--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, "Saleh, Asif" <asif.saleh@...> wrote:
>
i must say that I am rather surprised that no one took the
initiative to refute the claims made in the article produced below.
> Dear Alochoks
>
> Since you have taken a major initiative about stopping
misinformation
> about Bangladesh, I would urge you to read the following and come
up with an
> objective, point by point rebuttal to the following appeal. I
think there
> are quite a number of misinformation and exaggeration in the
following. We
> also have the names of the congressmen in this list to whom we can
send this
> rebuttal.
>
> I think here we have the exact messages and email that was conveyed
and to
> whom it was sent. It wouldn't be hard to counter it.
>
> Thanks,
> Asif Saleh
>
> ================
> Moderator's Note
> ================
> [M:ER] Our thanks to Alochok Saleh for bringing this to our
attention. We would
> like to request Alochoks to examine the following article in
meticulous detail
> (the claims are quite astonishing) and raise their rebuttals on a
point by
> point basis. Your replies will be copied to Alochona eForce who
will compile a
> final statement for submission to the Congressmen in question. We
would like to
> request Alochok Saleh to make the names of the Congressmen
available to
> Alochona eForce by writing to alochona-eforce@yahoogroups.com
>
======================================================================
=========
>
> Link : http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/mar/04/a04032002.htm#A2
>
> Community reception in honor of Congressman Joseph Crowley held by
> Bangladeshi religious minority groups
>
> Alpana Guha
>
> E Mail : guhasb@...
>
> On March 3, 2002, fourteen Bangladeshi religious minority
organizations
> based in the tri-state (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) area
held a
> community reception in honor of Congressman Joseph Crowley, Co-
Chairman of
> Bangladesh Caucus, where producing piles of evidence, various
speakers
> argued that the ruling coalition government of "Islamic hardliners"
(The
> Guardian, 10/2/'01) is in fact a pro-Taliban government, whose
armed cadres
> have been engaged in a campaign of minority cleansing in Bangladesh
ever
> since they assumed power in early October, 2001.
>
> To establish that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is an Islamic extremist
> herself, speakers quoted a letter written to her in 1992 by
seventeen US
> congressman, in which they had accused her of directly engaging her
> para-military forces along with the settlers to systematically
murder 600
> residents of the village of Logang in Chittagong Hill Tracts, and in
> December looking the other way the Muslim fundamentalists killed 15
Hindus,
> raped 2,600 women and razed 3,600 temples throughout Bangladesh in
10 days.
>
> By citing three Amnesty International reports, a New York Times
report and
> numerous CNN, BBC, News Day, a Thikana report, and several reports
published
> in Indian newspapers, the al-Qaeda has been highly active in
Bangladesh for
> years and that their activities has dramatically increased now that
their
> Kashmir operation has been shut down Azad Kashmir. The most
compelling
> evidence were the CNN interview with the American Taliban John
Walkar, in
> which he revealed that Bengali was one of the three languages
spoken in the
> al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, and the BBC news that the mastermind
of the
> recent train burning massacre in Gujrat was intercepted by the
Indian police
> on his way to Bangladesh.
>
> Speakers demanded that Prime Minister Khaleda zia immediately
restore
> secularism and pass an Affirmative Action law failing which a part
of the
> country be designated for the minority communities where they could
live
> with human dignity.
>
> After the presentation was over, Congressman Crowley acknowledged
that the
> American government was fully aware of al-Qaeda presence in
Bangladesh and
> that it was closely watching Bangladesh. He assured them he would
talk to
> high ranking Congressman like Benjamin Gilman, Gary Ackerman and
others on
> Monday in the morning to discuss how they could help the Christian
> communities of Pabna who have been held hostage by the
fundmaentlists.
> He also assured the audience that he would report to President
George Bush
> about the on-going minority persecution problem in Bangladesh and
as well as
> the issue of al-Qaeda, and suggest ways to deal with them. In the
> question-answer segment he emphatically reiterated the above
commitments,
> particularly that he was committed to restoring a secular democracy
in
> Bangladesh.
>
> The speakers included Mr. Sitangshu Guha, Ratan Kumar Barua,
Nabendu Dutta,
> , Dr. Jiten Roy, Dr. Dwijen Bhattacharjya, Mr. Bidyut Sarker, Dr.
