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February 22, 2006
Bangladesh: US Condemns Marginalisation of Non-Muslim Minorities
Earlier, we brought details of how the Bangladeshi authorities were deliberately trying to prevent freedom of speech of ethnic minorities, the so-called Jummah peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Representatives of the Jummah peoples had spoken in May at a forum at the UN in New York, and were being summonsed to appear before the government. Bangladesh is a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which should allow members of ethnic minorities to speak on their plight, without government censure.
The Jummah peoples have been victims of excessive violence and "land-grabs" made by Muslims who moved into the area, as we reported earlier.
Now, on a visit to Bangladesh, US Congressman Joseph Crowley has said that democracy will suffer in Bangladesh if the government does not protect minority rights, according to Bangladesh's Daily Star.
"In the homework of democracy, the duty of the majority is to protect the minorities' rights," he told journalists after a meeting with Ahmadiyya leaders at Bakshibazar in the city.Read more.Joseph F Crowley, co-chair of congressional Bangladeshi Caucus who arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a three-day visit, also held a meeting with the Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP) leaders and Mahanagar Sarbojaneen Puja Committee at the Dhakeswari National Temple.
Earlier, Crowley placed wreath at the Central Shaheed Minar on the occasion of International Mother Language Day.
He appreciated the religious harmony and practice of democracy in Bangladesh, but said the government should take appropriate measures on the allegations of the minority communities in Bangladesh.
On what he learnt about the concerns of the minorities, Crowley said they are sensing threat from the majority within Bangladesh. "I think, probably, it is minority within the majority that makes that."
The minorities are also concerned about their inability to express themselves through publications which is a violation of human rights, he added.
"It is important for the US to maintain the relations with Bangladesh," Crowley said, adding that his country wants to help positively the democracy in Bangladesh to flourish.
Meer Mobashsher Ali, nayeb-e-ameer of National Ahmadiyya Jamaat, while briefing journalists after their meeting with Crowley said the congressman enquired if media reports on the attacks on the Ahmadiyyas are true. "We told him that the media in Bangladesh is quite free and the reports of Ahmadiyya repression is true," he said.
The Ahmadiyya are a sect of peaceful Muslims who are nonetheless persecuted around the Muslim world, and are banned from going to Mecca. In Bangladesh, as we reported earlier, members of the Islami Oikya Jote, one of the four parties in the coalition government, have been deliberately stoking the unrest and violence against these "heretical" Muslims.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at February 22, 2006 11:10 AM
Comments
Hi, i have comment about this blog in general
In my opinion the information posted here shows an irrational bias against Islam, which suggests an obsession with the religion. What would be more impressive would be well-balanced news and articles criticising aspects of Islam, instead of all the highly opinionated pieces. I see this blog as exactly the same in tone and style as the extremist websites of Abu Hamza and Omar Bakri, your rhetoric and biased presentation are ironically the same as the very people you seem to be refuting, to me.
Also, what you misunderstand about the Quran is that it is not enough to read the translation and to accept the passages literally. The quran is in Arabic, and if you want to criticise it, you must have knowlegde of Arabic and the way it is expressed, without that your opinions are just cursory and childish. You also have to have read the commentaries and background before you can make any real comments about it. In your comic pieces you lampoon the Quranic pieces on the abuse of the sabbath, but what is interesting is the total lack of awareness of any background information about the Quran, or the quranic story you were quoting. You don't seem to care about the accuracy of what you are saying, in my opinion. I don't know what you think about that?
Posted by: novid ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.westernresistance.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 22, 2006 4:04 PM
Hello
I personally do not wish to make comments about the Koran, for the reasons given above. It is so easy for people to say "you don't know Arabic, so you know nothing". The Koran, no matter how it is translated, still has enough evidence to show that Islam is not a peaceful religion, in the same vein as Christianity or Buddhism (my own faith).
I do quote hadiths from agreed sources, when appropriate, but we are not a site about religion. We are a site about the extremes of ONE religion, Islam, and how those extremes can cause conflict, and can lead to acts of terrorism.
Occasionally we who write are outraged at the behaviour of Islamists and some Muslim leaders, and our rhetoric gets a bit strong.
But we are not against Muslims, in the way that Omar Bakri Mohammed and Abu Hamza are opposed to ALL infidels.
The aim of this site is to draw together evidence on the march of Islamist extremism into the lives of the West, and its terrible effects upon the lives of innocents, both non-Muslims and also decent Muslims who also become its victims.
When a tragedy occurs, as in the two Haj boat disasters and the Haj deaths, you will NEVER find us gloating about loss of Muslim lives, in the way some Islamists gloat about "infidel" disasters.
When innocent individuals are killed, Muslims or non-Muslims, we have a policy of being sensitive, and unlike Bakri, we never celebrate those who attack or kill Muslims.
We know exactly where we stand on issues, and when a mosque is attacked, we NEVER see this as anything other as a bad event.
We would willingly see Islam and the West unite, but because of some of the genuine personality flaws of your prophet Mohammed, many Muslim extremists see themselves as justified in committing any atrocity against those who do not agree with them.
We are firmly anti-terrorist. Your cited examples are firmly PRO terrorist.
You state that we do not care about the accuracy of our reporting. I can assure you that I personally make many edits and updates to my articles, to ensure that the accuracy of my reports is as exact as I can make, within my abilities, and available resources.
By insisting that I follow a policy of accurate relating of events, with quoteable sources which are for the main from sites whose links do not die after a set period (as per Associated Press sources), I aim to ensure that everything I write can be cross referenced with all my previous writings on a given subject.
As a result, our "search" button is our most invaluable tool in allowing myself, my co-writers and readers to access information which would never be placed together in one archive from a non-commercial blogsite. I assure you, my standards are far higher than you appear to give me credit for.
Please let me know if you think that what I have said is wrong.
Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at February 24, 2006 6:39 PM
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