January 2002

I. January 1, 2002 . Dalia village, Matiranga, Khagrachari district (in southeastern Bangladesh near the Indian state of Tripura). An Islamic reactionary group abducted and murdered a young Hindu woman. Her body found later found in a nearby place.

II. January 2, 2002. Khidirpur village, Manoharodi sub-district, Kishoreganj district (northeast of the capital city of Dhaka). The harvest of the Aman cultivation in 21 bighas of land owned by Mihir Kumar Chanda, a member of the minority Hindu community, was looted by a group of Islamic reactionaries led by the chairman local union parishad (local governmnt) Jakir Hossain. Mihir did not receive any help after lodging repeated complaints with the local administration. Presently, his whole family is facing starvation.

III. January 4, 2002. Collegepara area, Tangail district town (proximately northwest of the capital city of Dhaka). Chand Mohan Ghosh, a member of the minority Hindu community, was kidnapped by a group of Islamic fundamentalists, who demanded a ransom of 200,000 Taka (approximately US $ 4,000).

IV. January 4, 2002. Satyati village, Purvadhaula sub-district, Netrakona district (in northern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Meghalaya). Muslim reactionaries attacked Satyajeeban Chakraborty’s family, including Usha Rani Chakraborty (age 80), both members of the Hindu minority community. The armed gang set fire to Chakraborty’s home. While leaving, they chanted the slogan, "Hindu Jodi bachte chao, bangla Cherhe Bharot jao" meaning "Hindus who want to live, run away to India."

V. January 5, 2002. Dhakua village, Mymensingh district (in northern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Meghalaya). Santosh Pal, a member of the minority Hindu community, arranged the marriage ceremony of his daugher Lakshimi Rani Pal. To pay for the expenses he garnered 50,000 Taka (approximately US $1,000) after selling off a sizeable portion of his land. A group of Islamic fundamentalists including Mohammed Dular, Mohammed Hofazzal, Mohammed Nurul Islam and Mohammed Mojibar demanded a zizyia tax (an extortion tax levied on non-Muslims by Muslim fundamentalists) in the amount of 20,000 Taka (approximately US $300) from Santosh Pal, the gang threatened to abduct his daughter if he did not pay. The whole family was also threatened with severe consequences if they informed the authorities. The chairman of Dhaka Union Parishad, Abdul Hamid, has confirmed the authenticity of the report.

VI. January 6, 2002. Mahish Khola village, Kumarkhali police station, Kushtia district (in western Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). Islamic fundamentalists attacked the home of Nayan Dulal Biswas, a member of the minority Hindu community. The armed fundamentalists severely injured the many members of the family, including four women of the family.

VII. January 7, 2002. Patuakhali district (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). Kumud Ranjan Bala and his wife were severely injured when Muslim fundamentalists attacked their home. The Hindu resident doctor was on duty at the Bauphal hospital during the time.

VIII. January 7, 2002. Parashuram sub-district, Feni district (in southeastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura). A Hindu religious congregation of Sri Sri Thakur Ram Chandra Dev was disrupted by a prominent Islamic fundamentalist named A. F. M. Soleman, also the district magistrate of Feni.

IX. January 8, 2002. Kotiadi sub-district, Kishoreganj district (northeast of the capital city of Dhaka). A Hindu truck driver named Tapan Sarkar was abducted by a group of Muslim reactionaries.

X. January 9, 2002. Kesabpur sub-district, Jessore district (in southwestern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). The Hindu Baiga Kalibari temple was set on fire by right wing Muslim reactionaries. The same temple was set on fire in the 1964 and 1992 pogroms carried out against the minority Hindu community.

XI. January 9, 2002. Shibrag area, Narshigdi Poursabha (east of the capital city of Dhaka). Purnima Rani Saha (age 14), a member of the minority Hindu community and the daughter of Chunilal Saha, had acid thrown on her by her neighbor, a Madrasah (Muslim religious school) student, named Hossain Shaukat.

XII. January 10, 2002. Chandrahar village, Gournadi sub-district, Barisal district (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). While returning home after listening to devotional songs, Subir Chandra Baidda, a member of the minority Hindu community, was abducted and murdered by Islamic reactionaries and thrown into a local pond.

XIII. January 10, 2002. Araihazar sub-district, Narayanganj district. Suresh Chandra Debnath, the Hindu owner of the jewelry shop of Rajib Jewellers in the Uchitpara bazaar, saw his jewelry shop looted by a group of Islamic fundamentalists chanting Islamic slogans.

XIV. January 10, 2002. Sankarbhag village, Natore district (in western Bangladesh). Four bighas of tilling land owned by Satyanarayan Tili, a member of the Hindu tribal community, was forcibly occupied by a group of right wing Islamic fundamentalists including Rustam Ali Mahadeb, Kalam Sheikh, Abdul, Teton.

XV. January 12, 2002. Sherpur sub-district, Bagura (in northern Bangladesh). A Hindu furniture trader Durga Prasad Basak (age 22) was stabbed to death by Islamic fundamentalists.

XVI. January 12, 2002. Madhukhali, Faridpur district (proximately southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). Ten shops owned by Dhiman Banik, a member of the Hindu minority, in Chitar bazaar were ransacked and destroyed by right wing Islamic fundamentalists under the leadership of Jabbar Molla.

