ATTACKS ON BANGLADESHI HINDUS CONDEMNED
(18 November 2004)

The Hindu Forum of Britain has asked British MPs and Peers to condemn the fundamentalist attacks on Bangladeshi Hindus during the recent holy festival of Durga Puja. “We ask the British Government to express its displeasure to the Government of Bangladesh,” said Ramesh Kallidai Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain. “We seek reassurance that they will do everything in their power to protect the rights of all faith communities.” The attacks took the form of demolition of Hindu temples, destruction of Hindu images and deities, arson attacks on festival celebrations and personal attacks on Hindu worshippers.

Gangs of religious fundamentalists have been systematically targeting and terrorising Hindu minorities in Bangladesh for the last five years on an almost daily basis. The catalogue of documented reports includes rape, plundering, land-grabbing, arson of Hindu temples, bomb attacks and personal injury. In May 2004, Anwar Chowdhury, the British ambassador, was injured and three people died in a bombing apparently aimed at the ambassador in the same city.

President of Hindu Forum Britain, Ishwer Tailor MBE commented, “It is indeed a sad day when a nation stands by and allows a minority faith community to be abused while having their religious rights destroyed. Those who take part in, or allow such actions to occur loose the validity of their own faith.”

Human Rights Watch, an organisation that has been documenting the human rights violations in Bangladesh, commented, “We remain concerned about the role of two junior partners in the BNP-led coalition, Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islami Oikya Jote. Investigations conducted by Human Rights Watch indicate that, in addition to the strident attacks on the press, both have supported harassment and violence against both the Ahmadiya Muslim sect and the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.”

“We ask the British Government to express its displeasure to the Government of Bangladesh,” concluded Ramesh Kallidai Secretary General of the Hindu Forum of Britain. “We seek reassurance that they will do everything in their power to protect the rights of all faith communities, and see that mutual respect is restored.”

INCIDENTS DURING DURGA PUJA FESTIVITIES 2004

The Durga Puja festivities, celebrating the Hindu Goddess Durga, are a source of great joy for the Hindus of Bengal, particularly the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. However, with the rapid rise of political and religious fundamentalism in Bangladesh, the Durga Puja festivities have become a horrible nightmare for the minority Hindu community. In recent years, Hindus have been forced to leave their homes on the eve of this auspicious occasion, with temples and festival sites being frequently destroyed all over Bangladesh. This year, the most prominent incident took place on the Sitanath temple in Dhaka. However, many more places in Bangladesh witnessed attacks carried out by fundamentalists. A list of some of the attacks that took place is listed below:

I. October 2, 2004. Sripur sub-district, Magura district (west of the capital city of Dhaka). A reactionary group comprised of local Muslims destroyed the local Hindu temple at Rishiopara.

II. October 12, 2004. Bagerhat district town (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). Local groups destroyed the icons of the Hindu Godesses Lakshmi and Saraswati, which were to be used for the local Durga Puja.

III. October 15, 2004. Tanore sub-district, Rajsahi district mobs comprising of local Muslims destroyed two separate icons of the Hindu Goddess Durga, one at the Kamrgaon Parasha Durga Mandir and the other at the Durgapur Durga Mandir.

IV. October 17, 2004. Kahalu sub-district, Bagura district. Fundamentalists destroyed the icon of the Hindu Goddess Durga which was to be used Puja in the Jogir Bhavan Mandirat.

V. October 21, 2004. Bardia area, Uthli union, Shibaling sub-district, Manikgunj district (proximately west of the capital city of Dhaka). Religious fundamentalists, led by a notorious reactionary named Md. Babu Khan, destroyed the icon of the Hindu Goddess Durga.

VI. October 22, 2004. Khatra area, Bhanga police station, Faridpur district (proximately southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). At least 26 Hindu visitors were injured when they came to see the local Durga Puja festivities, when a group of religious zealots attacked the festival site.

VII. October 22, 2004. Sagarkandi village, Sujangar sub-district, Pabna district (west of the capital city of Dhaka). Police arrested Md. Ripon Mia (age 22), who was armed, when he tried to destroy the icon of the Hindu Goddess Durga in the home of Bhairab Chandra Kundu.

VIII. October 22, 2004. Fundamentalists attacked the Bashibari Kali temple and destroyed the Hindu religious icons.

IX. October 23, 2004. Sahapara area, Gopalginj district (southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). The police recovered a time bomb within 50 yards of the local Hindu Durga temple.

X. October 24, 2004. Jhalkati sub-district, Barishal district (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). Hindus were not able to celebrate the Hindu festival of Bijoya Dashami, which was to be performed in the Sremantapur School premises, due to an attack carried out by local residents, injuring more than 30 people.

XI. October 28, 2004. Hrishikesh Das Road, Dhaka. Religious fundamentalists stopped and attacked members of the minority Hindu community, who were approaching the office of the District Magistrate handing over a memorandum protesting the previous attack on the Shree Shree Sitanath Jor Bigrahat Mandir as well as the abduction of the religious icon of the Hindu Goddess Durga. The head of the temple is undergoing treatment, after being seriously injured in the attack.

The Hindu Forum of Britain is the largest umbrella body with a broad-based membership of over 230 Hindu organisations from different regions and cultural backgrounds in Britain. At the core of the Forum’s activities is a strong belief in the richness and diversity of the Hindu culture, its value system that encompasses respect for all beings and faiths, and a cultural heritage that facilitates community cohesion and coexistence.

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