01-31-2005, 06:43 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Call to halt Bangla Talibanisation
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
The Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorities in Bangladesh (CAAMB), in association with the Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist & Christian Unity Council (International Chapter), organised a day-long conference on atrocities against Bangladesh minorities in New Delhi on Saturday.
The conference was attended by a galaxy of human rights activists, social workers and intellectuals from around the world. The speakers included caamb president Prof Mohit Roy, caamb secretary Achintya Gupta, BHBCUC president (international chapter) Sitangshu Guha from New York, senior bhbcuc functionary Thomas Dulu Roy, Dhaka University professor of physics Nim Chandra Bhowmick, Father Joseph Jeevan Gomes from the Chittagong hill tracts, Bhikku Prajnalankar, also from the Chittagong hill tracts, and Professor Saradindu Mukherjee of Hansraj College, Delhi
Mr Guha said Bangladesh was indebted to India for helping it wrest independence from Pakistan in 1971 but regretted that minorities were endangered in Bangladesh, which was rapidly deteriorating into a Taliban state. He pointed out that minorities, who formed around 20 per cent of the country's population in 1971, have today been reduced to around 10 per cent. In an indirect reference to the Indian Government and establishment's apathy to wards the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, he asked whether India wanted the remaining 2 million minorities in Bangladesh to come over to this side of the border.
Father Gomes remarked that India was surrounded not by one but by two Pakistans on two sides and urged New Delhi to save Dhaka from becoming a clone of Islamabad.
Bhikku Prajnalankar, who is popularly known as Reverend among his followers in the Chittagong hill tracts, narrated how Muslims from the plains of Bangladesh had been sent to the hills in a calculated move to "grab our land". He said the Bangladesh Government had violated the peace accord with the hill tribals right from its signing.
Caamb also organised a conference in Kolkata on January 22 and 23, which received an overwhelming response from the city. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer News Service/ New Delhi
The Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorities in Bangladesh (CAAMB), in association with the Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist & Christian Unity Council (International Chapter), organised a day-long conference on atrocities against Bangladesh minorities in New Delhi on Saturday.
The conference was attended by a galaxy of human rights activists, social workers and intellectuals from around the world. The speakers included caamb president Prof Mohit Roy, caamb secretary Achintya Gupta, BHBCUC president (international chapter) Sitangshu Guha from New York, senior bhbcuc functionary Thomas Dulu Roy, Dhaka University professor of physics Nim Chandra Bhowmick, Father Joseph Jeevan Gomes from the Chittagong hill tracts, Bhikku Prajnalankar, also from the Chittagong hill tracts, and Professor Saradindu Mukherjee of Hansraj College, Delhi
Mr Guha said Bangladesh was indebted to India for helping it wrest independence from Pakistan in 1971 but regretted that minorities were endangered in Bangladesh, which was rapidly deteriorating into a Taliban state. He pointed out that minorities, who formed around 20 per cent of the country's population in 1971, have today been reduced to around 10 per cent. In an indirect reference to the Indian Government and establishment's apathy to wards the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, he asked whether India wanted the remaining 2 million minorities in Bangladesh to come over to this side of the border.
Father Gomes remarked that India was surrounded not by one but by two Pakistans on two sides and urged New Delhi to save Dhaka from becoming a clone of Islamabad.
Bhikku Prajnalankar, who is popularly known as Reverend among his followers in the Chittagong hill tracts, narrated how Muslims from the plains of Bangladesh had been sent to the hills in a calculated move to "grab our land". He said the Bangladesh Government had violated the peace accord with the hill tribals right from its signing.
Caamb also organised a conference in Kolkata on January 22 and 23, which received an overwhelming response from the city. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->