Author: Lee Jay Walker Dip BA MA
Publication: www.faithfreedom.org
Date:
URL: http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/LJWalker30916.htm
The partition of India led to chaos
and hundreds of thousands of people were murdered. After this chaos
divisions would emerge between East Pakistan and West Pakistan and further
bloodshed would occur, with the outcome being the sovereign nations of
Bangladesh and Pakistan. However, while India remained to be multi-religious,
the opposite happened in Bangladesh and Pakistan and religious minorities
faced enormous problems and persecution.
To make matters worse both Bangladesh
and Pakistan would witness the gradual Islamization of their societies,
notably Pakistan, and massive corruption and persecution of women would
continue. The Islamization of both nations was especially traumatic
for Hindus in Pakistan and Buddhists in Bangladesh; and not surprisingly
Islamic persecution of minorities in both nations re-awakened anti-Islamic
feelings in India.
For unlike the destruction of Buddhism
in Afghanistan, which happened centuries earlier because of Islamic conquests,
persecution and controlling all leverages of power; the Islamization of
Bangladesh and Pakistan took place in the twentieth century and continues
today. Yet why were Buddhism and Hinduism being allowed to be destroyed
in both nations? After all, Buddhists in Bangladesh were a small
minority and they could never threaten Islam; the same applies to Hindus
in Pakistan.
Therefore, why did other nations
remain quiet when massive religious persecution was taking place?
For nations like France, the United Kingdom and United States were espousing
'democracy' and liberals were glorifying multi-faith societies and stating
that Islam was a religion of peace. At the same time major institutions
like the Commonwealth, which espoused global human rights, remained quiet
when religious genocide was taking place in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In Pakistan the destruction of Hinduism
and persecution of Hindus took many forms. The first path was the
massacre of Hindus during partition and forcing Hindus to leave via coercion.
However, over the last 50 years the destruction of Hinduism in modern day
Pakistan was based on past Islamic global conquests and the teachings of
the Prophet Mohammed who sanctioned the persecution of non-Muslims.
For the Prophet Mohammed had told his followers to 'Fight those who believe
not in God nor the last day . . . Nor acknowledge the religion of truth
(Islam) . . .' Therefore, the followers of Hinduism were to be subdued
in accordance with the teachings of Islamic Sharia Law, the Koran and Hadiths.
Given this, Hindus were now a subdued
minority, like Christians in Pakistan, and they were unequal in law and
status in accordance with the teachings of Islam. At the same time
Hindu temples were often converted into Muslim mosques or destroyed, and
ancient Hindu architectures were destroyed. The choice for many Hindus
was either to convert to Islam in order to escape persecution, flee to
India or to accept that they were second-class citizens in Pakistan and
resign themselves to being persecuted. Not surprisingly Hinduism
in Pakistan continued to decline and this civilization was being eradicated
by Islam.
The situation for Buddhists in Bangladesh
was different, for Buddhism had survived countless Islamic conquests in
one region because of terrain and other factors; therefore, Buddhists and
other faiths had survived in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. However,
the increasing population of Bangladesh led to problems and the government
of Bangladesh hoped 'to kill two birds with one stone.' This applies
to moving millions of people to remote parts of Bangladesh, notably the
Chittagong Hill Tracts, while at the same time this new Islamic migration
would crush the mainly Buddhist tribal opposition in this region.
Therefore, millions of Muslim migrants
were moved into the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the mainly tribal Buddhists
(some tribals are Christian, Hindu or follow traditional beliefs) became
embroiled in a civil war. Islamic radicals also moved into this region
and many Buddhist priests were killed, including some being beheaded.
At the same time hundreds of Buddhist temples were destroyed and the Bangladesh
army took part in many massacres, and some Buddhist women were gang-raped
by both Islamic zealots and the Bangladesh army.
In time the mainly Buddhist tribals
were overwhelmed by the armed forces of Bangladesh and Muslim migration.
Their situation, however, went unnoticed in the West and Islamic nations
obviously remained silent. To make matters worse, the mainly Buddhist
tribes had no nation supporting them and no major world leader to draw
attention to their plight. Given this, the government of Bangladesh
continued with their policy of persecuting Buddhists while Muslim migration
Islamized the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Therefore, the destruction of thousands
of years of Hindu/Buddhist civilization in these nations destroyed.
It is clear that mainly Buddhist nations like Japan (and Shinto), Cambodia,
Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and others, should form an organization
to help their co-religionists; with Japan being the main financial power
to raise awareness of Buddhist persecution.
If global silence continues then
Buddhism will one day be eradicated in Bangladesh. However, the global
community did condemn the Taliban in Afghanistan for destroying Buddhist
statues and art, yet the same global community remains quiet when Buddhist
tribes are being systematically persecuted. Does this mean that Buddhist
art in Afghanistan is more important than the persecution of Buddhist communities
and the gang rape of Buddhist women in Bangladesh?
Surely the Hindus of Pakistan and
Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts deserve better? If the international
community remains silent about this crime, then soon these lands will be
Islamized and ethnically 'cleansed.' This is a shame for regional
nations and the global community, for they are leaving the most vulnerable
and 'voiceless' without any hope. Are you alarmed, if not, why?
