Faruque Alamgir
Ensure Safety of the Minorities during Election: Oikyo Parishad leaders to Consul General
Nov 21, 2008
Honorable Shamsul Haque
Consul General
Bangladesh Consulate, New York
Re: BHBCUC Election Monitoring Cell (EMC)
Honorable Consul General:
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council USA thank you for accommodating its meeting request in your busy schedule. The parliamentary election in Bangladesh is fast approaching. While the whole world is focused on the logistics and whether all the political parties will participate in the election, we have a different concern and different realities to focus on. As an umbrella organization charged with safeguarding the civil rights and welfare of the country's 25 million ethnic and religious minorities, BHBCUC is aware of the mood of the minority communities throughout Bangladesh in this election cycle. And it is justifiably of fear and of violation of their citizenship rights. Elections have historically brought unspeakable miseries on the minorities. Therefore we embark on the election bandwagon with guarded optimism. Due to the gov'ts failure to take preventative measures against the forces at work against the country's minorities we believe the stage is set for yet another cycle of Violence. But we will be very vigilant this time.
With the parliamentary election approaching in Bangladesh, minorities are observing the 7th anniversary of the unprecedented violence perpetrated against them in 2001 in the aftermath of electoral victory by the Islamist alliance led by BNP which continued until the last days of Khaleda Zia's tenure as the Prime Minister. So coming election is also a grim reminder of how the minorities have suffered for exercising their franchise in the election. The minorities were threatened, or otherwise discouraged to go to the polls. In many polling districts minorities were purged from the voter lists by the authorities aligned with the Islamists. The whole world had come to know of those terribly violent years, including the members of the present Gov't. Sadly, nothing has been done so far to remedy those problems. Furthermore, the authorities had not launched any investigation into the unspeakable crimes committed against minorities for years. We know of no plans that this government has to bring the culprits to justice either. Yet, the government has scheduled another election-- this time only promising that this time it will be safer, fairer, and more transparent. We will hold the gov't to its pledge.
Keeping in mind the past treatments of minorities before, during, and after the election-- the BHBCUC, USA has created an Election Monitoring Cell (EMC). This cell has already started its functions in Bangladesh and in major Capitals of the world. We are collecting information from our sources in the ground in Bangladesh and sharing that information with foreign governments, International human rights and donor organizations. We will periodically publish bulletins on the election. When the election is all over, we will publish our final bulletin on the issue and announce our verdict on the election and the course of our movement reflecting the conditions on the ground.
We request the Government to provide proper credentials to the BHBCUC as an election observer, so we can employ our representatives to the election sites throughout Bangladesh to ensure that the ethnic and religious minorities are able to vote freely and without fear. Business as Usual approaches of past election cycles had failed. Our community has been scarred to the point that our trust in the election process is severely undermined. The government has a unique opportunity to repair those scars. We extend our hands in cooperation to rebuild that trust in Government and to Bangladeshi Democracy. It is absolutely our goal to see democracy take hold and succeed in Bangladesh. We expect the govt's response in kind.
Besides the immediate concerns of the Elections, our original demands remain the restoration of the founding constitution, repeal of Enemy/ Vested Property Acts, Return the seized properties to rightful owners and their heirs, Honorable settlement of Ramna Kali Mandir issue, Judicial inquiries of all past crimes against minorities, compensate victims of violence, and bring perpetrators to justice.
In final, BHBCUC as a Human Rights Advocacy Group is in a strong legal and moral footings to obtain credential as election monitor. We have vast grass root support and the logistical ability to be an effective monitor of the electoral process in every corner of Bangladesh. We have already begun our work. Our efforts will only be helped if the gov't will see the importance of our work as election monitors and afford us proper status and credentials as such.
We request, Honorable Shamsul Haque, The Consul General of the Bangladesh Consulate in New York to forward this memorandum to the appropriate office of the government and follow through securing our demands.
Warmest Regards,
Ratan Barua, President
Dr. Thomas Dulu Roy, President
Sushil Saha, General Secretary
Chandan SenGupta, Joint Secretary
Pradip Das, Secretary, Students & Youth Front
Contact
Sitangshu Guha, Adviser
Tel: 646-696-5569
unitycouncilusa@gmail.com; guhasb@gmail.com
We urge EC to give these people 'Observer' status in the ensuing national election
Election Monitoring Cell of BHBCUC
♦ Bangladesh
Professor N.C. Bhowmick, BHBCOP 966-8482/ 01719310987
Advocate Rabin Ghosh, GHRD Tel: 967-3945 / 0117111-72468
Rosaline Costa, Hotline Bangladesh
Ajoy K Roy, Retired Prof of Physics, Dhaka University, HRCBM
Rabindranath Trivedi, HRCBM Tel: 7119977/ 01720808810
Dr. Durga Das. Ex. VC. Tel: 019-361198 / 967-2834
Kajal Debnath: Res: 933-1224. BHBCOP
Biren Adhikari, IT Specialist Tel: 988-6806/ 1920-23053/1-711-203622
Samaresh Baidhya, Journalist, Chittagong
Humanist Shahriar Kabir
Kazi Mukul, Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Bangladesh
Abdur Rakib Montu, Advocate, Suprime Court
Al Noman Chittagong, Cultural Activist
Aroma Dutta: Tel: 8119111/8115953/8110789
Subrata Chowdhury, Advocate, Supreme Court. Tel: 8625131R/8622786/ M0171-5402107
Rana DasGupta, Chittagong Bar Association. Tel: 031-615076
Sumon Barua, Chittagong, 01718151399
Mrs. Bijoy Laxsmi, Chittagong
Swapan Saha. Rajendra Ousadhalaya, TepaKhola, Faridpur.
