Spike in violence against religious minorities
Bangladesh Hindu Buddha Christian Oikyo Parishad claims
Staff Reporter
At least 10 people of the minority communities were killed and 9,566 individuals, families and institutions attacked in 732 incidents of human rights violation in the first three months of this year, said a report. Last year, the number of such incidents stood at 261, while the number of attacked individuals, families and institutions was 1,562, according to the report, unveiled by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddha Christian Oikyo Parishad at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) yesterday. According to the report, during the first three months of the year, 10 people were killed, 4 received death threats, 366 were injured, four women were raped, four were gang-raped and around 638 houses, residential houses and business entities were attacked, vandalised and looted. 17 temples of the country were attacked, 40 idols were vandalised and nine idols were stolen. Two people were also abducted and forcefully converted to another religion.
On 18 March 2016, a 100-year-old Buddhist monastery in Kalapara of Patuakhali was destroyed in an attempt to grab the abbeys land.
On 11 March, a pregnant Hindu woman in Tangail was abducted and converted to Islam, while in Narayanganj a Hindu girl was raped and converted to Islam on 13th of the same month. The parents of the victim received death threats in case they informed police.
Besides, 22 families were warned to leave the country, including 20 families from a single village in Pirojpur. A local AL leader has grabbed seven acres of land belonging to families who were asked leave for India.
Rana Das Gupta, General Secretary of the Council, alleged that during the incidents, the miscreants used their political power, while the administration did nothing to help the victims.
During elections, Hindus had been attacked by BNP-Jamaat activists as they took it for granted that the community supported Awami League. During the UP elections, the ruling party is attacking minorities the most, said Rana Das Gupta. He alleged that some incidents took place in collaboration with the administration concerned.
The information and data were collected from newspaper reports, case documents from police stations and sources of the Council. So, this might not be actual data as many incidents could not be reported, remarked Rana Das Gupta.
He urged the government and authorities concerned to take steps to curb attacks on minorities and ensure security of the community in the country. He also asked for formulation of special laws to ensure safety for the minorities.
