Background
Bangladesh: dangerous chaos looms
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 204, Wed 3 Apr 2013
Bangladesh: Islam Rising
By E Kendal, Religious Liberty Monitoring, 7 April 2013
On Sunday 5 May, Islamists fulfilled their threat to lay siege to Dhaka. By the end of the day, 28 were dead, hundreds were wounded and Dhaka's business district - the Motijheel Commercial Area - resembled a war zone.
At at least 100,000 Islamists enforced a blockade, cutting off Dhaka’s road links with the rest of the country. Activists from Hefajat-e-Islam -- which translates as "protectorate of Islam" -- marched through six highways, paralysing road transport between Dhaka and other cities and towns.
The Islamists are demanding the government agree to their 13-point list of demands (see list here) - demands that would essentially turn Bangldesh into a Islamic State, Taliban-style.
Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina had urged the group to call off their demonstration, contending that existing law were sufficient to punish blasphemy. She even promised to introduce tougher penalties for those who defame Islam. The Islamists, however, are demanding that those found guilty of defaming Islam be sentenced to death. With their confidence and power and rage growing, the Islamists will not be easily appeased.
This battle is far from over.
Best reports:
Radical Islamists lay siege to Dhaka
By Anisur Rahman, Gulf News, 5 May 2013
Dhaka turns into battlefield
By Jubair Hasan and Yasir Wardad
Financial Express Bangladesh, Monday 6 May 2013
Dhaka: 28 dead as Islamists seek blasphemy law
AFP, Dhaka, 6 May 2013
Those keen to really comprehend the seriousness of the situation in Bangladesh should scroll through the follow photo collections from demotix.
Dhaka seized by Islamists
May 5th, 2013 by Abu Ala
The "Islamists" have seized the capital Dhaka demanding introduction of blasphemy laws and capital punishment of bloggers accused by them as blasphemous. They also demanded shariah law for the country.
Capital Dhaka virtually cut off from rest of the country
May 5th, 2013 by firoz ahmed
The capital city has been virtually cut off from the rest of the country as the leaders and activists of Hefajat-e Islam took position in all the entry points of Dhaka to press home its 13-point demand including the arrest of “atheist bloggers”.
Dhaka turns into a warzone as Hefajat clash with police
May 5th, 2013 by Rehman Asad.
Over 100 shops and 30 buses torched in Dhaka
May 5th, 2013 by Rehman Asad
Jamaat-Shibir activists joined by Hefajat-e Islam men set fire to at least 100 shops and business establishments, looted shops at Baitul Mukarram mosque complex and torched over 30 government buses in the capital.
Ongoing clash in Dhaka leaves many injured and death toll rising
May 5th, 2013 by zakir hossain chowdhury
3 killed as Paltan turns into battlefield in Dhaka
May 5th, 2013 by Rehman Asad
Dhaka paralyzed Hefazat post-siege rally at downtown Motijheel
May 5th, 2013 by Rehman Asad
------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bangladesh. Show all posts
Monday, May 6, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Bangladesh: Islam Rising
On Saturday 6 April 2013, hundreds of thousands of Islamists from across Bangladesh joined forces in a "long march" to Dhaka demanding that blasphemy laws be enacted and that bloggers who defame Islam be hung.
The march was organised by Hefajat-e-Islam (HeI), an offshoot of Jama'at-e-Islami.
SEE ALSO:
Video footage by Al Jazeera, 6 April 2013
Bangladesh protesters demand blasphemy law (1) & (2)
Video footage by euronews, 6 April 2013
Secularists and Islamists clash at Bangladesh blasphemy protest
Hefajat-e-Islam has given the government until 30 April to accept their 13-point demand. Hefajat-e-Islam leader Shah Ahmad Shafi warned: "If the demands are not met, the movement will be getting from tough to tougher. The consequence of the anti-Islamic government will be horrible."
He urged devout Muslims to get ready to embrace martyrdom to stop the "anti-Islamic" Shahbag [pro-secular] movement.
Background:
BANGLADESH: Dangerous Chaos Looms
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 204
3 April 2013
Bangladesh: Islam Rising
Timeline with links and recommended articles
2010: The Awami League-led government establishes the International Crimes Tribunal (a domestic court) to try 'Razakars' -- i.e. those accused of collaborating with Pakistan in war crimes during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. The court is established to honour an election promise made by the quasi-secular Awami League in the run up to the 2008 elections.
January 2013: Trials commence amidst widespread concerns about lack of due process and politicisation.
International barrister Toby Cadman elaborates: "The government rejected suggestions from the international community of the necessity for transparency, strict adherence to legal precedent and involvement of unbiased outsiders. The government wrote its own rules. Charges were brought against 11 suspects out of an estimated total of 1,600. Each defendant held leadership roles in the opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami. . . Without Jamaat's votes, BNP [the opposition] is unlikely to regain power. . .
"I do not believe that there can be justice under the current tribunal, which is at best suspect, at worst a tool of a government looking to execute politicians for electoral gain."
Recommended reading: Bangladesh on the Brink
By Toby M. Cadman (barrister), Special to CNN,13 March 2013
5 February 2013: Jama'at-e-Islami party assistant secretary General Abdul Qader Molla (a.k.a. the "Butcher of Mirpur") is sentenced to life imprisonment. Pro-secular forces led by bloggers and student activists protest the court's "leniency". Taking up residency in Dhaka's Shahbag Square, they demand sentences of death by hanging with no right of appeal. Subsequently the protests become known as the Shahbag protests.
Shahbag Protests: official website - PHOTOS
Recommended reading:
Unraveling Bangladesh’s ICT and the Shahbag Protests: Injustice in the Making
Georgetown, 25 March 2013
With the protests growing, the government -- the Awami League-led 14-party Grand Alliance -- interfers in the legal process, amending the law so that those convicted will not have any right of appeal while the government will have the right to appeal the court's rulings. The government replaces the chief judge and orders the court to consider the will of the people when making its rulings.
Islamists accuse the protestors of being anti-Islamic and deserving of death for defaming Islam. They accuse the government of protecting blasphemers.
15 Feb 2013: "Atheist blogger" Ahmed Rajib Haider calls for a boycott of Jama'a-e-Islami affiliated institutions and businesses. Within hours he is dead -- hacked to death.
28 Feb 2013: Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a prominent member of the Jama'at-e-Islami party, is sentenced to death. Shahbag Square erupts in jubilation!
Islamic riots erupt. Deadly violence escalates -- minorities targeted.
