Reply tosender . Replyto group . Reply via Web Post . All Messages (1) . Top^ 5 Fw: [StephenKnappNewsList]THEDISAPPEARANCE OF HINDUISM IN BANGLADE Mon Sep23, 20137:4 -----Subject: [StephenKnappNewsList]THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HINDUISM IN BANGLADESH Namaste, Here is anexampleof the many attacks onHinduism, much of whichpeople remain unaware.But here we findDr. Richard Benkin, whoI met a few years agoat a conference, whois extremely dedicatedto tryand protect the few remaining Hindus inBangladesh, andinexposingtheir plight. It is alsoanexample of how the Vedic tradition is underthreat of beingrun out of the country. Hereinhe shows clearly the difficulties theVedic peoplehave andwhat must be done, or theywill indeed disappearcompletelyfrom this region indue time. This is alsonot unlike someof thesame challenges that are increasinginIndia. Igreatly admire Dr. RichardBenkin, surprisingly of Jewishdescent, forhis determination inthis endeavorandpraythat Godgives him the strength tocontinue. HariOM, Stephen Knapp Time is RunningOut forBangladesh’s Hindus—andfor us ________________________________ Source:News Bharati English | 9/18/2013 3:01:01 PM Time is RunningOut forBangladesh’s Hindus—andfor us Dr. Richard L.Benkin If yousuddenlyfound yourself inGermany inthe early 1930s, knew what was going to happenin a few short years, andhada chance toprevent it, would you? Even if you were not certain that you couldstopit, wouldyouat least try? Adolf Hitlerand his Nazis are gone, but thequestions arejust as important today. Bangladesh’s Hindu populationis dying. This is a fact; not opinion; not Islamaphobia; and sayingit does not make anyone “communal.” AccordingtoPakistan’s1951census, Hindus were just under a third of East Pakistan’s population.WhenEast Pakistan became Bangladesh in1971, they were less than a fifth;thirty yearslater, less than one in ten; andan estimated one in 15today.If you stillare having trouble wondering where this is going, take a look at Pakistanwhere Hindus are downtoone percent orKashmirwhere they are almost gone.Take a look at the future of Bangladesh’sHindus if we do not act. According to ProfessorSachi Dastidarof the State University of New York, over49 million Hindus are missing inBangladesh. Aretheir lives orthe millions still living there worth anyless thanthe hundreds gassedby Syrian President Bashir Assad, who are now the reasonfortalk of a military strike; orthe thousands of Bosnian Muslims whose plight sent NATO troops towar? No? Well, we seem to act as if they are. They number twice that of allIsraelis andPalestinians put together. Compare the numberof UN resolutions or majormedia articles and editorials about them with the numberthat concern BangladeshiHindus.That wouldbe too many tocount versus zero. What has your government of India done togive aidto the victims?What has my USA government done? What has anygovernment done?Nothing. What have we heardfrom CNN, Reuters, theBBC, New YorkTimes, Times of India, Times of London, the left-wingmedia, the right-wingmedia, or the other “important” media andjournalists?Except for a day ortwoof headlines duringnationwide Islamist attacks onHindus that were toolarge to ignore—again, nothing. What about the “great” humanrights outfitsthat obsess onfalsely demonizing democracies like Israeland leaders like Narendra Modi, but turn away in silence at theatrocities Bangladesh’s Hindus face daily?Amnesty International‘s human rights reports andarticles leave us wondering if Bangladesh evenhas a significant Hindupopulation. Its 2013 report onBangladesh, forinstance, has sections on“Indigenous Peoples’ Rights”and “Workers’ Rights,” but nothing about the persecution of Hindus. Thesectionlabeled “CommunalViolence”notes only one incident for the year, statingthat “20Buddhist temples and monasteries [and]one Hindu temple” were set ablaze. That’s it!It is the only mention of the word, Hindu, in the entire report.The last time HumanRights Watchgave Bangladesh’s Hinduseven passingmentionwas 2006. Oxfam never has. These same experts told us that the AwamiLeague’s 2008 victory would bring a new Bangladeshwhere all citizens willlive in peace and prosperity. Rubbish! AwamiLeague no better In January2009, a consortium of Hindugroups there askedme toadvise them onwhat to donext. “The last thing you shoulddo,” I said, “isto goback tosleep.” I urgedthem toact precipitously andpush the AwamiLeague tolive up toits posturingas a “pro-minority” party, whichis what wonit the vast majorityof Hindu votes.If you don’t, I said, “we willsee that theirwords are nothing more thanwords.” Unfortunately, most of the Hinduleaders wantedtoplace their trust inthe new government rather thaninthemselves:a bad decisionthat has provendeadly. * During the AwamiLeague’s first year inoffice, majoranti-Hindu incidents occurredat the rate of almost one per week. * The numberand intensityof anti-Hinduatrocities did not drop the next year and includedone periodwithanti-Hindu actions every three days. * The