By Muhammad Shafiqur Rahman
It seems be came the fate of religious minority, especially the
members of Hindu community, who take birth in the soil of Bangladesh and
are living here from generation to generation that Hindus fell prey to
casualties. When the country faces hard time of a political crisis or a
change, the the Hindu community, becomes the target of minority
persecution by the So-called Islamist terrorist organizations.
When it goes under a electioneering process, parliament or local
governments, as if it is the destine of the Hindus that they will lose
their lives, their women will be raped, their houses would be ransacked
and destroyed, business establishments and shops will be looted and
touched into ashes, their mondirs and temples will be damaged and put
on fire, and their property, houses or agricultural lands would be
grabbed by the lootera Muslim criminal organization Jamaate Islami and
its terrorist student wing Chhatra Shibir, Popularly known as Gestapo
Bahini. BNP (the so-called Bangladesh Nationalist Party) was always with
them.
We have been observing since 1947 when India was divided into
Pakistan & Hindustan on the basis of Jinnah's two nation theory,
that means Muslim majority areas will be made Pakistan (name should be
Muslimstan) and Hindu majority areas Hindustan. Minority persecution
happened in 1947, in 1962, 64, and 1971 when we were in the war of
liberation, again after the assassination of country's founding father
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, we saw in 1992 when the
fundamentalist Hindus destroyed Babri Mosque in Uttar Prodesh, India,
the fundamentalist Muslims destroyed 247 Mondirs in different places of
Bangladesh and its capital Dhaka.
It has happened after the election of 2001 and last January 5, 2014.
But can any body deny that Hindus and other religious minority Buddist,
Christian’s are the sons of this soil. Still I remember my village, my
childhood. It was a remote village of Chandpur district where half of
the year was remaining under the rainy season and we used to go to
school by boat together, play together, even we the boys both Muslims
and Hindus of our village used to masticating sugarcane sitting on the
boat and enjoy each others family & religious festivals. We took
part in our war of liberation together. Of course none of us ever has
forgotten our own religious belief and obligations.
We believe that the religion is personal and the state belongs to
every body, it should not be mixed with our Political and state life.
Still I remember my friend Priya, Jagadish, Dulal, Santosh, Ranajit,
Badal, Shomvo, Gandhi and many others whom I can not remember now. I
don't know where they are, how they are? I know only Priya and Dulal
left Bangladesh in sixties were settled in Kolkata, India (Dulal died
two years back). Priya lives a Posh life there, but I saw him crying for
motherland.
The panic and horror I saw in sixties on their face & eyes at
the time of communal riots in 1964 and Pakistan India war in 1965 were
seen during the last January 5 election. I sow the same horror in the
eyes of Hindus in different parts of the country published on the front
page of news papers and the main bulletins of the television channels.
Main two Prime reasons behind this act of terror are (1) our neighboring
country is Hindu majority Hindustan or India and BNP and its alley
Jamaat consider Hindus are the enemy of the country (2) Hindus Prefer to
vote for AL (Awami League) as it is a secular non-communal political
party. So they suffer if vote for, even do not. This time it happened in
Jessore, Khulna, Rajshahi, Joypurhat, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Pabna,
Satkhira, Ovoynagar, Dinajpur, panchagarh, Chittagong, Baushkhali,
Shitakunda, Laksmipur, Chandpur and other places of the Country. We saw
hundreds of thousands of Hindus left their places for life leaving their
houses, lands, Business, Valuable etc behind.
Following the parliament election held on October 2001, Nation saw
with sorrows and panic that the BNP and its terrorist alley Jamaat &
shibir led by Begum Khaleda Zia tried to observed their victory
celebration through the heinous act of ethnic cleansing. We have been
seeing this for last 66 years (1947-2014) and the Hindus became weaker
and weaker financially and numerically. Exodus of Hindus to the
neighboring India is a known fact for us, but fact remains we didn't do
anything to stop it.
