Author: Alastair Lawson in Dhaka
Publication: BBC News
Date: November 24, 2001
Minority Hindus in the southern
Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong have staged a violent protest following
the murder of a prominent university professor.
The professor, Gopal Krishna Mahuri,
was shot dead at point-blank range on Friday by unidentified assailants.
His killers escaped after the shooting.
Protesters said he was killed because
he was a Hindu, but it was unclear if the murder was connected to the persecution
of Bangladeshi Hindus since the election.
Violent mob
The murder of Professor Mahuri coincided
with a visit to Chittagong by Bangladeshi Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury.
Violence flared when Mr Chowdhury
and another minister went to the murdered professor's home to express their
condolences.
The officials were met by a predominantly
Hindu mob, who were only dispersed by police with batons.
The government has stressed the
country's minority Hindu community has not been targeted since the new
government, which contains two hard-line Muslim parties, was elected last
month.
But rights groups in India say they
have documented widespread atrocities committed by Muslim radicals against
the Hindu community.
Frightened
Violence on university campuses
is commonplace in Bangladesh, and Professor Mahuri's murder may not have
been connected to recent events.
Yet there is little doubt that many
in the Hindu community do feel frightened at the moment.
The government strenuously insists
that few people in Bangladesh are attacked because of their faith.
But the family of the dead professor
say that he was unpopular with the hardline Jammat-i-Islami party because
he refused to allow them and other political parties to practise student
politics on the campus where he worked.
Professor Mahuri was a widely respected
academic who had taught at Nazirhat College in Chittagong for more than
35 years.
Recently he delayed his retirement
to be principal of the college, which has about 3,000 students.