Author: Somnath Batabyal
Publication: NDTV News
Date: October 28, 2001
URL: http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Banglapolls&slug=Minorities+in+Bangladesh+targeted&id=18137&callid=1
The general elections in Bangladesh
at the beginning of this month saw not only a change of guard but also
changed the life of several thousand Bangladeshis forever. In the post
election aftermath, violence swept through the remote villages of the country,
especially in the Barisal District and incidents of arson, rape, loot and
extortion have become common. A team from NDTV visited the remote village
of Ramshil, where more than 10,000 people who fled their villages had sought
shelter. An exclusive report -
We had to cross two rivers, change
a number of boats and then walk for more than an hour to reach Ramshil
village on the southernmost tip of Bangladesh's Barisal district. Its inaccessibility
is today Ramshil's greatest attraction. In the last four weeks, it has
become home to thousands of Bangladeshi Hindus who have fled from other
parts of Barisal and neighbouring Faridpur district in order to escape
attacks by right wing groups.
Bangladeshi Hindus have traditionally
supported the Awami League, which lost the elections four weeks ago. Today,
as a minority group, they are the easiest target for planned political
vendetta.
"We had just entered the booth when
it was bombed. Seven or eight of us -- my sister and mother in law ran
away and we were hiding under a bed in a temple. They came in and hacked
the bed with an axe," recounted Roopmani Majumdar, a village woman.
We have spent just three hours in
this village and already we have heard more than 50 cases of rape, loot,
arson and extortion. In every family, stories of lives changed forever
-- of learning to live with fear.
"In our house, a woman was raped.
We cannot tell you who. The girl is unable to show her face in society,"
said Deepali Bhattacharya, another woman in the village.
Away from Ramshil in another village
in Barishal is the other face of a country divided -- a wholesale poster
stall that deals mostly in Osama bin Laden posters is run by a 14-year-old
boy.
"We like him. He fights for the
Muslims and is a very brave man," stated the boy, Kamal Khan.
Back in Dhaka, the new home minister
admits that violence has taken place but absolves his party, the Bangladesh
National Party.
"The election took place on the
first and the swearing in was on the tenth. There was a long gap and this
has given rise to the incidents you have enumerated," stated Altaf Hussain,
Bangladesh Home Minister.
The government has now promised
more security for the minorities. In Ramshil, some families are already
going back to their villages but others say they will wait and watch.