See also: Anti-Hindu attacks rock Bangladesh
By Swadesh Roy, Asia Times online, 28 March 2013
Quote: The Jammat and BNP are now playing the minority card very tactfully, with the main goal of teaching Hindus that they are not safe in Bangladesh even [if] Awami league holds power. And that if the Jammat-BNP takes the reins, it would be better for them to leave.
''We will kill all the Malauns (they called the Hindus as Malauns [infidel]) and Bangladesh will be 'Banglastan' [Muslim only] like Pakistan,'' read a post of the website Basserkella, which is run by Jammat and their student organization Shibir.
Islamists threaten a national strike, declaring they will march on Dhaka on 6 April if bloggers who defame Islam are not prosecuted.
See also: Seeking war crimes justice, Bangladesh protesters fight 'anti-Islam' label
By Elizabeth Yuan and Farid Ahmed, CNN
1 March 2013
Bangladesh political crisis deepens
By Syed Tashfin Chowdhury
Asia Times online, 14 March 2013
13 March: To appease Islamists the Awami League-led government betrays its own pro-secular supporters and establishes a panel to investigate and punish bloggers who defame Islam. Mainuddin Khandaker, the senior home ministry official appointed to head the panel declared: "We will try our best to dig out what’s actually happening and find out the people who're making blasphemous comments against Islam and the Prophet."
Two popular blogs deemed "blasphemous" are immediately removed as authorities attempt "to ensure religious harmony".
Friday 29 March: Tens of thousands of Islamists fill the streets of Dhaka to pray. They demand the enactment of blasphemy laws; the arrest of bloggers who defame Islam; that laws be passed to punish MPs who defame Islam in the parliament. They also call for the restoration of the caretaker government, vowing to lay siege to the office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina if their demands are not met.
31 March: Islamists present panel head Mainuddin Khandaker with a list of around 34 "atheist" bloggers they accuse of spreading defamation and propaganda against Islam, proposing the accused should first be given an opportunity to "repent" of their "sins" before being sued.
PM Sheikh Hasina pledges to punish defamation of Islam.
1 April: Bloggers Subrata Adhikary Shuvo (24), Russell Parvez (36), and Mashiur Rahman Biplob (42) are arrested for blogging that the government was being biased toward Islamist views and ideologies when the country is supposed to be secular. After being paraded in handcuffs before the media, the three are remanded to custody for questioning.
3 April: Home Minister M.K. Alamgir confirms the government has a list of seven more "atheist bloggers" who will soon be arrested.
4 April: Popular blogger Asif Mohiuddin (29) -- who was serious injured on 14 January when he was stabbed in an Islamist attack -- is arrested and remanded to custody for three days to enable police to question him. According to a police spokesman: "(Blogger) Asif Mohiuddin has been arrested on charges of hurting religious sentiment through his writings on blogs and Facebook."
As Bangladesh has no law against blasphemy or defaming Islam, those arrested are being charged with infringing the Information and Communication Technology Act of 2006. If found guilty, they face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 10 million taka (about 100 thousand euro). (AsiaNews)
Clearly the government is doing everything in its means to appease the Islamists. But of course, it will never be enough. Indeed, despite the arrests, Hefajat-e-Islam's "long march" to Dhaka goes ahead with the marchers calling for death penalties.
Meanwhile the Shahbag protestors are not giving in -- for they know what they have to lose.
On the evening of 5 April, the anti-Islamists come out in force in response to a call for 24-hour shutdown of Dhaka. Holding torches aloft, they started blocking the streets.
6 April: The Islamists defy the shutdown and proceed on theri "long march", forcing police to work overtime to keep the Islamist and secularist forces separated.
Two people were killed however. Times of India reports (7 April): "Two people were killed as Bangladesh's radical religious group Hefajat-e-Islam (HeI) activists clashed with anti-fundamentalist Shahbag protesters in Dhaka on Saturday [6 April]. . . The slain included a ruling Awami League leader, who was killed in Faridpur. An anti-fundamentalist activist was killed in Dhaka."
A.W. Khan, who worked in Bangladesh for the International Crisis Group for a year and a half, told Emran Hossain of Huffington Post (3 April 2013) that he was not at all surprised at government's crackdown on bloggers, given its growing willingness to go along with the Islamists' agenda for political gain.
"These are uncharted waters for Bangladesh," said Khan. "Principally because this is the first time in its 42 year history that a popular non-political movement and Islamists have so heavily influenced the country's political climate. This has overturned the dominance of the three main players in Bangladeshi politics: the governing Awami League, the main opposition BNP [Bangladesh Nationalist Party] and the military."
With Bangladesh polarising and both sides demanding death to the other, the stage is being set for a bloody confrontation. With Islam rising and both sides of politics advancing Islamisation, the future of Bangladesh as a secular state hangs in the balance.
Toby Cadman concludes his analysis with this dire warning: "Bangladesh is descending into sectarian conflict every bit as serious as its competitors for attention . . . Failure to find a resolution could see the country descend into civil war."
------------------------------------------
Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)
Friday, December 2, 2005
Bangladesh: Islamist threat escalates with suicide bombings.
Date: Friday 2 December 2005
Subj: Bangladesh: Islamist threat escalates with suicide bombings.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
------------------------------------
BANGLADESH: WAVE OF SUICIDE BOMBINGS
- new terror tactic increases risk to threatened Christian leaders, institutions and NGOs.
------------------------------------
More than 30 years ago, Bangladesh fought a Liberation War for the right to be independent of Pakistan, and secular. The war cost the Bangladeshis somewhere between 500,000 and three million lives. Today, Islamic militants with al Qaeda training and links are engaged in a violent and deadly campaign to force Bangladesh to submit to Sharia law.
Islamic zeal and radicalisation have skyrocketed in Bangladesh since October 2001 causing local persecution of Christians to escalate in frequency and severity. Now organised Islamic terror threatens to destabilise the nation and the wider region. Of course it will also seriously impact the Church. Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is presently targeting Bangladesh's secular courts and judges, and threatening to continue until Sharia is implemented. But JMB has also declared that it will target NGOs and non-Muslim religious figures and institutions engaged in "anti-Islamic activities". It is reported that Bangladesh has some 172 terror training camps operating on its soil, and that JMB has a 2,000-strong suicide squad prepared for martyrdom operations.
The pro-Islamic Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), elected in October 2001 to rule in coalition with some very radical Islamist groups, has difficulty facing and dealing with these threats. It has used Western law and democracy for its own advantage, but now the popularist Islamist puppy it has fostered and nurtured has matured, is exerting its independence, and is starting to bite. Unless the government gets serious about replacing radical madrassas with real and positive education, closing terror training camps, and promoting secularism, tolerance and democracy, then Bangladesh will develop into a Islamic terror hub and jihad launching pad. Nothing grows, spreads and wreaks havoc like a disease that is not acknowledged and is left untreated.
