Unity council leader Advocate Kalidas Barhal two-times elected ex-chairman,
Chitalmary sub-division of Bagerhat District, and vice Chairman of Hindu-Buddhist-Christian
Unity Council was shot dead about 9.30 am by the Islamic terrorists.
On 16.11.2001: Hindu Principal Prof Gopal
Krishna Muhuri of Nazirhat College was brutally murdered.
In November 2002 two journalists from Channel
4 of the UK went to visit the victims of the attacks but Bangladesh government
arrested them and seized all their information.
Dr Sudhir Kumar Mukherjee, an octogenarian
physician, founding President of Khulna Division Bangladesh Medical Association
(BMA), President of Bangobandhu Parisad of Jhenaidah, President of District
Puja Observance Committee, Past President of Jhenaidah Hindu, Buddhist and
Christian Unity Council, Past General Secretary of Chuadanga District Awami
League, and an inspiring leader of the minority community.
On 8 May 2003, Aratibala of Nathpara in Banshkhali,
her mother and her only child were burnt to death in the late hours of the
night by a Bangladesh National Party (BNP) cadre, On 16 May 2003, an organised
gang supported by local BNP burned three members of another minority family
in Potiya, Chittagong, to death. (Reports Shahriar Kabir, Chairman, Bangladesh
Ghatak Daalal Nirmul Committee, The Daily Janakantha 21 November 2003). Srikanta
Rakshit, an Engineer, in Chittagong, was abducted and brutally Killed on 19
April 2003 (The Daily Star, 21 April 2003). Ukhia Chakma neighbourhood, district
of Coxbazaar, was burned and the village was made bereft of men, and women
were gang-raped. Principal Gopal Krishna Mahuri of Nazirhat College, Chittagong,
a renowned freedom fighter, a revered teacher and a leader of the minority
community, was gunned down at about 7.30 am in broad daylight by Islami Chhatra
Shibir cadres. Buddhist Monk Gyanjyoti Barua was murdered on 21 April 2002
by ruling coalition cadres. Hindu Priest, Madan Gopal Goswami was murdered
by the ruling party cadres and the Temple looted and desecrated (The Daily
Janakantha dated 30 April 2002). Five professors of the Chittagong University
(CU) Chemistry Department, who are from the religious minority community,
were asked by the Chittagong branch of an organisation called "Islamic
Solidarity of Bangladesh" to leave the country immediately. They were
threatened with death, at any time and at any place, if they fail to leave
the country immediately (The Daily Janakantha, September 5, 2002).
Amar Das was killed on 11 December 2003, in
Chittagong police (DB) while he was in custody because of unbearable torture
by the authority.
On 27 October 2002 in the morning Swapan Kumar
Goshami (37) a popular Hindu teacher of Laboratory High School (Dhaka) was
brutally killed by terrorists (Surma, 1 November 2002, London) Mr Bina a Hindu
prominent School Teacher was murdered in daylight in Dhaka.
29.05.2002: In Bashkhali 500 women were raped
and assaulted, the minority is the main target. December, 2002: 18 people
were killed and over 200 were injured after a bomb explosion in a cinema hall
populated by 2,000 people in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, for which Al-Queda were
suspected. By March, 2003: within these 17 months, (Present Government came
in power 1 October 2001)-gang rapes, mass rapes, forcibly conversion to Islam,
murders, ultimatums made 100,000 minorities to flee India.
18.11.2003: 11 Hindus were burnt to death
in one family, where there were baby of four days to man of 70 years. The
Home Minister without any investigation made an unlawful comment about this
to escape their responsibilities.
A girl was raped and put into the earth until
throat. And so many similar brutal events of systematic persecutions have
been continuing for the religious minorities in Bangladesh..
On 21.11.2001: Faizul Haq MP said, "Bin
Laden is loved by the Bangladeshi people". Every one respects him and
considers him to be a leader of Muslims. In December, 2001: Baitul Mukarram
National Mosque Khatib Obaidul Huq gave a fatwa "America and President
Bush is number one terrorist". He said "The Americans will be washed
away if Bangladesh's 120 million Muslims spit on them."
Persecution on Christians:
28.04.1998: The Muslim perpetrators attacked
on Christian community in Laxmibazar, ransacked St Francis Xavier Girls' School,
Holy Cross Church, and 200 years old Church called St. Thomas. On 02.06.2001:
On Sunday a Church in Baniar Char was bombed, 10 Christian were killed, and
20 were injured. On 01.10.2001: In Kodamatali and Foiljana Christian villages
were attacked, where attack is still now continuing. On 07.12.2001: A Christian
woman from Boraigram was kidnapped and gang raped for several days. The attackers
demanded from the villagers either 50,000 Taka or a girl for each night. On
27:02.2002: In Foiljana village, Pabna, Paul Baidhya (75) and his son-in-law
Subal (55) were attacked, beaten; both their arms had been broken. On 26.02.2002:
A Christian women in Rajshahee was raped by an Union Council member, who was
once again later on by Muslim village Arbiters given 25 lashes and fined Taka
1,500 to cure her guilt of being polluted. On 05.04.2002: Two Christian Mission
were closed in Bandarban for the attack. On 29.08.2002: Four Christians were
seriously injured in Boraigram village. On 07.03.2002: Pabuapara Christian
village was attacked, two were seriously injured. On 08.04.2003: On Good Friday,
Natore Mission was attacked, 25 people were injured. There are several kidnappings
of Christian women in Natore. Five Tribal Christian were killed. No justices
were received.