Bholanath
> Banik, Mr. Rup Kumar Bhowmik, Mr. Mohsin Ali, and Ms. Elizabeth
Burns,
> Mohendra vatt, Prabir Roy, Ms. Debjani Bhowmik, and Mr. Dilip Nath.
Besides
> the national anthem of Bangladesh and America, such songs as Bob
Dylan's
> "The answer in blowin' in the wind" and Pete Seger's "We shall
overcome some
> day were played repeatedly.
>
> The Honorable Congressman Joseph Crowley
> Representative of the 7th District, New York
> 1517 Longworth HOB
> Washington, DC 20515
>
> Re: The on-going government -sponsored minority persecution in
Bangladesh.
>
> Dear Representative:
>
> As we have regularly informed your office, the minority cleansing
campaign
> in Bangladesh that began on October 1, when the ruling "Islamic
hardliners"
> (The Guardian, October 2, 2001), led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
won the
> election with a two-thirds majority in the parliament, is raging
endlessly.
> While in 1992, Khaleda Zia used her para-military forces for
systematically
> murdering the civilian residents of the village of Logang, in the
on-going
> pogrom, she has engaged the armed cadres of her own party, BNP, as
well as
> those of her allies: the Jamat-E- Islami and the Islamic Unity
Council.
> Exactly like 1992, despite being repeatedly urged by the Amnesty
> International, European Union (EU), Prime Minister of India, and
your
> colleagues like Benjamin Gilman to stop the carnage, she has done
nothing
> but consistently deny it, cover it up and adopted sundry other
clever
> tactics and chicanery to divert world attention from the issue.
> The minority communities of Bangladesh have literally been held
hostage by
> the armed cadres of the Islamic extremist rulers. As we provided
you with
> evidence on March 1, 2002, i.e. two days ago, three Christian
villages have
> been under siege for the past few days, where the armed cadres of
BNP have
> unleashed a reign of terror. Because of Khaleda Zia's inaction and
> complicity in the on-going campaign of 'minority cleansing' we are
turning
> to your office desperately seeking your assistance to stop this well
> organized, systematic government -sponsored minority cleansing
campaign.
>
> As you can see from the attached pile of evidence, which include
Amnesty
> International reports and a New York Times report, led by the
leaders of the
> BNP, Jamat-E- Islam and Islamic Unity Council , bands of armed
Muslim
> fundamentalists have kept routinely dispossessing the Hindus,
Buddhists, and
> Christians of their ancestral homes and properties, desecrating
their
> temples, destroying their deities, torching their dwelling houses
after
> looting them, brutally torturing them, gang-raping their girls and
women (as
> young as seven and as old as seventy and about 200 hundred in one
night and
> mother and daughter together) and women and murdering them.
>
> The weapon of choice in the current pogrom has been gang-rape
instead, which
> is not only the most effective instrument for forcing the
minorities to
> leave the country quietly, but also a crime that can't be proved.
As we have
> provided you with evidence, the police not to accept cases of even
> gang-rapes from the minorities (please see The Dailystar editorial
of
> 2/19/'02, for example). Furthermore, by jailing a noted journalist
because
> he went to India and filmed the Bangladeshi refugees, and cutting of
> electricity supply and discontinuing granting government
advertisements (a
> solid source of income for the Bangladeshi newspapers) to The Daily
> Janakantha,, which consistently reported incidents of minority
persecution,
> Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has successfully stifled the voices of
the
> handful of courageous newspapers that used to report the harrowing
incidents
> of gang-rapes, brutal murders, and extortion of "infidel protection
tax"
> from the minorities by the armed cadres of BNP and Islamic
extremists. By
> taking this step Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been able to deny
the
> foreign embassies and donor organizations access to information
about the
> pogrom.
>
> Typically, after looting their property, razing/burning down their
homes and
> gang-raping their girls, the ruling Muslim fundamentalists impose
and extort
> "infidel security tax" from them and leave such ultimatum as:
Unless you all
> convert to Islam by .....you will be driven out of the country
(please
> refer, for example, to the incident of Daspara in Mireshwarai in
Chittagong,
> The Daily Janakantha, Dhaka: November 8, 2001), which has forced
thousands
> of Hindus to leave their motherland for Indian refugee camps.
According to
> published reports, about four million (The Daily Janakantha, Dhaka:
November
> 4, 2001) Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians have been affected by the
> on-going pogrom, so far.
