The religious persecution and genocide of non-Muslim minorities in Rohingya’s homeland Bangladesh
The minorities in Bangladesh are amongst the most persecuted people on earth, subject to endless Islamic genocide. These are the same Muslims who the UN now wants to force onto Burma – another Buddhist country, endlessly targeted by Muslim violence and forced infiltration.
The Muslims superimpose themselves onto the Buddhist shrines in Jummaland, use their places of worship to slaughter cows to offend them, and threaten the Buddhist monks that if they don’t agree to conversion to Islam they will eventually come one day to kill them.
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This monk was injured by the Bangladesh Army. The Bangladesh Army attacked his village and temple during the Matiranga, Panchari massacres on 30 April – 1 May 1986, they destroyed the temple, Buddha images and Buddhist texts. This monk like many others had to seek refuge in Tripura, India.
Religious Persecution of Buddhists and Christians by Muslims in Jummaland
[Source: Religious persecution in the CHT]
Note: * CHT stands for Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT),
also known as Jummaland. The Jummaland is located in the Southeast Asia
and comprised of three hill districts—Rangamati, Bandarban, and
Khagrachari of Bangladesh.
Tangchanya and Marma are mainly Buddhists, the Tripuras Hindus and some smaller groups such as the Bawm and Pankhua are Christians. Mru and Khumi practise what is known as Animism.
Religious tolerance has been a long tradition of the Jumma people. One way of understanding this tolerance is to see it in terms of an underlying element common throughout the CHT which consists of different manifestations of an underlying stratum of animistic traits which coexists with Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.
The Jumma people consider themselves culturally very different from the Bangladeshis. Bangladesh has Islam as the state religion. The state education is oriented to ‘mainstream’ nationalism and in some cases, according to the pupils and teachers, has a strong Islamic influence. Bengali predominates over other languages and, apart from the few cases where the Jumma people have developed their own schools, the educational system in the CHT is designed to draw the Jumma people into the Islamic culture of Bangladesh.
The main Islamic missionary organization is Al Rabita, funded by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, this non governmental organization has been working since 1980 to convert the Jumma people. It has a main office in Dhaka and offices in Rangamati, Langadu where it also has a hospital, Barkal, Alikadam of the CHT. At Alikadam, in 1990 the Al Rabita missionary center converted 17 Marma people to Islam.
[On 9 May 2012 a minor indigenous Jumma girl named Ms Sujata Chakma (11 years), daughter of late Mr. Jyotish Chandra Chakma and Ms. Mongala Devi Chakma of Ultachari mouza area in Rangamati hill district was killed after she was rape by a Muslim Bengali settler]
Throughout the CHT the mosque construction continues to take place. Loudly amplified calls to prayer frequently punctuates the lives of the Jumma people. The Bangladeshi authorities argue that their religious tolerance can be seen in Buddhist, Hindu and Christian Welfare Trust. One Chakma fellow said that he went to the Central Audit Bureau to seek support from the Welfare Fund and was told: “Why don’t you become a Muslim and we’ll all be brothers”. The most disturbing aspects of religious persecution in the CHT are the destruction of temples, prevention of worship, violence motivated by religious hatred and forcible conversion to Islam.
There have been numerous incidents of forcible conversion in the CHT. Chakma women who marry Bangladeshis whether by choice or abducted by force, have to convert to Islam. The Jumma prisoners who are detained in Chittagong, Rangamati or Khagrachari jails are placed in cells with a majority of Muslims whose task it is to try and convert the Jumma persons. The Jummas who are captured by the Bangladeshi security forces are very often given the options of torture or conversion to Islam as a way to escape the suffering.
[Another minority victim succums to Muslim brutality and persecution.]
In recent years the Jamat-i-Islami (Islamic fundamentalist political party) has been very active in the CHT. It builds mosques, actively promotes Islam and it was responsible for destroying Buddhist and Hindu temples in the CHT.
An account by one of the monks now in Tripura described in detail an incident in 1986 which took place in Panchari where a group of hill people were attacked because they were not Muslims.
“Before this happened, one day 13 of us
went to market. I was not a monk then. The Bangladesh Rifles
(paramilitary force) and settlers caught us and out of 13, nine were
killed and four of us escaped. The reason was that we were not Muslims;
they wanted us to be Muslims to take Islam. It was in the market itself
and some of the people were also caught up from around. Among the people
whom they caught was my wife. They cut her with daos (machette) – some
of the marks on her neck are still there. She is in Karbook (refugee
camp in Tripura). This took place in the market itself on market day,
Wednesday. The others ran away. They also tried to cut me with daos on
the neck. Luckily my shirt collar was thick and I escaped from being
killed. As they killed the others they shouted: ‘Oh Chakmas, will you
not become Muslims? If you refuse we will kill you now’.”