XVII. January 13, 2002. Magura district (southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). Mita Rani, a young Hindu student, was severely burnt after acid was hurled at her by Islamic reactionaries.

XVIII. January 16, 2002. Halpara, Thakargaon district (in northwestern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). The home of Biswabandhu Sarkar, a prominent Hindu leader, was attacked by Islamic extremists. Sarkar’s son, Subrata (B. A. student), and his wife Shukla (age 35), were severely injured in the attack.

XIX. January 16, 2002. Narail district (southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). A Hindu correspondent of the Bengali daily "Pratham Alo", Kartick Chandra Das, has been threatened with death by a prominent Islamic reactionary and the local leader of the ruling Bangladesh National Party, Mukbul Hossain. Kartick Babu has lodged a complaint with the local police.

XX. January 16, 2002. Kalapania village, Sandwip sub-district, Chittagong district (in southeastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura and the Bay of Bengal). Mautu Kumar Banik, a member of the minority Hindu community and the son of the late Umesh Chandra Banik, was severely injured in attack carried out by Islamic reactionary activists from the ruling Bangladesh National Party, who also looted his belongings worth over 200,000 Taka (approximately US $4,000). After lodging a criminal case (No. 3(96)), Banik requested the local administration to provide security for his family and property. However the local administration has not acted on his request so far.

XXI. January 17, 2002. Udisha village, Singra police station, Natore district (in western Bangladesh close to the Indian state of West Bengal). Over one hundred Hindu families were attacked by right wing Muslim reactionaries with the tacit support of the local government. The home of a prominent member of the minority Hindu community, Nitai Talukdar, was looted twice. Sultan Masood, the D.C. of Singra police station and Malay Sarkar, the director of the Bangladesh chapter of Amnesty International, are looking into the matter and investigating the criminal activities of local Islamic reactionaries.

XXII. January 18, 2002. South Akalia Mouja, Daudkanti sub-district, Comilla district (in eastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura). Sevayet Jaydev Chandra, a member of the minority Hindu community, has filed a petition against the forceful occupation by of Islamic fundamentalists led by Abul Kalam Azad of his land, 32% of which is endowed for defraying the cost of worship at the local Hindu religious shrine.

XXIII. January 19, 2002. Mainimukh bazaar, Longdu sub-district, Rangamati district (bordering the Indian states of Tripura and Mizoram). Islamic reactionaries kidnapped seven people, including two women from the Chakma tribal community.

XXIV. January 20, 2002. Ralaroa sub-district, Satkhira district (in southwestern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal and the Bay of Bengal). A group of Islamic extremists under the leadership of Jakir Hossain, an activist from the Islamic fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami (also part of the ruling alliance) tried to prevent Hindus from cremating their dead in a local crematorium situated for more than 100 years on the banks of Betna river.

XXV. January 20, 2002. Shikorhat union, Jhalkhati sub district, Barisal district (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). Hindu areas were attacked by Islamic reactionaries under the leadership of Bacchugaji, a prominent Islamic fundamentalist in the area.

XXVI. January 21, 2002. Mithapukur area, Rangpur district (in northern Bangladesh very close to the Indian state of Assam). A demonstration was held in front of the Adivasi Chatra Samaj, a local administrative body of the local tribal community against the atrocities committed on them by Islamic fundamentalists.

XXVII. January 22, 2002. Madhaia Bazar, Chandina sub-district, Comilla district (in eastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura). Mohammed Abul Kasem, a prominent Islamic reactionary, forcefully entered a local Hindu temple and destroyed the icons of the Hindu deities of Kali, Mahdev and Vishnu. The police arrested him after a complaint was lodged, but the administration is trying to keep the whole incident quiet.

XXVIII. January 23, 2002. Nakalia Bazar, Bera sub-district, Pabna district (in western Bangladesh close to Indian state of West Bengal). Members of the minority Hindu community: Dulal Chandra Kundu (age 37), Goutam Kundu (age 25), and Fuleswari Kundu (age 60) were severely injured in attack carried out by Islamic fundamentalists.

XXIX. January 25, 2002. Barashilla village, Beva sub-district, Pabna district (in western Bangladesh close to Indian state of West Bengal). The home of Khudiram Halder, a member of the minority Hindu community, was ransacked by a group of Islamic fundamentalists under the leadership of Aftab Muhuri, a notorious Islamic reactionary. All the members of Halder’s family were severely injured. A criminal case has been lodged with the local police station.

XXX. January 25, 2002. Charsharat village, Mirsarai sub-district, Chittagong district (in southeastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura and the Bay of Bengal). A group of Muslim reactionaries looted fish worth nearly 60,000 Taka (approximately US $10,000) from the pond of Narayan Chandra Das, a member of the minority Hindu community.

XXXI. January 26, 2002. Charsharat village, Mirsarai sub-district, Chittagong district (in southeastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura and the Bay of Bengal). A group of Muslim reactionaries consisting of Mohd. Ismail, Mohd. Abchar and Mohd. Kepayat Ullah, looted the rice paddies near Narayan Das’s house. They ransacked his property, expelled the Das and his family from their own home and set fire to the house. The Das family has, since then, lost everything and now is homeless, after these attacks on consecutive days.