Transcript Document

Asru (tears)
An Exhibit on the
Minorities of Bangladesh
F.A.C.T
(Foundation Against
Continuing Terrorism)
P.O. Box 540892
Houston, TX 77254-0892
[email protected]
www.factusa.org
“Amar Sonar Bangla” - My Golden Bengal –
is how the Nobel laureate poet Rabindra Nath Tagore described the preciousness of Bengal, a land of lush verdant fields, living rivers
and resilient people.
In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily
Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly
became the new country of Pakistan. Muslim majority East
Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward
arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units
separated by 1,600 km left the Bengali Muslims
marginalized and dissatisfied with their Pakistani
counterparts.
East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in
1971 and was renamed Bangladesh.
Currently, 11% of Bangladesh’s population is Hindu, down
from 22% in 1951 and 13% in 1974. In terms of population,
Bangladesh is the third largest Hindu state of the world
after India and Nepal.
Source: Census of India 1941, Census of East Pakistan, Bangladesh
Government Census
16th August 1946 was selected as the Direct Action Day, when Muslims throughout the subcontinent were to 'suspend all business' to
support the Muslim League demand for Pakistan. The Muslim League Chief Minister Hussain S Suhrawardy in his address
reportedly assured the Muslim audience that the military and police had been 'restrained'. This was interpreted by the gathering as an
open invitation to commit violence on its rival community. Official estimate put the casualties at 4,000 dead and 100,000 injured in the
riot. Only on the 22nd Calcutta became quiet except for some isolated killings.
Suranjan Das, Communal Riots in Bengal 1905 - 1947
On the next day, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan proclaimed “We shall have India divided or we shall have India
destroyed”
The Direct Action Day riots in Calcutta spread to
other regions, reaching Noakhali, a remote district
where a massive pogrom was organized against the
Hindu minority. The death toll is estimated to be in the
thousands, with 51-75 thousand Hindus cleansed
from this region of current day Bangladesh. The
massacres reached their zenith in in October 1946.
S. L. Ghosh of the Ananda Bazar Patrika, describes
the Noakhali Massacres as:
"The horror of the Noakhali outrage is unique in
modern history in that it was not a simple case of
turbulent members of the majority community
(Muslims) killing off helpless members of the minority
Hindu community, but was one whose chief aim was
mass conversion, accompanied by loot, arson and
wholesale devastation... No section of the Hindu
community has been spared, the wealthier classes
being dealt with more drastically. Abduction and
outrage of Hindu women and forcible marriages were
also resorted. The slogans used and the methods
employed indicate that it was all part of a plan for the
simultaneous establishment of Pakistan."
MK Gandhi visiting Hindu
victim’s houses in Noakhali
on Nov 26, 1946
© Bettmann/CORBIS
At least 1000 people Hindus killed in riots in the Dacca area last week, Reuters reported yesterday, quoting diplomatic sources in
East Pakistan. Jan 22, 1964 – Washington Post Archives
There is a great disparity in the casualty figures put forth by Pakistan on one hand
(26,000, as reported in the Hamoodor Rehman Commision ) and India and
Bangladesh on the other hand. According to Dawn, a Pakistani Newspaper,
Bangladeshi speakers at a conference organized by the United States State
Department using recently declassified information stated that the official
Bangladeshi figure of civilian deaths was close to 300,000.
Senator Edward Kennedy, "Crisis in South Asia - A report to the Subcommittee
investigating the Problem of Refugees and Their Settlement, Submitted to U.S.
Senate Judiciary Committee", November 1, 1971, U.S. Govt. Press, page 66. Sen.
Kennedy wrote, "Field reports to the U.S. Government, countless eye-witness
journalistic accounts, reports of International agencies such as World Bank
and additional information available to the subcommittee document the reign
of terror which grips East Bengal (East Pakistan). Hardest hit have been
members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and
shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow
patches marked 'H'. All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and
implemented under martial law from Islamabad."