-----------------------------------------------
WAVE OF SUICIDE BOMBINGS
On Tuesday 29 November, suicide bombers from Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) – also known as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) – fatally struck law courts in two Bangladeshi cities, killing seven. Around 60 were wounded, 21 of them seriously. The death toll has since risen to ten. (Link 1)
The first bombing took place at 9:05am in Bangladesh's second largest city, the port city of Chittagong. In response to terror threats, police had been posted at the entrance of the court and were checking all visitors. Just before he was to be intercepted at the police checkpoint, the bomber took an explosive device out of his bag and threw it at the officers. He then detonated another explosive device strapped to his leg. The two policemen were killed.
The bomber, who survived but lost both his legs and his right hand, was identified as Abul Bashar (19). He reportedly told Agence France-Presse (AFP), "I attacked the Chittagong court by the order of Allah. I did not do any wrong in carrying out the suicidal attack." A report by the Bangladesh Independent online news said police had found a JMB leaflet in his pocket. According to Chittagong police official Mohammad Majedul Huq, it was handwritten and warned police, judges and lawyers "to stop upholding man-made laws which go against Islam". At least 16 others were injured; 13 of them were police. Abul Bashar has since died from his injuries in Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
The second bombing took place in Gazipur at 9:40am. The bomber donned a lawyer's black gown and walked right past police security into the bar library where he detonated his bomb. Three people in the library died immediately and four others died from their wounds soon after in hospital in Dhaka. The suicide bomber's body was found with wires and bomb parts still strapped to it.
At around 10am on Thursday 1 December, as lawyers were staging a demonstration in Gazipur, a bomb exploded near the police checkpoint outside the chief government administrator's office. Two were killed and 30 were injured, five critically. One of the dead was a policeman, the other is believed to be the suicide bomber. According to Kazi Fazle Rabbi, Gazipur district commissioner, "The suspected bomber ... disguised himself as a tea vendor. One of his flasks exploded when police stopped him for checking." (Link 2)
ESCALATION OF TERROR
On 17 August, JMB (JuM) orchestrated a nation-wide terror attack, setting off nearly 500 small improvised explosive devices (IEDs) virtually simultaneously in 63 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. While the devices did not contain shrapnel, they did result in three deaths and left more than 150 injured. Pamphlets found near many of the explosive devices demanded the expulsion of foreign NGOs "engaged in anti-Islamic activities in Muslim countries". (Stratfor Terrorism Brief, 23 November 2005)
The carnage from the August bombing campaign was minimal but the message was loud and clear. As noted by Stratfor, the August bombing campaign "demonstrates that JuM has a widespread presence, robust logistics and sophisticated command-and-control capabilities".
After this attack JMB (JuM) declared, "Everybody is the enemy of Islam who wants to launch democracy as an institutional form. Therefore we invite the ruling party and also the opposition to initiate the rule of Islam within a short time in Bangladesh."
On 22 August, Bangladesh's leading national Bengali daily newspaper reported that the Intelligence Department had informed the government that Islamic militants are planning to attack the largest non-Muslim religious centres in Dhaka. They were also threatening to kill local and foreign non-Muslim leaders, missionaries, priests, humanitarian workers and anyone else preaching religion other than Islam. Christianity was to be particularly targeted for the purpose of discrediting the government of Bangladesh in the West. (See WEA RLC report: link 3)
On 3 October, larger bombs exploded in three district courts outside Dhaka, killing two people and wounding more than a dozen. Then on 14 November two senior Assistant Judges of Jhalakathi District Judges Court were assassinated on their way to work. Their microbus stopped outside the government staff quarters to pick up another judge. The assassin, identified as Mamun, a JMB militant, approached the microbus with the pretext of showing papers to the judges. He then shoved a package into the microbus which immediately exploded. The assassin, who survived with serious leg wounds, was immediately arrested. He was found to have some 24 JMB leaflets, and a live bomb fastened to his body. Presumably the assassin intended to escape, with the body-bomb to be used only in the case of capture. His injuries however probably prevented him detonating the body-bomb before his arrest. His willingness to explode himself and thus become a "martyr" was evidence of a shocking new tactic and ideological shift.
In their 23 November Terrorism Brief, Stratfor Intelligence reported, "According to a Nov. 22 report in the Bangladeshi English-language Daily Star newspaper, the JuM's (JMBs) policymaking body -- Majlis-e-Shura -- recently ordered its bomb and suicide squad members to fight their opposition to the death and to continue striking government offices and courts." Stratfor notes, "JuM (JMB) appears to have no problem obtaining explosives, and apparently is actively constructing devices – an activity normally conducted at the end of the attack planning cycle." And Stratfor adds, "JuM members reportedly received training from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and allegedly maintain links with that group."
According to Reuters, Bangladeshi police report that the explosives used in the 29 November suicide bombings are the most powerful and highly destructive explosives used by the militants so far. Reuters also reports, "The State Minister for Home Affairs Lutufuzzaman Babar said earlier this month [Nov] that there were reports that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen had set up a 2,000-strong suicide squad." (Link 4)
THREAT TO EMBASSIES
The British High Commission's First Secretary in Dhaka, Mike Stevenson, reports that Manik Hossain, a Muslim extremist identifying himself as a member of "al-Qaeda in South Asia", has threatened to blow up the UK mission, along with other Western missions. The threatening message was sent to the UK Embassy by fax on Sunday 27 November, and signed by Manik Hossain of Faridganj" (220km, or around 140 miles, southeast of Dhaka). Security has now been increased around diplomatic offices in Dhaka. (Link 5)
BANGLADESH: TERROR HUB
Webindia reports that on 29 November, India's Border Security Force (BSF) Director General R S Mooshahary told a press conference "the unabated mushrooming of terror camps" in Bangladesh, and the fact that Bangladesh is becoming "a hub of infiltrators and fundamentalist forces" threatens to destabilise the whole region. "In the long run," warned Gen. Mooshahary, "Bangladesh could be a greater problem than Pakistan going by the shifting of population, massive infiltration bids and mushrooming of terror camps... it has become a hub of drug dealers and smugglers."
