Fallout from Iraq War - Christians Targeted in Bangladesh

christianfreedom.org ^ | Dhaka, Bangladesh - September 30, 2003 | Christian Freedom International

[miltonim]

DHAKA, BANGLADESH --- A token crackdown on radical Islamic groups by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government offers scant comfort for the Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist minorities in this 88 percent Muslim nation.

During a fact-finding trip to Bangladesh, Christian Freedom International President Jim Jacobson interviewed dozens of Muslims, Christians, and Hindus; visited house churches and a Christian school that was burned by militants this past May.

"Angry militants are venting their hatred of the West against Christians," reports Jacobson. "Ironically, As Iraq rebuilds, the situation for Christians in Bangladesh is deteriorating. Their persecution is an unintended consequence of the Iraq war."

With the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) part of the four-party coalition government, Islamic radical groups such as the al Qaeda-connected Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) enjoy cover from the government. The handful of arrests are designed to polish the government's international image as the world's spotlight shifts to the ASEAN meeting in Bali next month.

Muslim converts to Christianity are facing the brunt of persecution," said Jacobson.

A Muslim engineer at a textile factory in the capital of Dhaka said, "The fundamentalists are angry at America. In the factory [where] I work, American experts do not come any more since the war, only Japanese. The Americans are not welcome and it is not safe for them."

"In this moment, we feel insecure. The country is going fundamentalist, 100 percent fundamentalist," said a Bangladeshi attorney who asked not to be named. "If you disclose my name, I will be killed," he said.

"If a Muslim converts to Christian, now he cannot live in this country. It is not safe. The fundamentalism is increasing more and more," said a Muslim convert to Christianity who asked not to be identified.

Another convert said, "None of us are safe now. We are all facing a tough time. We are really afraid to go out and preach the Gospel. It is really dangerous of us converts to live in Bangladesh. But we are working for the Lord. If we die we will be with the Lord."

As reported by The Guardian, earlier this year in the village of Fhainjana, a mob of 200 fundamentalists pillaged 10 Christian houses, and assaulted many women and children. Christians were seriously beaten and others molested after refusing to give money to militants in the village of Kamalapur, Jacobson is urging the United States to accept asylum seekers from Bangladesh. "Currently it is almost impossible for persecuted Christians in Bangladesh to gain asylum in the United States. As a nation, we need to reclaim our history of providing a safe haven for legitimate asylum seekers."

# # #

Jim Jacobson is President of Christian Freedom International (CFI), an interdenominational human rights organization for religious liberty. Mr. Jacobson, a former policy analyst in the Reagan White House, currently resides in Thailand. For more information or interviews, contact Christian Freedom International at 540-636-8907 or visit online at www.christianfreedom.org

[miltonim]

[Cronos]

Have these d***** Bangladesh folk forgotten that their co-religionists in Pakistan slaughtered more than a million Bangaladeshis in their war? but then the religion of peace followers were never noted for their sanity.