August 2000

I. August 3, 2000. Barisal town (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). The local Ramakrishna Mission was attacked by suspected Islamic fundamentalists. The Chief Priest and other minority Hindu officials and priests were savagely assaulted.

II. August 6 2000. Kachipara Brahmanbil, Baufall district. Sudhir Ranjan was abducted at gunpoint by a group of Islamic fundamentalists. They demanded a ransom in the amount of 60,000 Taka (approximately US $1000) from his family. When the family failed to pay, Sudhir was savagely assaulted. He was released, but was threatened with severe consequences to flee Bangladesh and migrate to India.

III. August 10, 2000. Gharialdanga village, Rajarhat Police Station, Kurigram district (in northern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Assam). Ranjit Chandra (age 18) was abducted on by a criminal gang of Islamic fanatics led by the notorious Babu Mian. For the ransom the group wanted Ranjit to give the deed of his property to Babu Mian. After an initial hesitation, the local police registered a case. Ranjit is currently missing.

IV. August 10, 2000. Patuakhali College (in southern Bangladesh bordering the bay of Bengal). Nipu Mridha, a student from the minority Hindu community, was savagely assaulted by a group of Muslim fanatics near the local cricuit house. Nipu was hospitalized and listed in serious condition.

V. August 12, 2000. Faridpur sub-district, Pabna district (in western Bangladesh very close to the Indian state of West Bengal). A fanatical Muslim group attacked the Hindu Demra Kali Temple. They looted many valuables, including Puja (worship) materials from the temple. For a long time, this group has been trying to seize the temple property illegally.

VI. August 17, 2000. Cox's Bazar (in southeastern Bangladesh neighboring Myanmar). For quite time Islamic fundamentalists have been conspiring to tear down the local Buddhist Pagoda. They were systematically removing bricks and stones from below the Pagoda to make its foundation weak. On August 17, the Pagoda structure caved in and completele collapsed to the ground. The group took away the religious icons of the Lord Buddha, along with gold, silver and other valuables from the debris. The local authorities have so far remained mute spectators.

VII. Aug. 18, 2000. Khulna University (in southwestern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). Conzar Mullick, a member of the local Christian minority community, was studying pharmacy at Khulna University. He hailed from the village of Houli near the Paikgacha police station located in the Khulna district. Conzar was abducted by a group of Muslim fanatics near the university hostel. The same day, he was killed by poisoning.

VIII. August 18, 2000. Bhimpur village, Mahadevpur sub-district, Nowgaon district (in northwestern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). A group of Islamic fanatics, led by Mohammed Hatem Ali, Chairman of the local Union Parishad (Council) tried to forcibly occupy the property belonging to members of the Christian tribal (Santhal) community. When the Santhals resisted, there was a violent confrontation in which Alfred Soren (age 38), a tribal leader, was killed. Twenty-five other members of the tribal community sustained serious injuries. The gang also set fire to many tribal homes. Police arrived at the spot four hours after the incident took place.

IX. August 18, 2000. Bhasania village, Kaliganj police station, Dhaka district (capital city of Bangladesh). A gang of Islamic fanatics led by Rokon Mulla and Nurul Mian raided the home of Augustine Gomes, a member of the local minority Christian community, and tried to abduct his young daughter. A brave youth from the Gomes family resisted the attackers forcing them to retreat. After a short while, the gang reappeared and armed with weapons, looted property and abducted Benjamin, the younger brother of Gomes. They tortured Benjamin at an unknown place and made him sign on blank non-judicial stamp papers. Benjamin was released afterwards. The local police station registered a case vide Dy: No : 681 dated Sept. 21, 2000.

X. August 19, 2000. Munshiganj town (proximately southeast of the capital city of Dhaka). A group of Islamic zealots threw an explosive device at the Manasa Mela (a Hindu religious festival) during the night. Over a dozen Hindu devotees sustained serious injuries during the blast.

XI. August 19, 2000. Dhaka district (capital city of Bangladesh). During the morning, an employee of the Dhaka Customs Department named Sukhendu Bikash Chowdhury, a member of the local Hindu minority, was killed in a suspected staged bus accident near the Dhaka Airport Road. For quite sometime, he was being threatened to flee Bangladesh by Islamic fundamentalists or else face dire consequences.

XII. August 20, 2000. Chitalmari, Bagerhat district (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). A popular Hindu leader, Advocate Kalidas Boral was shot to death by a group of armed Muslim fanatics when he was returning home. The incident was mourned by 25,000 local Hindus who observed a Hartal (general strike) in protest. The Hindus also boycotted the Janmashtami (Hindu holy day celebrating the birth of the Hindu God Krishna) celebrations to register their protest.

XIII. August 22, 2000. Tangail district (proximately northwest of the capital city of Dhaka). The local chapter of ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) took out a big procession of Hindu devotees to mark the local Janmashtami celebrations. When it was moving towards the Kali Bari side, a group of Islamic fundamentalists started throwing stones at the procession. Among the injured was a student named Gopi Nath Saha (age 27), who is currently in critical condition. Following this incident, local Hindus obstructed traffic on the Dhaka-Tangail road for nearly two hours in protest.

XIV. August 23 to 27, 2000. Rupganj Bazar, Narail district (southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). Groups of armed Islamic fundamentalists raided the homes of Subhash Chandra, Santosh Roy, Arun Mallick, Sushanta Datta and the Lakshi Store owned by a member of the minority Hindu community. The gangs looted property and cash in excess of one million Taka (approximately US $17,000).

XV. August 30, 2000. Chakbazar, Chittagong town (in southeastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura and the Bay of Bengal). Subhra Talukdar (age 25), a member of the minority Hindu community and the wife of Mithun Talukdar was abducted at gunpoint by two local Islamic fundamentalists named Belal Hossain and Younis Mridha. Subhra was working as a typist in a local garment store at the time of her kidnapping. Despite a case having been filed by the local police, Subhra is still missing as of press time.