“For many months now soldiers have been
regularly visiting us and slaughtering cows in our shrine…. They always
said that if we did not agree to this (conversion to Islam) they will
come one day and kill us.””On the morning of 1 May they carried out
their threat by escorting a group of two to three hundred settlers, some
of whom were dressed in the uniform of home guards, to our village and
began their depredations by attacking Buddha Vihar (the temple). Most of
us were, however, able to flee but soldiers pounced on Purnananda
Bhikku (one of the monks) and after beating him with rifle butts handed
him over to the Muslims who threw him into the shrine which was by now
on fire. He died. Later when I met more people from my village they said
that two young girls of the village had been raped mercilessly by
troops and Muslims and then killed with bayonets.”
“Some soldiers came to our house and woke
us up and poured cold wate on our heads. I had two daughters. The
soldiers tried to take my daughters, they were 9 and 11 years old. They
hit me on the head with lathi (bamboo stick). My head was bleeding. My
daughters were crying As my head was bleeding heavily, the soldiers gave
me some medicine Then they asked me whether I would become a Muslim. I
said: ‘No, I’d rather die.’ Then they said: Will you be able to stand
naked before us and also ‘If you give us your daughters, we will release
you.’ They beat me then and left.”
“On that day first the settlers and the
army surrounded the temple. I was caught and my hands were tied with
rope as were my legs. Water was poured through my nostrils. I was kicked
with boots and my leg was cut. People came into the temple and caught
all the girls. They took the girls a little way from the temple. I heard
the cries of the girls – maybe they were raped but I did not see it
with my own eyes. After a few days I met one of the girls but as a monk I
have some restrictions and could not ask her what had happened. The
army performed desecration in the temples. They go in with boots on and
throw away food in the temple. Every day before 12 o’clock we offer food
to Lord Buddha. The Muslims say: ‘then why does not stone eat it’? The
army uses guns to break plates. Once I was about to offer food to the
Buddha and the Muslims entered and said ‘let’s see if stone can eat’,
then they said ‘stone can’t eat’ and they took the plate from my hands
and threw it on the floor. They bring animals into the temple and
slaughter them: goats and cows. Buddhist people never kill animals so
you cannot worship in the temple after that has happened. I have
witnessed it. At Pablakhali in 1985, before the attack, about 35-50 army
personnel entered the monastery with 100-150 settlers remaining
outside. They cooked inside the temple and burnt wood on the dirt floor
and brought wood in. They killed the animals outside the temple but
within the boundary of the temple. They did this to crush Buddhism and
establish Islam. There was no other reason for this.”
“I was in Mani Gram Buddhist temple. On 12
June, 1986 we tried to celebrate a function in the temple. All of a
sudden some troops came and said: ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ We replied:
‘We are going to wash our God’. The soldiers said: ‘You cannot wash God
because this is a Muslim state. You cannot worship the Lord Buddha, you
have to abandon this religion and become Muslim.’ We refused to do so.
Then the soldiers caught us and tied our hands and started to pour water
on our heads. I was the only monk there, the others were villagers
numbering around 20. All of us were tied in pairs and the soldiers
starting pouring water and when they were not satisfied by pouring water
they started kicking us with their boots. The water was not just water,
but it was mixed with green chilies. When we were tied up they stood
with bayonets over us so we would not struggle. My skin started burning
and most of us were injured as I was. I had cuts and sores on my legs.
We were tied up in afternoon and they started to burn the house of the
village which we could see. We were tied up from eight in the morning to
four in the afternoon, a total of eight hours. The soldiers untied us.
At about 5 o’clock they set fire to the temple and we went into hiding
in the jungles. The settlers were not with the soldiers when they tied
us up, but were there when the village was burnt. There is a river
called Chengi. After coming to the river we went hiding into the deep
jungle. After four days trekking all through the jungle. I reached the
border of Tripura (India) and Karbook camp. In that lot we were around
450 people. Before 12th June there was no other incident. The only
reason for the attack was religion. If we became Muslim we could stay
safe. I know one Marma who was my friend called Uchmang. He was
threatened that if he did not become a Muslim he would be harmed with
his relatives. He was forcibly converted. He came from a different
village, Mahalchari in Khagrachari District.”
“Religious functions need a permit from
the authorities, for example, the Purnima full moon celebrations and
several Purnima functions numbering about six in a year. We need permits
for other functions too. Many people come to these functions. For a
funeral ceremony no permit is necessary, but seven days later, the
seventh day ritual after cremation needs permission from the
authorities. When someone becomes a monk you need such a permit. To
celebrate functions you have to collect money and so permission is
needed. The permit is for both money collection and the ceremony. The
army officers give the permit. It was always army officers who give it.
There is no cost for the permit. I used to go for the permit and was
never refused but it was a lot of trouble, waiting to meet the officer
etc.”
More:
Destructions of Places of Worship
Statement to UN on Religious Persecution by Chakma Rajguru
Sources:
Life is not ours: the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission
Unlawful Killings in the CHT: Amnesty International, 1986
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