excerpt
2000 armed men have started a separatist movement to gain independence
for six border states of BD
"We will be holding public meetings across Gujarat to expose the
gameplan of the secularists, who projected Hindus, the victims of
Godhra, as the perpetrators. We will educate them about the difference
in the treatment they meted out to the Kashmiri Pandit refugees
vis-a-vis Muslims staying in camps," he said.
Outrightly rejecting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's appeal to
all organisations not to raise the Godhra issue in the run-up to the
polls, he said, "Godhra is as grave an insult to Hindus as the
abduction of Sita or the attempt to disrobe Draupadi. It is a
permanent issue for Hindus and we will continue to raise it."
asianage.com Nov 26
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Hindus flee Bangladesh
Adoption of Islam as State Religion Prompts Exodus
Sketchy and conflicting reports continue to come in from the Indian
state of West Bengal claiming that hundreds, thousands, even tens of
thousands of Hindu refugees are streaming into India, victims of
persecution by Muslim fundamentalists in Bangladesh. This is not just
an increase in the usual flow of illegal immigrants into India since
Bangladesh's independence in 1971. That group, now numbering 100,000,
is mostly Muslim laborers in search of work. The new immigrants are
Hindus fleeing good jobs and ancestral land to save their lives in the
tumultuous wake of the 1988 constitutional amendment declaring Islam
the "state religion" of Bangladesh (pop. 85 million, 86% Muslim).
The world's Hindus have appealed to India to act, but official
recognition that there even is a problem only came with Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi's statement on January 18th that the flow of Hindus has
grown since the declaration and that, "many were victims of religious
intolerance."
The Indian press is reporting horror stories such as that of Sailendra
Roy who fled his home and successful business in Bagerhat district.
Roy told reporters, "For Hindus in Bangladesh, there is no law and
order. Fundamentalist groups like the Jamaat-i-Islami and the Al Badar
Muslim have unleashed a reign of terror to drive us Hindus out of
Bangladesh." Another refugee. Advocate Chittaranjan Medha, left behind
a successful law practice because local police had launched a massive
drive against "Hindu secessionists," according to Indian Worldwide.
The property of Hindus who flee the country can be seized under
Bangladesh's "enemy property" law. Hence, Hindus who leave do so with
little chance of ever seeing their homes again.
The Bengali newspaper, Bartaman Patrika, told other stories from the
refugee camps in West Bengal. Khagendra Nath Ray, 45, said, "No one
would believe my accounts of the nature and magnitude of molestation
of Hindu women that is going on in Bangladesh today. The Moslem
rowdies have taken over my land and home by force and there is no
redress to be obtained from the authorities. I had no way but to leave
my home in Bangladesh in order to survive." Ashwini Kumar Ray, 31,
accused "Hindu young men are imprisoned without charges. Oftentimes,
they are murdered inside the jails." Ranjit Biswas once lived in
Chararampur in Magur district with his wife and six children. He left
"to protect my wife and daughter." He said, "I am a poor cultivator.
They took over my small plot of land and then threatened to harm my
family."
The exodus has brought a new business to the Hindu areas-agents who
arrange for a family's escape across the border. The going rate per
person is US $19.25 (three month's wages), with extra charges for
baggage. Trucks and buses periodically pick up the refugees and drop
them at the border at dark. They sneak across when the border guards
are not looking and run into India, usually ending up with relatives
or at one of several private refugee camps set up in West Bengal.
A Bangladesh government spokesman denied the reports of a Hindu
exodus, calling them "incorrect and baseless." The government also
denies that there is any harassment and says the whole matter is an
attempt by opposition and minority leaders to invent problems.
Bangladesh's Hindus are caught in a complex situation. Not all the
country's Muslims are behind the declaration of an Islamic state. The
opposition is particularly opposed to the imposition of Sharia laws,
such as the enforced veiling of women in public. The minority Hindus,
Christians and Buddhists have aligned with the opposition Muslims,
invoking the wrath of the fundamentalist Muslim organizations such as
Jamaat-i-Islami. Clashes between the Muslim groups have led to many
deaths already.
The most recent development is the call by radical Bangladesh Hindus
for the formation of "Bangabhumi," a new country comprised of
one-third of the present territory of Bangladesh. Three competing
organizations claim the support of Bangladesh's Hindus: the Nikhil
Banga Nagarik Sangha (NBNS), the Bangladesh Liberation Organization
(BLO) and the Liberation Tigers of Bangladesh (LTB). LTB Vice
President Anil Krishna Mullick said, "We have become second-class
citizens in Bangladesh since Ershad made it an Islamic state. If the
Muslims could ask for a separate homeland in 1947, then why can't we
demand the same today?" Already NBNS chief Partha Smanta has
announced, "On March 25, 1989, the Banga Sena (army) will jump across
the borders and emancipate Bangabhumi "
What obviously frustrates the Bengali people in Bangladesh, India and
America is the near total lack of attention the world is paying to
their problems. The Palestine situation involving only 1.6 million
Palestinian continually
Regards, SCORP.
hab...@anony.com (habshi) wrote in message news:<3de38811...@news.clara.net>...