Starving refugee at Camp in Eastern India
© Dick Swanson 1997
Time magazine reported on August 2, 1971, "The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead,
have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred. Even now, Moslem soldiers in East Pakistan will snatch away a man's lungi
(sarong) to see if he is circumcised, obligatory for Moslems; if he is not, it usually means death. Others are simply rounded up and
shot.
Commented one high U.S. official for the magazine: "It is the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland."
When Bangladesh came into being in 1971,
leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami, who had
collaborated with the Pakistani army in genocidal
violence, raised colossal sums of money in the
Middle East to "defend Islam" and returned with a
bang. They were particularly welcomed back by
state authorities after the assassination of
Bangladesh's founding leader, Sheik Mujibur
Rahman. Islamization deepened under the reign
of Ziaur Rahman and went into overdrive during
Hussain Muhammad Ershad's dictatorship, which
promulgated the concept of "mosque-based
society." The Jamaat spread its tentacles deep
into Bangladesh with Saudi and Pakistani funds,
setting up madrassas and Sharia courts and
launching campaigns of intimidation against
women and secular intellectuals. In 1988
President Hussein Mohammed Ershad declared
Islam to be the State Religion of Bangladesh .
Background picture: Dhakeshwari Temple, Dhaka source: Unknown, 1890
Foreground picture: Laxmi Gobinda Thakurbari temple source: HRCBM
Since September 11, 2001, there have been persistent reports from secret as well as open (the United States' Time magazine and
the Far Eastern Economic Review, for example) sources that at least 200, if not more, survivors of al-Qaeda and other components
of the International Islamic Front (IIF), many of them originating from Southeast Asia, have shifted to Bangladesh and have been
given sanctuaries there by the HUJI-B and other jihadi terrorist organizations.
The religious minorities in Bangladesh
continue to face discrimination, murder
and forced conversion at the hands of
the Islamists, as the global focus has
shifted towards pan Islamic-terror
groups in the past few years. The
plethora of armed, organized and
lavishly funded Islamist militias, abetted
by a paralyzed government, make the
country a natural choice for Osama bin
Laden's designs.
Right: Sonjib, a victim of Jihadi
mob attack on minorities in
Miresharai
Far right: Supporters of Islamic
Jihad
source: HRCBM
According to Professor Abul Barkat, in a work published in 1997, nearly 75% of the land and property of Hindus and other religious
minorities have been taken over by the Government between 1948 and 1980 under different versions of the Enemy Property Act . A
significant portion of land belonging to the Dhakeshwari Temple, (one of the Holiest Shrine of Bengali Hindus) has been lost due to
the Enemy Property Act and confiscation by the Bangladesh Government, and the current premises are considerably lower than the
historic reach of the property.
Background picture: Gopal Krishna Muhuri, a prominent intellectual,
killed by Jihadis in Nov, 2001 by Islamic Chattra Shibir source: HRCBM
Foreground picture: Hindu victims of terror attacks source: HRCBM
On October 2006, the United States
Commission on International Religious
Freedom published a report titled 'Policy
Focus on Bangladesh', said that since its
last election, 'Bangladesh has experienced
growing violence by religious extremists,
intensifying concerns expressed by the
countries religious minorities'. The report
further stated that Hindus are particularly
vulnerable in a period of rising violence
and extremism, whether motivated by
religious, political or criminal factors, or
some combination.
On November 2, 2006, USCIRF criticized
Bangladesh for continuing persecution of
minority Hindus. It also urged the Bush
administration to get Dhaka to ensure
protection of religious freedom and
minority rights before Bangladesh's next
national elections in January 2007
Asru (tears)
FACT, along with Human Rights Congress for
Bangladesh Minorities, is working on this
traveling exhibition, highlighting the history and
life of the religious minorities in Bangladesh. We
request support from organizations and
individuals for the promotion of this
humanitarian effort.
FACT is a non-profit organization which runs
solely on public contributions. Help us
accomplish our mission of giving voice to the
victims of terrorism. Please send your donation
to the address below, or contact us for any
further information.
Make donations payable to
F.A.C.T
(Foundation Against Continuing
Terrorism)
“Bangladesh Exhibition”
P.O. Box 540892
Houston, TX 77254-0892
[email protected]
Website: http://www.factusa.org