15th
December 2001
ANNOUNCEMENT OF A PROTEST
AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF BANGLADESH
Hindu Human Rights group (HHR) is deeply
concerned about the current oppression of the Indigenous Hindu
Minority in Bangladesh. The situation is all the more worrying
following the recent election of the BNP (Bangladesh National
Party) which includes extremist Islamic elements. Indeed, many
of these groups openly call for the "Talibanisation" of Bangladesh
- their first act of achieving that goal is the extermination
of what remains of the Indigenous Hindu People.
Although the Western Media has continuously ignored the plight
of Hindus in Bangladesh (in comparison to the full media coverage
of the persecutions in Kosovo, Bosnia and Tibet, for example),
the reports of violence are equally as horrific. It is being reported
that thousands of Hindu women and girls (even as young
as 8 years) are being gang-raped and harassed by terror
squads. The murder of Hindu men and the forced conversion of their
families is also widespread. This is in addition to numerous cases
of land grabbing, kidnapping and robbery (from what is already
a poor community within this developing nation). Hindu Temples
are being demolished and desecrated on an alarming scale (this
includes incidents where cows, sacred to Hindus, have been slaughtered
on temple premises).
The terror that has been unleashed has
now led to a steep decline in the Hindu population. It is clear
to any civilised human being that this amounts to genocide and
the fact that the government is in coalition with these Terror
Squads leads us to conclude that this is state sponsored
ethnic cleansing.
The persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh
is nothing new; indeed millions of Hindus were massacred in the
fight for Bangladeshi Independence. It is ironic how a community
which has sacrificed so much for their country is now the target
of this, seemingly government sponsored, rampage.
Let your voice be heard, speak out against
religious oppression and the destruction of Hindu Society.
Join
us on Saturday 15 December 2001 at 12pm outside the Bangladesh
High Commission, 28 Queens
Gate, South Kensington, London. Nearest tube: South Kensington
and Gloucester Road (both on Piccadilly Line).
We thank you for your support
Links:
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| Bangladesh Statistics |
| Between 1941 -51
: 3.8 million (census period outmigration) 1951 -61 : 9.1
million (cumulative outmigration) 1961 -71 : 19.9 million
(cumulative outmigration) 1971 -81 : 28.8 million (cumulative
outmigration)
Source: Calculated from fig.2 and
percentage distribution of major religious communities in
Bangladesh 1941-81, STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF BANGLADESH '83-'84,
PAGE 79 The outmigration between 1981-91 and 1991-2001 is
not available to me but as the increase in outmigrations
is directly proportional to the increase in persecution
of Hindus and other minorities in the Islamic Republic of
Bangladesh, the outmigration growth may be alarmingly higher
by 2001. |
|
