SAVE THE MINORITIES IN BANGLADESH

We are much anxious and concerned at the recent atrocities committed against minority Hindus by the Jamaat-e-Islami, BNP and other pro-taleban goons in Bangladesh. We have no words to denounce these heinous acts but demand immediate action from the Bangladesh Government. Historically, Bangladeshi religious minorities are oppressed and discriminated, but the recent atrocities have surpassed even the barbarous atrocities committed by the Pakistani Military during 1971 liberation war. 

We are very concerned about the safety and security of our families and relatives that we left behind in Bangladesh. There are numerous media reports as well as reports from our friends and relatives all over the world about hundreds of incidents in recent months regarding the facts that dozens of Hindus in Bangladesh have been killed, hundreds tortured, many Hindu Temples attacked and deities destroyed, Hindu properties looted, many Hindu women abducted and raped, Hindu homes and properties were burnt to the ground and many hundreds of thousands are literally held hostage by this ongoing organised killings, torture, destruction and threats to leave Bangladesh and go to neighbouring India.

This kind of atrocities has substantially increased during the past few weeks after the BNP party’s (in coalition with Jamat-e-Islam, a pro-Taliban fundamentalist political party) two-third majority win in the Bangladesh National Assembly Election held on October 01, 2001.

We also came to know from various newspaper reports that the police and civil administration in Bangladesh are not taking any action against such complaints and on most cases are even reluctant to register any complaints from the minorities. Under the circumstances, the Hindus are not getting any kind of protection from the present Government.

Durga Puja is the largest religious festival of the Bangladeshi Hindus that were scheduled to be held during from the 22^nd to the 26^th of October according to Hindu calendar and many Hindus in Bangladesh did not celebrate this festival this year due to lack of safety and security. In spite of all these and even assurance from the present government, many Hindus attempted to celebrate the Durga puja but the pro-Taliban fundamentalist goons attacked many Puja halls, broke the deities or even set on fire, devotees were beaten. The religious minorities are undoubtedly peace-loving citizens and there is no instance in Bangladeshi political history that they ever participated in any activities subversive of the state. If the current trend continues, the Hindus will be extinct from Bangladesh. For years and years the minorities are oppressed and discriminated in Bangladesh and no Government has taken any action to wipe out the seed of the religious hatred.

Under the above circumstances we urge the Canadian Government to exert pressure on the Government of Bangladesh to take immediate action to protect the religious minorities in Bangladesh. We also ask the Torontonians to be aware of the above facts and raise their voice against terrorism and religious fundamentalism.