Mooshahary claimed to have recently given Bangladesh a list of 172 terror training camps. "But their reply is the same every time," he complains, " ...that no such camps exists on their soil." (Link 6)
Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) BANGLADESH BOMBING TOLL RISES
30 November 2005. SBS
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=126032®ion=2
Seven killed, many injured in Bangladesh blasts
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=58404
Nine die in Bangladesh bombings
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4480408.stm
Bangladesh's escalating extremism. 29 November 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4482320.stm
2) Two dead in court attack. 2 December 2005
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17435239-23109,00.html
3) WEA Religious Liberty News & Analysis
Militants Move to Islamise Bangladesh
By Elizabeth Kendal, 16 September 2005
http://www.worldevangelicalalliance.org/news/view.htm?id=151
4) Bangladesh explosives most powerful yet -- police
30 Nov 2005. Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA129923.htm
Bombs target Bangladesh lawyers. 29 November 2005
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/bangladesh.blasts.reut/index.html
5) Man threatens UK, US missions in Bangladesh – police
28 Nov 2005. Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA97711.htm
6) Bangladesh a hub of infiltrators and fundamentalists: BSF DG
New Delhi, 29 November 2005
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=176465&cat=India
Subj: Bangladesh: Islamist threat escalates with suicide bombings.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
------------------------------------
BANGLADESH: WAVE OF SUICIDE BOMBINGS
- new terror tactic increases risk to threatened Christian leaders, institutions and NGOs.
------------------------------------
More than 30 years ago, Bangladesh fought a Liberation War for the right to be independent of Pakistan, and secular. The war cost the Bangladeshis somewhere between 500,000 and three million lives. Today, Islamic militants with al Qaeda training and links are engaged in a violent and deadly campaign to force Bangladesh to submit to Sharia law.
Islamic zeal and radicalisation have skyrocketed in Bangladesh since October 2001 causing local persecution of Christians to escalate in frequency and severity. Now organised Islamic terror threatens to destabilise the nation and the wider region. Of course it will also seriously impact the Church. Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is presently targeting Bangladesh's secular courts and judges, and threatening to continue until Sharia is implemented. But JMB has also declared that it will target NGOs and non-Muslim religious figures and institutions engaged in "anti-Islamic activities". It is reported that Bangladesh has some 172 terror training camps operating on its soil, and that JMB has a 2,000-strong suicide squad prepared for martyrdom operations.
The pro-Islamic Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), elected in October 2001 to rule in coalition with some very radical Islamist groups, has difficulty facing and dealing with these threats. It has used Western law and democracy for its own advantage, but now the popularist Islamist puppy it has fostered and nurtured has matured, is exerting its independence, and is starting to bite. Unless the government gets serious about replacing radical madrassas with real and positive education, closing terror training camps, and promoting secularism, tolerance and democracy, then Bangladesh will develop into a Islamic terror hub and jihad launching pad. Nothing grows, spreads and wreaks havoc like a disease that is not acknowledged and is left untreated.
-----------------------------------------------
WAVE OF SUICIDE BOMBINGS
On Tuesday 29 November, suicide bombers from Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) – also known as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JuM) – fatally struck law courts in two Bangladeshi cities, killing seven. Around 60 were wounded, 21 of them seriously. The death toll has since risen to ten. (Link 1)
The first bombing took place at 9:05am in Bangladesh's second largest city, the port city of Chittagong. In response to terror threats, police had been posted at the entrance of the court and were checking all visitors. Just before he was to be intercepted at the police checkpoint, the bomber took an explosive device out of his bag and threw it at the officers. He then detonated another explosive device strapped to his leg. The two policemen were killed.
The bomber, who survived but lost both his legs and his right hand, was identified as Abul Bashar (19). He reportedly told Agence France-Presse (AFP), "I attacked the Chittagong court by the order of Allah. I did not do any wrong in carrying out the suicidal attack." A report by the Bangladesh Independent online news said police had found a JMB leaflet in his pocket. According to Chittagong police official Mohammad Majedul Huq, it was handwritten and warned police, judges and lawyers "to stop upholding man-made laws which go against Islam". At least 16 others were injured; 13 of them were police. Abul Bashar has since died from his injuries in Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
The second bombing took place in Gazipur at 9:40am. The bomber donned a lawyer's black gown and walked right past police security into the bar library where he detonated his bomb. Three people in the library died immediately and four others died from their wounds soon after in hospital in Dhaka. The suicide bomber's body was found with wires and bomb parts still strapped to it.
At around 10am on Thursday 1 December, as lawyers were staging a demonstration in Gazipur, a bomb exploded near the police checkpoint outside the chief government administrator's office. Two were killed and 30 were injured, five critically. One of the dead was a policeman, the other is believed to be the suicide bomber. According to Kazi Fazle Rabbi, Gazipur district commissioner, "The suspected bomber ... disguised himself as a tea vendor. One of his flasks exploded when police stopped him for checking." (Link 2)
ESCALATION OF TERROR
On 17 August, JMB (JuM) orchestrated a nation-wide terror attack, setting off nearly 500 small improvised explosive devices (IEDs) virtually simultaneously in 63 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. While the devices did not contain shrapnel, they did result in three deaths and left more than 150 injured. Pamphlets found near many of the explosive devices demanded the expulsion of foreign NGOs "engaged in anti-Islamic activities in Muslim countries". (Stratfor Terrorism Brief, 23 November 2005)
The carnage from the August bombing campaign was minimal but the message was loud and clear. As noted by Stratfor, the August bombing campaign "demonstrates that JuM has a widespread presence, robust logistics and sophisticated command-and-control capabilities".
After this attack JMB (JuM) declared, "Everybody is the enemy of Islam who wants to launch democracy as an institutional form. Therefore we invite the ruling party and also the opposition to initiate the rule of Islam within a short time in Bangladesh."
On 22 August, Bangladesh's leading national Bengali daily newspaper reported that the Intelligence Department had informed the government that Islamic militants are planning to attack the largest non-Muslim religious centres in Dhaka. They were also threatening to kill local and foreign non-Muslim leaders, missionaries, priests, humanitarian workers and anyone else preaching religion other than Islam. Christianity was to be particularly targeted for the purpose of discrediting the government of Bangladesh in the West. (See WEA RLC report: link 3)
On 3 October, larger bombs exploded in three district courts outside Dhaka, killing two people and wounding more than a dozen. Then on 14 November two senior Assistant Judges of Jhalakathi District Judges Court were assassinated on their way to work. Their microbus stopped outside the government staff quarters to pick up another judge. The assassin, identified as Mamun, a JMB militant, approached the microbus with the pretext of showing papers to the judges. He then shoved a package into the microbus which immediately exploded. The assassin, who survived with serious leg wounds, was immediately arrested. He was found to have some 24 JMB leaflets, and a live bomb fastened to his body. Presumably the assassin intended to escape, with the body-bomb to be used only in the case of capture. His injuries however probably prevented him detonating the body-bomb before his arrest. His willingness to explode himself and thus become a "martyr" was evidence of a shocking new tactic and ideological shift.