Shankar Ranjan Saha (HRCBM, Naogaon)
N G Paul, Retired Addl. Secretary GoB
P R Barua, Retired DIG, Police
Chittya Ranjan Sarkar, BHBCOP. Tel: 914-3113/ 0175-405-240
Satya Ranjan Baroi, Retired Additional DIG, Police
Retired Additional Secretary GoB
Professor Shri Ashoke Taru Saha
Debashish Nag, Retired Deputy Secretary
Dr R M Debnath, Economic Editor, The Sangbad. HRCBM
Mr Jagannath Dey, Retired secretary, GOB, HRCBM
Hiralal Bala, Retired secretary, GOB, HRCBM
BHBCUC Presidents/ Secretary/ Conveners/Member Secretary: All chapters outside Bangladesh
BHBCUC President/ Secretary: Students/ Youth Fronts outside Bangladesh
BHBCOP: President/Secretary: All chapters in Bangladesh
Kolkata
Dr. Mohit Ray, CAAMB
Achintya Gupta, CAAMB
♦ What this Cell will do?
Collect, dissipate information & publish election bulletin. Any information about pre & post election will be gathered and will be published as bulletin.
Please forward all Election info to: unitycouncilusa@gmail.com
Mailing address: 86-51, 91st Street. Woodhaven. NY 11421. Fax: 914-779-3228
Full communication: BHBCUC, USA / Ratan Barua/ Nabendu Dutta/ Thomas Dulu Roy/ Sushil Saha/ Chandan SenGupta/ Pradip Das/ Sitansghu Guha 646-696-5569/ guhasb@gmail.com
Charter of Demands of BHBCUC
1. Religious and Ethnic minorities of Bangladesh have faced continuous state sanctioned persecution since the Independence of the country. The persecution of and the discrimination against the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and Ethnic tribal must cease immediately. All crimes against humanity must be stopped.
2. The Government of Bangladesh has, through the Vested Property Act or The Enemy Property Act, has confiscated more than 3 millions acres of land from Hindus and redistributed them among the Muslim population. These discriminatory acts against the minorities of the country must be repealed and all confiscated lands must be returned to the rightful owners and their relatives/heirs.
3. Rape is used as a tool to drive the minorities out of Bangladesh. Although only one-sixth of the country's total population are religious and ethnic minorities, an astonishing majority of all the rape victims in Bangladesh are the women from the minority communities. Police refuse to record complaints, justice denied for victims. This heinous crime against women must be stopped. All incidents of rape must be brought under judicial review and victims must be adequately compensated. Forced conversion of underage minority girls into Islam must be stopped.
4. Proportional representation of religious and ethnic minorities by population in the national assembly as well as in the local elective offices must be ensured. Minorities must have proportional representation in the government. Any one of the top two positions-- Presidency or Prime Minister ship--- must be filled from Hindu population. Proportional representation must be guaranteed in all sectors of the state (i.e. Foreign Diplomatic Posts, Armed Forces, Law enforcement, etc).
5. The minority population is dwindling in Bangladesh. Forced Exodus of minorities from Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) into India that started during partition (1947) continues to date. According to statistics more than 35 millions religious minorities met expulsion from Bangladesh and sought refuge in India. The government must issue a white paper and lay out to the world the root causes of continuous decline of minority population in Bangladesh and for how long minorities shall continue to live as aliens in their motherland.
6. Minorities are forced to forsake their religious or ethnic identities while registering to vote for fear of being targeted. Their citizenship rights must be protected. Minorities must be protected from all forms of violence before and after elections held in the country. Justice must be served for the crimes committed against minorities before and after the parliamentary election in 2001 and victims must be adequately compensated. The then Chief Advisor of the Care Taker Government Justice Latifur Rahman, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her cohort Motiur Rahman Nizami and their BNP-Jamat cadres must be indicted for crimes against humanity.
7. The negotiated Hill Tract Peace Treaty Must be fully implemented. Honoring the treaty, the armed forces of Bangladesh must be withdrawn from the occupied land. The inviolable rights of the indigenous people to their primal land must be protected and their age old traditions and culture must be respected. Illegal confiscation and settlements in their land must be stopped. Crimes such as forced conversion, rape, murder, etc must cease immediately.
8. The historic Ramna Kali Bari must be returned and the Kali Temple restored at the original site. Temples, Churches, Pagodas and all other places of worship that were desecrated or destroyed by the Islamist fundamentalists must be restored to their original states. Confiscation of the temple, church, pagodas and all forms of non-Muslim religious properties must be stopped. Separate and autonomous Foundations must be created for each of the Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian communities. Equal rights and protection under the law must be restored and preserved by repealing the two discriminatory, "The Eighth and the Fifth", amendments to the constitution. The government must establish and abide by the doctrine of "The Separation of State and Religion". Original constitution of the country, that is, 1972 constitution must be restored.
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