>
> The Islamic extremists have always done that to the minorities of
Bangladesh
> which is why the minority population has dropped from 20% in 1971
down to
> 12% today; however now that they are in power and thus can utilize
the
> entire administrative machinery for that purpose, they cannot
survive
> without your intervention.
>
> We are convinced that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's evil scheme of
> transforming Bangladesh into a "pure" Islamic theocratic state like
> Afghanistan is moving on schedule because the United States has
ignored the
> issue as it did in 1992. To our great dismay, we have noticed that
the U.S.
> consulate in Bangladesh and the Department of State hold exactly
the exactly
> the same view that the "ruling Islamic hardliners" have
consistently wanted
> the civilized world to believe. Unfortunately, the US government
believe it
> completely ignoring the Amnesty International reports, EU report,
newspaper
> (including the New York times) reports, and what we have to say as
insiders.
> We would like to reiterate that this "campaign" is clearly
motivated by the
> goal of transforming Bangladesh into a "pure" Islamic republic like
> Afghanistan, to do which the rulers have the necessary numbers in
the
> parliament.
>
> As is well known, like the Pakistani government the ruling "Islmaic
> hardliners" of Bangladesh also established training centers in the
> madrassahs 'Islamic seminaries' all over Bangladesh during their
two decades
> of rule in the past (please read the Thikana news published in
1997).
> Thousands of Talibans trained in those madrassahs went to fight in
> Afghanistan and Kashmir, a fact which should not be difficult to
understand
> after the American Taliban John Walker reported that the three
languages
> spoken by the Taliban fighters in Afghanistan were Bengali, Arabic
and Urdu
> (CNN on December 20, '01). Now that the Afghan war is over, and the
Kashmir
> operation based in the Pakistani part of Kashmir has been shut down
under
> American pressure, the thousands of them have moved to Bangladesh
and have
> engaged in the task of transforming Bangladesh into a "pure"
Islamic state.
> The streets of Dhaka saw huge rallies back in 1997, (see attached a
Thikana
> article published in 1997). In our estimate there are about 5
thousand
> Afghan veterans and altogether 15 thousand trained Talibans
currently living
> in Bangladesh. With this huge number of Islamic extremists in the
country,
> Bangladesh is rushing headlong toward Talibanaization of the
country. Unless
> it were for the U.S. led attack on the El-Queda operation in
Afghanistan, we
> have no doubt in our minds that Bangladesh would have been declared
an
> Islamic republic by now.
>
> Therefore, the minorities of Bangladesh cannot possibly survive in
their
> struggle for existence without US intervention. Our question is:
Why can't
> America and its allies intervene in Bangladesh like it did in
Bosnia, thus
> saving its minority population and promoting a pluralistic
democracy, before
> it becomes another Afghanistan ? We strongly suggest that America
intervenes
> now, dealing with Prime Minister Khaled Zia the way it has with
Pervez
> Musharraf, the President of Pakistan, rather than waiting for a
cataclysmic
> situation to arise.
>
> One mustn't trust Khaleda Zia's promises, because she has
historically
> flouted polite requests and suggestions made by the civilized world
to stop
> minority persecution. A much tougher stance on the part of the
United States
> and imposition of economic embargo is indispensable for forcing the
ruling
> "Islamic hardliners" to stop the carnage and agree to a permanent
solution
> to this problem. This conclusion is based on the following specific
reasons:
>
> In 1992, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia directly employed her para-
military
> forces in ethnic cleansing, and then defying the request made by
the US
> Congress to stop mistreating the minorities, she supported a
country wide
> anti-minority pogrom seven months later. Similarly, despite being
repeatedly
> urged by the European Union (EU), various human rights groups,
e.g., the
> Amnesty International, and US Congressmen to stop the on-going
pogrom, she
> has done nothing to stop it. While in 1992, she used the para-
military
> forces, in the current pogrom, she has engaged the armed cadres of
her party
> to rape and murder the minorities. Moreover, she hasn't punished
even one
> rapist or murderer yet.
>
> Her President, Mr. B. Chowdhury, and many of her cabinet ministers
have
> indulged the chief imam of Bai-ul-Mukarram, the central mosque in
Dhaka, Mr.
> Obaid-Ul-Huq, to declare in their presence America and President
George Bush
> to be terrorists and call upon the Muslims to destroy American
interests
> everywhere.