In their 23 November Terrorism Brief, Stratfor Intelligence reported, "According to a Nov. 22 report in the Bangladeshi English-language Daily Star newspaper, the JuM's (JMBs) policymaking body -- Majlis-e-Shura -- recently ordered its bomb and suicide squad members to fight their opposition to the death and to continue striking government offices and courts." Stratfor notes, "JuM (JMB) appears to have no problem obtaining explosives, and apparently is actively constructing devices – an activity normally conducted at the end of the attack planning cycle." And Stratfor adds, "JuM members reportedly received training from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and allegedly maintain links with that group."
According to Reuters, Bangladeshi police report that the explosives used in the 29 November suicide bombings are the most powerful and highly destructive explosives used by the militants so far. Reuters also reports, "The State Minister for Home Affairs Lutufuzzaman Babar said earlier this month [Nov] that there were reports that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen had set up a 2,000-strong suicide squad." (Link 4)
THREAT TO EMBASSIES
The British High Commission's First Secretary in Dhaka, Mike Stevenson, reports that Manik Hossain, a Muslim extremist identifying himself as a member of "al-Qaeda in South Asia", has threatened to blow up the UK mission, along with other Western missions. The threatening message was sent to the UK Embassy by fax on Sunday 27 November, and signed by Manik Hossain of Faridganj" (220km, or around 140 miles, southeast of Dhaka). Security has now been increased around diplomatic offices in Dhaka. (Link 5)
BANGLADESH: TERROR HUB
Webindia reports that on 29 November, India's Border Security Force (BSF) Director General R S Mooshahary told a press conference "the unabated mushrooming of terror camps" in Bangladesh, and the fact that Bangladesh is becoming "a hub of infiltrators and fundamentalist forces" threatens to destabilise the whole region. "In the long run," warned Gen. Mooshahary, "Bangladesh could be a greater problem than Pakistan going by the shifting of population, massive infiltration bids and mushrooming of terror camps... it has become a hub of drug dealers and smugglers."
Mooshahary claimed to have recently given Bangladesh a list of 172 terror training camps. "But their reply is the same every time," he complains, " ...that no such camps exists on their soil." (Link 6)
Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) BANGLADESH BOMBING TOLL RISES
30 November 2005. SBS
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=126032®ion=2
Seven killed, many injured in Bangladesh blasts
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=58404
Nine die in Bangladesh bombings
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4480408.stm
Bangladesh's escalating extremism. 29 November 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4482320.stm
2) Two dead in court attack. 2 December 2005
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17435239-23109,00.html
3) WEA Religious Liberty News & Analysis
Militants Move to Islamise Bangladesh
By Elizabeth Kendal, 16 September 2005
http://www.worldevangelicalalliance.org/news/view.htm?id=151
4) Bangladesh explosives most powerful yet -- police
30 Nov 2005. Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA129923.htm
Bombs target Bangladesh lawyers. 29 November 2005
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/11/29/bangladesh.blasts.reut/index.html
5) Man threatens UK, US missions in Bangladesh – police
28 Nov 2005. Reuters
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA97711.htm
6) Bangladesh a hub of infiltrators and fundamentalists: BSF DG
New Delhi, 29 November 2005
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=176465&cat=India
Friday, September 16, 2005
Bangladesh: Militants move to Islamise Bangladesh.
Date: Friday 16 September 2005
Subj: Bangladesh: Militants move to Islamise Bangladesh.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
-------------------------------------
MILITANTS MOVE TO ISLAMISE BANGLADESH
-------------------------------------
On 17 August 05, more than 400 small bombs exploded almosts simultaneously in 63 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. Whilst three people were killed and 150 were injured, the most devastating element of this attack is not the damage it caused, but the message it left. That message is that Islamic militants are willing and able to co-ordinate and perpetrate terror nationwide.
The group that has been blamed for the bombings, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, threatened to strike again unless Bangladesh introduces Islamic law. According to Pakistan's Daily Times, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen subsequently declared, "Everybody is the enemy of Islam who wants to launch democracy as an institutional form. Therefore we invite the ruling party and also the opposition to initiate the rule of Islam within a short time in Bangladesh." (Link 1)
THE THREAT TO TARGET CHRISTIAN LEADERS
Five days later, on 22 August, Bangladesh's leading national Bengali daily newspaper, the "Daily Ittafaq", published on its front page the news that the Intelligence Department had informed the government that Islamic militants are planning to attack the largest non-Muslim religious centres in Dhaka – the Dhakashari Hindu Temple, the Tejgaon Catholic Church, and the Kamlapur Buddhist Monastery. According to the intelligence report, militants also plan to kill local and foreign non-Muslim leaders, missionaries, priests and humanitarian workers. Basically anyone who is preaching religion (especially Christianity) is to be targeted for violence or killing for the purpose of discrediting the government of Bangladesh in the West.
After a meeting with intelligence agencies the Home Ministry requested that police step up security around non-Muslims religious establishments and leaders.
Under the leadership of the National Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh, a coalition of leaders from Christian churches, institutions and NGOs wrote a memorandum to the Prime Minister which was printed in Bengali and English language national newspapers.
In "An Appeal to Her Excellency Begum Khaleda Zia" published in the Observer on 4 September, the Church leaders reiterated their desire to serve the nation through education, health-care, relief and rehabilitation, poverty alleviation, and the fostering of spiritual values. They then expressed their concern over both national security and the security of the threatened religious minorities, noting that preachers of Christianity have been singled out to be targeted on account of the effect this would have on Western governments.
The church leaders then humbly requested that the government take every possible step to remove the deep-rooted causes of terrorism. The memorandum was signed by Rev. Theotonius Gomes, the Secretary General of the Catholics Bishops' Conference of Bangldesh; the Rt. Rev. Nibaran Das, Bishop of the Methodist Church of Banglades; Rev. Asam Kain, Chairman of the Bangladesh Assemblies of God; Mr Subodh Adhikary, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Bangladesh; Rt. Rev. Michael Baroi, Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh; Rev. Robert Sarkar, the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha; Mr Leor P. Sarkar, the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship; and Mr Dennis D. Datta, General Secretary of the National Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh.