HinduAmericanFoundation, Bangladesh Minority Watch, and others document a similarlevel of atrocities inthe thirdyear, 2011. * As 2012 began, there were at least 1.25similar incidents a week in thefirst quarter; as it ended, one a week duringthe fourth. In between, there was a nine day periodin May that saw anabduction, a murderin broaddaylight, andtwogangrapes, one of a childon herwayto a Hindufestival: fourhorrific crimes innine days andno action against known perpetrators. Human rights activist Rabindra Ghosh, my ownassociates, andI investigatedand confirmed these incidents.Theywere reportedin localmedia, yet majormedia ignoredthem. Eachincident met allof the followingcriteria: * They occurred underAwami League rule. * They were confirmedby at least twoindependent sources. * They were anti-Hindu andnot just random. * The government didnot prosecute the crimes orhelp retrieve victims. * They were major crimes: murder, rape, child abduction, forced conversion, physical attacks, landgrabs, religious desecration, and so forth. In 2009, a three-dayattack ona poorHinducommunity occurredright behinda Dhaka police station.In2012, angry Muslims stormeda tiny Hindu village in a remote part of DinajpurinnorthernBangladesh, destroyinghomes andfarms, looting possessions, andabusing women. The government didnot punish criminals in either, yet participatedin cover-ups andthreatenedhumanrights activists investigating the incidents. I went to bothplaces tosee for myself, met with victims, andconfirmedboth the attacksandgovernment complicity. Anti-Hinduism enshrined inBangladeshi Law OnApril 30, 2009, Sheikh Hasina tolda visitingFrench military commanderthat hergovernment would repeal Bangladesh’s “anti-minority laws,” makingherperhaps the first sitting Prime Minister in historyto admit that hercountry has anti-minority laws.She has not kept her promise andevenpassedoneasy opportunities to be the sort of Prime Minister we were toldshe wouldbe. Toward the end of the military’s rule, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court directed the government toexplainwhy the VestedProperty Act—that law which empowers the Bangladeshi government toseize minority land anddistribute it toits cronies—shouldnot be declared null andvoid. One of the rulinggenerals told me that respondingwouldexceed its mandate; and, besides, there wouldbe a new, elected government soon that couldrespond. It left that new government withthe ability toneutralize that terriblyracist law withthe Court takingthe political fall;but the AwamiLeague refused totake advantage of it. In 2011, the Supreme Court declaredseveralconstitutional amendments problematicand directedthe AwamiLeague controlled Parliament topropose new ones.It did—for everyamendment but one: the Eighth, whichmade Islam Bangladesh’s official religion, providedadvantages and fundingfor Islamic institutions, disabilities andduress forotherfaiths. Things are not improving, and theywillnot improvewithout outside intervention. In May 2012, I met withBangladesh’s US ambassador inWashington for anhonest dialogue about movingforward. He categorically deniedthat Hindus face any difficulties inBangladeshno matterwhat facts I produced, and insisted that his government didnot have totake anyaction. WhenI remindedhim that demographers have saidthat the declineof his country’s Hindupopulationis so severe that it cannot be attributedtobirthand deathrates plus voluntary emigration, he attributedthe decline to thefact that “they [Bangladeshi Hindus] “cannot findsuitable matches for their children, sothey goto India where there are more Hindus." With norepercussions fortheirethnic cleansing of Hindus, Bangladeshis donot evenfindit necessary tobe credible intheirdenials. In February2013, Ihadthe same sort of confrontationwithBangladesh’s Home Minister inDhaka. He avoidedthe ambassador’s ridiculous explanation, instead denying his country’s guilt andequating the murderof Hindus withdeclining unionmembershipinthe UnitedStates. As I continuedto press the matter, he said that if anythingwas happening, he wouldpersonally address it. He just neededme tosendhim the evidence, to whichI responded:“It is rather oddthat you, Bangladesh’s HomeMinister sittingin Dhaka, wouldbe dependent onsome man from Chicago forevidence of human rights abuses inyourown country. If that is the case, it suggests evenmore serious problems.” That night, I met the family of a 23-yearoldHinduwomanwho was abductedafter they refuseddemands by thugs andlocal officials toabandon theirland tothem.I sent the extensivedocumentation andtestimonyto theHome Minister.Todate, he has not evenresponded, andthe young woman remains missing. ________________________________ Dr. Richard L.Benkinis an Americanhuman rights activist fightingto defendHindus inBangladesh. His book, A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing: the Murder of Bangladesh’s Hindus, is about toenterits second
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 18:03:03 +0000
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