>
> The Khaleda Zia government has encouraged the notorious pro-Taliban
Muslim
> fundamentalist Members of Parliament, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi (i) to
declare
> that the courts should be dictated by edicts and (ii) issue a
fatwa 'edict'
> to destroy the Hindu and Buddhist deities like those of Buddha in
Bamian,
> Afghanistan, under the Talibans (temples have been routinely
attacked,
> desecrated and deities destroyed since that edict was issued.).
> Rather than apologizing to the minorities for her failure to
protect them
> she is still denying her complicity in this colossal crime against
them.
> The air of Bangladesh is filled with the anguished cries of the
victims of
> the on-going government-sponsored pogrom. The blatant violation of
human
> rights in Bangladesh must stop. The rape victims and survivors of
the
> on-going pogrom as well as the survivors of the Logan massacre
alike deserve
> to get justice, and these goals can only be achieved with your
active help.
> Even the very the survival of the Hindus Buddhists and Christians of
> Bangladesh in this pogrom depends solely on how much pressure you
exert on
> Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Islamic extremist partners to
stop this
> carnage. We fervently urge you to use your good office to save the
> unfortunate Hindus, Buddhists and Christians of Bangladesh, who
have been
> persecuted by the Muslim fundamentalists and successive governments
for
> decades, and who are now faced with the prospect of forced
expulsion and
> extermination.
>
> We are seeking a permanent solution rather than a band-aid one to
the
> problem of minority persecution in Bangladesh. We believe that this
can be
> achieved only if the United States adopt the policy that it did
with the
> Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, because they are the same
kind of
> people -"Islamic hardliners". We strongly suggest that, as a
preliminary
> step in that direction, the Khaleda Zia government be dnied all
financial
> aid until she comes up with a permanent solution to the problem.
> Such an extreme measure is clearly necessary because her regime has
used
> past economic assistance to establish and support training camps and
> madrassahs, which have recruited and trained thousands of jihadis or
> Talibans. By bring a line item in a bill condemning Prime Minister
Zia for
> her complicity in this colossal crime against the minorities of
Bangladesh
> repeatedly, and writing a joint letter with your colleagues in the
Congress
> to President George W. Bush and Secretary Collin Powell, requesting
them to
> intervene immediately, by suspending economic aid that do not hurt
children.
>
> We demand that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia immediately take the
following
> steps to promote a pluralistic democracy in the country:
>
> (i) Restore secularism in the constitution, thus promoting a
pluralistic
> democracy in Bangladesh, as had been envisioned in the original
constitution
> (of 1972).
>
> (ii) Create minority regions after the model of American Indian
> reservations.
>
> (iii) Pass a Minority Protection Act which must include an
Affirmative
> Action Law and a Hate Crime Law. And, in order to conform to the
proposed
> affirmative action law, guarantee that the 25% of both national and
> international business opportunities be reserved for the
minorities, and the
> same percentage (25%) of the places in the medical and engineering
colleges,
> all government agencies, e.g., police forces, armed forces, civil
service
> (including foreign service) be reserved for the minorities.
>
> (iv) Following in the footsteps of Pakistani President Musharraf,
dissociate
> with the Muslim fundamentalist terrorists, i.e. the pro-Taliban
forces in
> the government, and order the police to protect the minority
communities,
> and arrest and prosecute the arsonists, rapists and murderers, most
of whom
> belong to her own party, BNP.
>
> (v) Repatriate the refugees and displaced people, and fully
compensate the
> victims.
>
> (vi) Stop torturing/jailing journalists and writers, such as Mr.
Shahriyar
> Kabir, and penalizing newspapers for reporting minority persecution
and
> human rights violations.
> (vii) Allow an independent commission to investigate the atrocities
> perpetrated against the minority groups both during her tenure as
Prime
> Minister in the 1990s and in the on-going pogrom. Such a commission
mustn't
> include any representatives of the government or be escorted by any
> government agents.
>
> (viii) Form a special force to protect the minorities, which must be
> composed of the members from the various minority ethno-religious
> communities, and be under the command of the ministry of Minority
Affairs.
>
> In closing, we would like to further suggest that if you decide
exercise
> your power to rescue the religious minorities under siege in
Bangladesh,
> time is of the essence. By acting now to save the minorities, you
can also
> prevent the country from becoming a second Afghanistan.
> With deep gratitude for your anticipated attention and help.
>
> Sincerely,
>
------------------------------------
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