Irony is that the party which claiming to be the Nationalist and its
leader Begum Khaleda Zia who Claimed herself uncompromising? Is she
responsible for these communal attacks? Khaleda Zia herself ordered
terrorist to come down on the street with Petrol Bomb, lathel weapon. We
saw in may 5, 2013 in the time of Hifazat gathering around Shapla
Chattar that she ordered her party activities to join the Hefazat and
help (?) them when Hefazat started damaging the road dividers, tourching
the book shops including the Holy Qurran and Hadith (S) selling shops
and other road side hawkers shops and the party office of Awami league
and CPB (Communist Party of Bangladesh) aiming at they wanted to free
their leaders now facing capital punishment by international war crime
tribunals by creating Lawless in the Country. It also wanted to create a
Tahier squire in Dhaka to achieve their target, particularly at the
time of the execution of Jamaat leader Kader Molla, popularly known as
`Mirpur's Kashai' BNP's target was to reduce the percentage of Hindu
votes, popularly known as AL's vote bank. Because AL is a non-communal,
democratic and secular political party and it believes in Bengali
Nationalism.
All are still very lively in my mind. The fears I saw among them
during Pakistan-India war and riots in 60s, such fears were seen in
face-eyes of Hindus of different regions after the recent elections
(Jatiya Sangsad 2014). There are two prime reasons of it-our neighbour
India is a country of Hindu majority. So Hindus will have to be
identified as ‘enemy’ (?), second Hindus like Awami League as secular
political party, . . . so general impression is they are giving vote for
AL even do not, they become victim.
The executive director of ‘Broti’ Sharmin Murshid in a TV talk-show
said anyone having black colour on finger was tortured. Thousands of
Hindus were forced to take shelter in other places to save life. The
road of Abhainagor is like the ‘71’s Jessore Road which became important
in September 1971 when millions used it as a highway to life defying
natural calamities to evade Pakistani atrocities. They fall prey to
killing-torture in the same way after 2001 October elections. They
naturally became weak economically because their land-property,
businesses were looted-grabbed gradually over the last 66 years
(1947-2014). Moreover, this time only they are realising what an inhuman
life they are maintaining in the prevailing cold weather after leaving
their houses in the face of torture. This time it has been cleared who
are launching such attacks—Jamaat-Shibir is committing such inhuman
crimes against humanity under the protection of Begum Khaleda zia, who
is now populary call Amir-e-Hajabi (Hafarzat+Jamat+BNP). Their target is
to save Jamaat leaders who are under-trial or facing death sentences
for their war-time crimes and BNP’s target is to reduce vote of Awami
League. Jamaat dreams to create Egypt’s Brotherhood’s Tahrir Square like
movement; create mass upsurge. But it is Bangladsesh, they also realize
it. So they launch attacks on Hindus who are minority and weak
socially and financially. It is our national shame that we could not
save them. Although, it was possible to resist criminals if steps would
have been taken. Because, it did not happen all of a sudden or all over
the country, such attacks, killings, torture-repression have started
from the day the court began to hand down verdicts on war crimes cases,
it was very beginning of last year. But it seems that the administration
was enjoying daydream.
Thanks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and conveying her gratitude on
be half of the citizens of the state, she does not sleep if everyone
remains asleep, as if she is responsible for whole things only. In 1964,
Bangabandhu resisted the riot launching a campaign styled “Purbabangla
stand against riot”. During that time the government was unfavorable,
because Ayub's Military Junta was in power. This time government is
different. It was needed to remain alert and take precautionary
measures. Nonetheless, Iqbalur Rahim M.P of Dinajpur was found trying to
resist it. Such people are allover the country but why they were
asleep? For getting party nomination, they take to the street wearing
white clothes (such clothes are used to wrap up dead body of a Muslim
for burial), chant slogan by hiring people on payment ‘ . . . brother go
ahead, we are with you’ and now trying to be minister.
source:asiantribune.com
Hindu Panchayat president Mukhi Eshwar Lal Makheja
laments string of violent incidents. PHOTO: FILE 