LOCAL MILITANTS ARISE ON THE STRENGTH OF FOREIGN FUNDS
Islamic zeal erupted in Bangladesh in October 2001 objecting to the presence of American and allied military forces in Pakistan for the purpose of bombing Afghanistan. The feelings of Islamic rage, identification and solidarity were so strong that Bangladesh's October 2001 general elections yielded a huge swing away from the ruling secular Awami League Party in favour of pro-Pakistan, pro-Muslim and militant Islamist parties. This is especially tragic when we consider how much blood was shed for Bangladesh to win independence from Pakistan and the right to secular government based on Bengali rather than Islamic culture.
Since October 2001, local Islamic militant groups have grown in number, membership and organisation. Madrassas have proliferated across the country to the extent that there are now more than 64,000, up from 4,000 in 1986. Most have arisen in the last decade and are without any government oversight. Meanwhile, persecution of religious minorities has intensified.
Bangladeshi intelligence agencies have come to believe that not only are the militants well established and well co-ordinated, but they are also well funded courtesy of foreign Islamic NGOs that channel funds from the Middle East to local militant groups. Nearly a dozen foreign Islamic NGOs have now been placed on a watch list.
A 7 September article by David Montero for the Christian Science
Monitor gives an excellent overview of "How extremism came to
Bangladesh". (Link 2)
Montero writes, "In the aftermath of the [17 August bomb] attacks, Bangladesh is confronting a realization long suspected but consistently overlooked: Islamist militant groups have taken firm root here, demonstrating a widespread, highly coordinated, and well-funded network. The government, after consistently denying the threat, recently blamed Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) for the attack."
Montero notes that Jama'atul Mujahedin was banned in February after members confessed to bombing 'un-Islamic' targets, including theatre shows and the offices of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
According to Montero, the spiritual head of Jama'atul Mujahedin, Abdur Rahman, told the media last year that he admired the Taliban and had traveled to Afghanistan. "He claimed his organization had been operating underground since 1998, with the aim of founding an Islamic state. His network was active across the country, he said, with 10,000 trained full-time operatives, and 100,000 part-time activists, funded with a payroll of more than $10,000 a month, a huge sum by Bangladeshi standards."
Montero continues, "Another JMB leader, Muhammad Asadullah Al-Galib, who was arrested after the February crackdown, is alleged by intelligence agencies to have received large funding from the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), a Kuwait-based organization. In 2002, the US State Department blacklisted some RIHS offices, citing their support of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. RIHS and Galib's organization have reportedly constructed over 1,000 mosques across Bangladesh and 10 madrassahs."
Writing from Dhaka for New Kerala (India), Farid Ahmed states, "The Kuwait-based Revival of the Islamic Heritage Society is on top of the list of suspect organisations and the government is going to ask it to close its offices in the country. The other organisations put under close watch include the Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Society of Social Reforms, Qatar Charitable Society, Al Muntada Al Islami, Islamic Relief Agency, Al Forkan Foundation, International Relief Organisation, Kuwait Joint Relief Committee and the Muslim Aid Bangladesh. All these organisations are based in different Middle East countries and have been active in Bangladesh for years."
According to Ahmed, intelligence has revealed that more than 100 foreigners, who traveled from various Middle Eastern and African countries and entered with tourist visas, have been working in these Islamic NGOs illegally. (Link 3)
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Banned group calls for Islamic rule in Bangladesh
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen threatens to strike again unless the country resorts to Islamic law. DHAKA, 24 August 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-8-2005_pg4_17
2) How extremism came to Bangladesh
Foreign funding and bitter politics may have played a role in the recent bombings.
By David Montero, 7 September 2005
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0907/p06s01-wosc.html
3) Foreign NGOs funding militancy in Bangladesh: intelligence
By Farid Ahmed, Dhaka, 8 September 2005
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=20898
Subj: Bangladesh: Militants move to Islamise Bangladesh.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal.
-------------------------------------
MILITANTS MOVE TO ISLAMISE BANGLADESH
-------------------------------------
On 17 August 05, more than 400 small bombs exploded almosts simultaneously in 63 of Bangladesh's 64 districts. Whilst three people were killed and 150 were injured, the most devastating element of this attack is not the damage it caused, but the message it left. That message is that Islamic militants are willing and able to co-ordinate and perpetrate terror nationwide.
The group that has been blamed for the bombings, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, threatened to strike again unless Bangladesh introduces Islamic law. According to Pakistan's Daily Times, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen subsequently declared, "Everybody is the enemy of Islam who wants to launch democracy as an institutional form. Therefore we invite the ruling party and also the opposition to initiate the rule of Islam within a short time in Bangladesh." (Link 1)
THE THREAT TO TARGET CHRISTIAN LEADERS
Five days later, on 22 August, Bangladesh's leading national Bengali daily newspaper, the "Daily Ittafaq", published on its front page the news that the Intelligence Department had informed the government that Islamic militants are planning to attack the largest non-Muslim religious centres in Dhaka – the Dhakashari Hindu Temple, the Tejgaon Catholic Church, and the Kamlapur Buddhist Monastery. According to the intelligence report, militants also plan to kill local and foreign non-Muslim leaders, missionaries, priests and humanitarian workers. Basically anyone who is preaching religion (especially Christianity) is to be targeted for violence or killing for the purpose of discrediting the government of Bangladesh in the West.
After a meeting with intelligence agencies the Home Ministry requested that police step up security around non-Muslims religious establishments and leaders.
Under the leadership of the National Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh, a coalition of leaders from Christian churches, institutions and NGOs wrote a memorandum to the Prime Minister which was printed in Bengali and English language national newspapers.
In "An Appeal to Her Excellency Begum Khaleda Zia" published in the Observer on 4 September, the Church leaders reiterated their desire to serve the nation through education, health-care, relief and rehabilitation, poverty alleviation, and the fostering of spiritual values. They then expressed their concern over both national security and the security of the threatened religious minorities, noting that preachers of Christianity have been singled out to be targeted on account of the effect this would have on Western governments.
The church leaders then humbly requested that the government take every possible step to remove the deep-rooted causes of terrorism. The memorandum was signed by Rev. Theotonius Gomes, the Secretary General of the Catholics Bishops' Conference of Bangldesh; the Rt. Rev. Nibaran Das, Bishop of the Methodist Church of Banglades; Rev. Asam Kain, Chairman of the Bangladesh Assemblies of God; Mr Subodh Adhikary, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Bangladesh; Rt. Rev. Michael Baroi, Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh; Rev. Robert Sarkar, the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha; Mr Leor P. Sarkar, the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship; and Mr Dennis D. Datta, General Secretary of the National Christian Fellowship of Bangladesh.
