Chittagong, Bangladesh, February 21, 2011
A
village was burned down and dozens of indigenous have
been injured and driven from Ragipara in the mountain
district of Rangamati, Diocese of Chittagong. The
indigenous people who have suffered violence,
perpetrated by Muslim settlers, are Buddhist, Hindu and
Christian ethnic minorities. This is the news sent to
Fides from the Commission for Justice and Peace of the
local Church. On 17 February more than 300 Muslim
settlers, who intend to take possession of new lands
for agriculture, organised a punitive expedition
against the village inhabited by indigenous people. The
settlers were backed by local police who legitimised
the violence. Other cases like this (of attacks on
tribal members and private land) have been recorded in
recent days in the area of Gulishakhali. The Muslims
settlers committed this under the pretext of the death
of their comrade, Ali Saber, found dead in the
Ragiparam, and staged a violent reaction, trampling on
the rights of minorities.
“They set fire to our homes and our small
shops,” an eyewitness told Fides. For some time
Muslim settlers have been seeking to force out the local
non-Muslim ethnic groups, to acquire new agricultural
land. In many cases they have succeeded, because nobody,
not even the civil authorities, respects and guarantees
the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
Lawyer, King Devasish Roy, also a tribal member, wrote an
open letter to the civil authorities and to the National
Commission for Human Rights for Bangladesh, reporting the
incident and noting “the complicity of the
police.” The letter called for an investigation into
the incident in Ragipara including the identification and
punishment of the guilty, urging the Government to protect
and safeguard the rights of citizens, members of ethnic or
religious minorities.
Agenzia Fides
