Muslims outraged at the treatment of Bangladeshi Hindu Citizens.
http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2007/06/bangladeshi-hindus-harassed.html
Dallas, Texas : June 5, 2007.
The World Muslim Congress expresses outrage at the Municipal Council of Chakuli, in Mirpur, Bangladesh for evicting families from their ancestral Homes.
These homes belong to Hindu families of Bangladesh, and we appeal to the Government and the Municipal authorities of this Muslim Majority nation to heed the call of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who had set the model for treating people of other faiths and minorities with dignity and honor. In the treaty of Medina, prophet had assured every resident of the City full freedom to practice and live their life as they knew. A nations character is defined by the way it treats its people who believe and practice differently.
We appeal to the Government of Bangladesh and the United States Congress to take immediate action to halt the demolition of the homes, and urge people of conscience to call their Congressman, Senators and other representative to make the call to Embassy of Bangladesh.
To get information about your representatives, log onto:http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home
Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC
3510, International Drive NW
Washington, DC 20008, USA
Telephone : (202) – 244 – 0183
Fax :(202) – 244 – 7830/2771
Email : [email protected]
Mike Ghouse, President
World Muslim Congress
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10,000 fear eviction
The Daily Star, June 6, 2006
http://thedailystar.net/2007/06/06/d70606011811.htm
10,000 fear eviction
Special Correspondent
Over 10,000 Hindus in one of the largest Hindu enclaves in the city at
Chakuli, in Mirpur-12 are living in gnawing fear of losing their
ancestral homesteads and an age-old temple as the Cantonment Board
authorities put a claim on the land.
Officials with bulldozers yesterday reached the place to demolish the
village but called off the operation due to rain, locals said.
Residents there said they could produce all documents to prove that
they have inherited the land from their ancestors.
“We have lived here for generations, if there is a proper land
acquisition by the government we shall definitely respect that
decision, but what is happening here today [Tuesday] does not have any
legal basis whatsoever,” said Narayan Sarkar, a carpenter by
profession, living on a small piece of land he said he inherited from
his forefathers.
The crowd of worried men and women grew to over 150 as this
correspondent talked to them. “When our parents learnt about the first
acquisition back in the sixties, they went to the court and won the
case against the government,” said a visibly shaken Sudhir Chandra
Sarkar, president of the Durga temple committee and a community
leader, showing copies of relevant documents.
The entire process of acquiring the area for extending Dhaka
Cantonment was started again in 1973 under “confidentiality”,
residents said. The community of Chakuli was kept completely in the
dark as the Ministry of Land allocated twenty acres of land to the
Ministry of Defence in 1992. The Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) Office in
Dhaka, based on the 1992 allocation, prepared a handover note and
handed over the land to the cantonment board.
“There was no notice, no communication whatsoever from the DC office,
we only learnt about the handover years later in 2000 when cantonment
personnel put a claim on our homes,” said Sarkar.
“At present, there is an injunction from the High Court and a status
quo order on our village, but the army does not want to look at
anything,” said a local resident.
The Ministry of Land and the DC office’s handling of the matter, as it
shows on paper, has been so amateurish that the local people termed it
“a story of gross corruption”. None of the gazettes by the ministry
specifically points out any plot number or size of the acquisition of
the land, according to documents obtained by The Daily Star.
“Our suffering and feeling of uncertainty today [Tuesday] is the
result of gross corruption at the Ministry of Land and the DC office,
we want to know where the money for the land acquisition went,” said
Narayan Sarkar.