LOCAL MILITANTS ARISE ON THE STRENGTH OF FOREIGN FUNDS
Islamic zeal erupted in Bangladesh in October 2001 objecting to the presence of American and allied military forces in Pakistan for the purpose of bombing Afghanistan. The feelings of Islamic rage, identification and solidarity were so strong that Bangladesh's October 2001 general elections yielded a huge swing away from the ruling secular Awami League Party in favour of pro-Pakistan, pro-Muslim and militant Islamist parties. This is especially tragic when we consider how much blood was shed for Bangladesh to win independence from Pakistan and the right to secular government based on Bengali rather than Islamic culture.
Since October 2001, local Islamic militant groups have grown in number, membership and organisation. Madrassas have proliferated across the country to the extent that there are now more than 64,000, up from 4,000 in 1986. Most have arisen in the last decade and are without any government oversight. Meanwhile, persecution of religious minorities has intensified.
Bangladeshi intelligence agencies have come to believe that not only are the militants well established and well co-ordinated, but they are also well funded courtesy of foreign Islamic NGOs that channel funds from the Middle East to local militant groups. Nearly a dozen foreign Islamic NGOs have now been placed on a watch list.
A 7 September article by David Montero for the Christian Science
Monitor gives an excellent overview of "How extremism came to
Bangladesh". (Link 2)
Montero writes, "In the aftermath of the [17 August bomb] attacks, Bangladesh is confronting a realization long suspected but consistently overlooked: Islamist militant groups have taken firm root here, demonstrating a widespread, highly coordinated, and well-funded network. The government, after consistently denying the threat, recently blamed Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) for the attack."
Montero notes that Jama'atul Mujahedin was banned in February after members confessed to bombing 'un-Islamic' targets, including theatre shows and the offices of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
According to Montero, the spiritual head of Jama'atul Mujahedin, Abdur Rahman, told the media last year that he admired the Taliban and had traveled to Afghanistan. "He claimed his organization had been operating underground since 1998, with the aim of founding an Islamic state. His network was active across the country, he said, with 10,000 trained full-time operatives, and 100,000 part-time activists, funded with a payroll of more than $10,000 a month, a huge sum by Bangladeshi standards."
Montero continues, "Another JMB leader, Muhammad Asadullah Al-Galib, who was arrested after the February crackdown, is alleged by intelligence agencies to have received large funding from the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), a Kuwait-based organization. In 2002, the US State Department blacklisted some RIHS offices, citing their support of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. RIHS and Galib's organization have reportedly constructed over 1,000 mosques across Bangladesh and 10 madrassahs."
Writing from Dhaka for New Kerala (India), Farid Ahmed states, "The Kuwait-based Revival of the Islamic Heritage Society is on top of the list of suspect organisations and the government is going to ask it to close its offices in the country. The other organisations put under close watch include the Rabita Al Alam Al Islami, Society of Social Reforms, Qatar Charitable Society, Al Muntada Al Islami, Islamic Relief Agency, Al Forkan Foundation, International Relief Organisation, Kuwait Joint Relief Committee and the Muslim Aid Bangladesh. All these organisations are based in different Middle East countries and have been active in Bangladesh for years."
According to Ahmed, intelligence has revealed that more than 100 foreigners, who traveled from various Middle Eastern and African countries and entered with tourist visas, have been working in these Islamic NGOs illegally. (Link 3)
- Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Banned group calls for Islamic rule in Bangladesh
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen threatens to strike again unless the country resorts to Islamic law. DHAKA, 24 August 2005
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-8-2005_pg4_17
2) How extremism came to Bangladesh
Foreign funding and bitter politics may have played a role in the recent bombings.
By David Montero, 7 September 2005
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0907/p06s01-wosc.html
3) Foreign NGOs funding militancy in Bangladesh: intelligence
By Farid Ahmed, Dhaka, 8 September 2005
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=20898
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Bangladesh: Sytematic Persecution of Religious Minorities
Date: Thursday 31 July 2003
Subj: Bangladesh: Sytematic Persecution of Religious Minorities
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty E-mail Conference
From: Elizabeth Kendal, Conference Moderator
On 1 October 2001, as U.S. and coalition forces were assembling in Pakistan in preparation for the bombing campaign in Afghanistan, Bangladeshis were heading off to vote in their national elections.
A massive voter swing ousted the secular Awami League, which had, with the people's mandate, created the secular, democratic state of Bangladesh by securing independence from Pakistan in 1971. Riding to victory on an enormous wave of Islamic fervour was the pro-Pakistan, pro-Islam, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Support also rose dramatically for the pro-Shari'a, hardline Islamist Jama'at-e-Islami and Islami Oika Jote parties, which now rule in coalition with the BNP.
The election result was a massive protest vote against the forthcoming action of the coalition forces in what was being touted by Islamists as a "crusade against Islam". It was a vote for Muslim solidarity, and Bangladesh has not been the same since.
This posting details the serious situation for religious minorities in Bangladesh today. They are living in a state of terror amidst systematic, unrestrained persecution, as Islamists extort, rape, torture and kill with impunity.
--------------------------------------------------------------
BANGLADESH: SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES
The Guardian newspaper (UK) recently published an article on the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh entitled, "Rape and torture empties the villages" by John Vidal (21 July 2003).
Vidal reports, "Serious attacks on and persecution of religious minorities by Islamic fundamentalists are increasing." He continues, "Evidence is emerging that the oppression of minorities is becoming systematic."
Vidal quotes a leading Bangladesh lawyer as saying that the revival of fundamentalist Islam "is like a silent revolution. We are returning," he says, "to the dark ages. I think the backdrop is being created for the introduction of strict sharia laws. You see extremist rightwing fundamentalists infiltrating every professional area, in the appointment of the judiciary, the law, medicine and in education. They are capturing key positions in government, the universities and institutions."
According to Vidal, a serious incident took place in the village of Fhainjana. "A mob of 200 fundamentalists recently looted 10 Christian houses, allegedly assaulting many women and children. Christians were seriously beaten and others molested after refusing to give money to thugs in the village of Kamalapur, near Dhaka."
Vidal reports that many villages are said to be now empty of minorities. One man tells Vidal that all the Hindus have been driven out of his village of Sri Rumpur, near Khulna. "They have all been driven out by people threatening to torture them or demanding money," he says. "People who raise their voices are threatened. It's a kind of systematic ethnic cleansing."
The article also expresses the great concern of one leading Islamic scholar. "'What we are seeing is the Talibanisation of Bangladesh,' Maolama Abdul Awal, former director of the Bangladesh Islamic Foundation, said. 'If we allow them to continue ... [minorities] will be eliminated. Bangladesh will become a fascist country'."