Buddhists: 23.10.1992 Sudarsan Barua was burnt
to death in Chittagong. On 24.03.2002: Ukhaiya Buddhist Temple was burnt.
A Monk was assaulted in Aburkil village and many others were tortured. On
21.04.2002: The attackers sloughed to death Monk Gnyan Jyoti after failing
to occupy his Monastery, which supported and accommodated 96 orphans. On 26.08.2003:
In Chittagonj, Labusari Buddhist Temple was burnt. Andha Kanun Temple was
ransacked.
Other State sponsored activities:
- Due to a continuous exodus caused by blatant
discrimination as found in countries where apartheid was practiced or in Nazi
Germany, forcible conversion, gang rape, murder, desecration of places of
worship, and eviction after looting and razing of dwelling houses,the minority
population which was 20% in 1972 is down to 10% today.
- The government has seized 2.5 million acres
of Hindus' land (The US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices-2001) by using an anti-Hindu or racist law called the Enemy Property
Act (Vested Property Act).
- By sending Muslim settlers supported by
the armed forces to evict the indigenous people from their traditionally autonomous
region of Chittagong Hill Tracts, thus changing its demographics-whereas the
Bengali Muslims represented only 3% of the population in 1947, it rose to
an alarming 50% in 2001 (The US Deepartment of State's Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices-2001).
- The armed forces systematically murdered
130 to 600 residents of Logang, Chittagong Hill Tracts, and then burned down
the entire village, on 10 April 1992, (Please refer to the letter 17 honourable
US Congressmen wrote to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in this regard, pointing
out that there was a "pattern" of mistreatment of the minorities
in Bangladesh). Again, on August 28, 2003, Muslim settlers sent by the government
gang raped nine indigenous girls/women and burned down 400 dwelling houses.
- In 1992, using the Babri incident as a ploy
the Islamists killed 15 minorities, razing 3,600 temples, raping 2,600 women
in December 1992.
- Mass/gang rape has been the weapon of choice
because when a girl is raped the family tends to leave for India to avoid
its repetition. 200 Hindu women were raped in one night at a single spot in
October 2001 Hindu mother and daughter are being raped together so they dare
not stay in the country. Even handicapped and 70-year-old women are raped.
- The minorities represent less than 10% of
the population but 98.7% of the rape victims are minorities.
- The minorities are forced to pay infidel
tax.
- Minorities are a highly educated section
of the society. But they are denied access to positions of power and prestige.
- In fact they live in an apartheid-like situation,
which is directly linked to the rise of Islamic extremism.
HERE ARE SOME FACTS ABOUT ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM
A Worrisome Rise of Militant Islam
There has been a "Worrisome Rise of Islamic
extremism in Bangladesh" (The Wall Street Journal, 2 April 2003). Bangladesh
has become a "Cocoon of [Islamic] Terror" (The Far Eastern Economic
Review, 4 April 2002). The chief of the Jihad Movement of Bangladesh (of which
HUJI-B is a part), Mr Fazlur Rahman, was one of the signatories (together
with Osama Bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman Al Zawahiri as well
as the chiefs of jihad movement in Pakistan, Egypt and the Sudan), on the
Declaration of War on America, in 1998. A Bengali speaking Islamic terrorist
brigade of Ansar-Al-Islam served in Afghanistan for Mollah Omar (John Walker
Lindh, CNN-News, 12/20/01). Bangladeshis were among the 23 Islamic terrorists
(who sympathize with Al-Qaeda) who were recently arrested in Egypt. Government
reportedly harbors Al-Qaeda warriors (Time Magazine, 14 October 2002, and
The Herald, 23 October 2002) and Time' Discovery Channel). Bangladeshi Islamic
militant group of Jamat-Ul-Mujahedeen have imported at least a 225 gram ball
of uranium to make "dirty bombs" (Time Asia Magazine, 16 June 2003).
The Assam Tribune (19 September) reports that over 400 of the 64,000 plus
madrassashs that Bangladesh are being directly funded by Osama Bin Laden and
that 25,000 youths are being trained in those madrassahs to become members
of suicide squad. While the government has consistently denied the existence
of Islamic extremists in Bangladesh, the US Department of State has declared
Harkat-Ul-Jihad-I-Islami (HUJI-B), Bangladesh to be a terrorist organisation
on 21 May 2002. The ruling "Islamic hardliners" of Bangladesh has
turned Bangladesh into a stronghold of militant Islam and an underground station
for international Al-Qaeda recruits (see The New York Times, 5 October 2002;
New York Post, 22 October 2002). They allowed Al-Harmine's money laundering
operations for the Islamic militants on their soil. Recently 18 Islamic Extremists
of the Jamia Islamia Nurul Ulum Kawmi Madrassah, who confessed to the police
to have been trained in Pakistan, and to have fought in Afghanistan for four
years, was recently arrested in a BNP leader's House in Boalmari (The Daily
Star, 21 September 2003), a clear proof of the fact that the government is
Talibanising Bangladesh. The ruling "Islamic hardliners" are supporting
the 64,000 + 11, 000 madrassahs with public money and foreign aid. The Islamic
militants have bombed secular events like New Years' Day celebration and movie
theatres with the BNP led Government looking the other way (New York Times,
8 December 2002). Former President Bill Clinton had to cancel his trip to
the national monument just a few miles off the capital city for fear of being
shot down by the Bangladeshi Taliban's?
The Muslim extremists, pro-Taliban force and
the authorities will continue these persecution to the religious minority
until Bangladesh becomes a pure Muslim country.
The minorities of Bangladesh cannot survive
without your intervention. They deserve a permanent solution like the Bosnians
and or the East Timorese had.