-------------------------
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) listed Bangladesh as a Country of Special Concern in its annual report to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 2003). The WEA UN Report details the same strategy of persecution - extortion, torture, rapes, and killings.
--------------------------
EXCERPT FROM THE WEA UN REPORT (APRIL 2003)
Up to 50 Christian families in Chatiangacha village in the western district of Natore, have been targeted for extortion. Reports in the daily 'Janakantha' newspaper of Bangladesh suggest that Islamist fundamentalists are behind a series of incidents during which men arrive on motorbikes and call out the family name of their victims. The family is then usually given between a week and ten days to raise between £150 and £300 or the daughter is forced to sleep with the men. The residents of Chatiangacha have complained to Boraignam Jubodol, a right-wing Islamist group, but to no avail. Jimmy Koraiya, who lives in the village, has been visited by the men on motorbikes who have called for his high school-age daughter three times. "What kind of country is this?" he asks. "If I can't give money, I have to give them my daughter."
In Bonparha Market area, also in Natore district, religious minorities are forced to pay huge fines to be released from false charges. The local BNP has also reportedly built a torture chamber to make victims confess to false charges. Islamic fundamentalist groups have used false papers to drive thousands of Hindus and Christians off their land. In the south-eastern Chittagong division, 30 Hindu families have been evicted and one Hindu killed. In other districts, minorities are forced to convert to Islam at knifepoint. Dr. Deb Lal Dakua, a Hindu from Nazirpur in the southern Pirojpur district, was forcibly circumcised on November 11 by a group of extremists. He was also told to pay £730 (INR 50,000) within seven days or face death. Minorities are concerned by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh. When the BNP was last in power, between 1991 and 1996, there was considerable violence against religious minorities. During that time, the Jama'at-e-Islami (JI) attempted to table a Blasphemy Bill, which was discriminatory against religious minorities.
--------------------------
- Elizabeth Kendal
Subj: Bangladesh: Sytematic Persecution of Religious Minorities
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty E-mail Conference
From: Elizabeth Kendal, Conference Moderator
On 1 October 2001, as U.S. and coalition forces were assembling in Pakistan in preparation for the bombing campaign in Afghanistan, Bangladeshis were heading off to vote in their national elections.
A massive voter swing ousted the secular Awami League, which had, with the people's mandate, created the secular, democratic state of Bangladesh by securing independence from Pakistan in 1971. Riding to victory on an enormous wave of Islamic fervour was the pro-Pakistan, pro-Islam, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Support also rose dramatically for the pro-Shari'a, hardline Islamist Jama'at-e-Islami and Islami Oika Jote parties, which now rule in coalition with the BNP.
The election result was a massive protest vote against the forthcoming action of the coalition forces in what was being touted by Islamists as a "crusade against Islam". It was a vote for Muslim solidarity, and Bangladesh has not been the same since.
This posting details the serious situation for religious minorities in Bangladesh today. They are living in a state of terror amidst systematic, unrestrained persecution, as Islamists extort, rape, torture and kill with impunity.
--------------------------------------------------------------
BANGLADESH: SYSTEMATIC PERSECUTION OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES
The Guardian newspaper (UK) recently published an article on the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh entitled, "Rape and torture empties the villages" by John Vidal (21 July 2003).
Vidal reports, "Serious attacks on and persecution of religious minorities by Islamic fundamentalists are increasing." He continues, "Evidence is emerging that the oppression of minorities is becoming systematic."
Vidal quotes a leading Bangladesh lawyer as saying that the revival of fundamentalist Islam "is like a silent revolution. We are returning," he says, "to the dark ages. I think the backdrop is being created for the introduction of strict sharia laws. You see extremist rightwing fundamentalists infiltrating every professional area, in the appointment of the judiciary, the law, medicine and in education. They are capturing key positions in government, the universities and institutions."
According to Vidal, a serious incident took place in the village of Fhainjana. "A mob of 200 fundamentalists recently looted 10 Christian houses, allegedly assaulting many women and children. Christians were seriously beaten and others molested after refusing to give money to thugs in the village of Kamalapur, near Dhaka."
Vidal reports that many villages are said to be now empty of minorities. One man tells Vidal that all the Hindus have been driven out of his village of Sri Rumpur, near Khulna. "They have all been driven out by people threatening to torture them or demanding money," he says. "People who raise their voices are threatened. It's a kind of systematic ethnic cleansing."
The article also expresses the great concern of one leading Islamic scholar. "'What we are seeing is the Talibanisation of Bangladesh,' Maolama Abdul Awal, former director of the Bangladesh Islamic Foundation, said. 'If we allow them to continue ... [minorities] will be eliminated. Bangladesh will become a fascist country'."
-------------------------
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) listed Bangladesh as a Country of Special Concern in its annual report to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (April 2003). The WEA UN Report details the same strategy of persecution - extortion, torture, rapes, and killings.
--------------------------
EXCERPT FROM THE WEA UN REPORT (APRIL 2003)
Up to 50 Christian families in Chatiangacha village in the western district of Natore, have been targeted for extortion. Reports in the daily 'Janakantha' newspaper of Bangladesh suggest that Islamist fundamentalists are behind a series of incidents during which men arrive on motorbikes and call out the family name of their victims. The family is then usually given between a week and ten days to raise between £150 and £300 or the daughter is forced to sleep with the men. The residents of Chatiangacha have complained to Boraignam Jubodol, a right-wing Islamist group, but to no avail. Jimmy Koraiya, who lives in the village, has been visited by the men on motorbikes who have called for his high school-age daughter three times. "What kind of country is this?" he asks. "If I can't give money, I have to give them my daughter."
In Bonparha Market area, also in Natore district, religious minorities are forced to pay huge fines to be released from false charges. The local BNP has also reportedly built a torture chamber to make victims confess to false charges. Islamic fundamentalist groups have used false papers to drive thousands of Hindus and Christians off their land. In the south-eastern Chittagong division, 30 Hindu families have been evicted and one Hindu killed. In other districts, minorities are forced to convert to Islam at knifepoint. Dr. Deb Lal Dakua, a Hindu from Nazirpur in the southern Pirojpur district, was forcibly circumcised on November 11 by a group of extremists. He was also told to pay £730 (INR 50,000) within seven days or face death. Minorities are concerned by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh. When the BNP was last in power, between 1991 and 1996, there was considerable violence against religious minorities. During that time, the Jama'at-e-Islami (JI) attempted to table a Blasphemy Bill, which was discriminatory against religious minorities.
--------------------------
- Elizabeth Kendal