Mohit Ray
CAAMB, Kolkata

Greatest ethnic cleansing and pogrom on the recent history of mankind is going on for last more than 50 years in today's so-called Bangladesh/ East Pakistan. Worse is that the victims of this atrocities who have got shelter in India have immediately forgotten their past. It is tragic story of Islamic barbarism on one side and worst betrayal of the victims own folks. To stop the pogrom both has to be exposed and opposed.

Worst Ethnic Cleansing in Modern History
So-called liberals, pseudo-secularists, leftists, Bengali nationalists and such people have spread a myth for last five decades that Bengali Muslims are peaceful and the riots in East Bengal/East Pakistan are handiworks of Punjabi/Bihari Muslims. It's a lie. From the days of Noakhali riot in 1946 when first Hindus started to leave East Bengal, the Bengali Muslims, like their brothers everywhere in the world have carried out ethnic cleansing against their infidel neighbours. While there has been no riot, except a short one in 1964, for last 50 years in West Bengal and no Muslim refugee has gone to East Pakistan/Bangladesh, atrocities on Hindus in East Pakistan/ Bangladesh never stopped. While the Hindus were fleeing from Pakistan/Bangladesh and coming to West Bengal throughout last five decades, simplest arithmetic expects that proportion of the Hindus would continue to rise in West Bengal. No it is happening just opposite. Proportion of Muslims in West Bengal is increasing fast, too fast in last two decades. It is a double threat while Hindus are being totally made extinct in Bangladesh, Muslims are also increasing their proportion in West Bengal.

East Bengali Refugees : Worst Betrayers
Even after this horrible ethnic cleansing, no one in West Bengal is bothered. And strangely least bothered are the refugees themselves who have fled to escape the Islamic rule. This trend of betraying their own people and having little self-respect had been always a hallmark of Bengali Hindus. Communist Party of India was one of the major supporters of Muslim league and actively supported creation of Pakistan. But in a tragic turn of history Hindu communists were the first to run away from East Pakistan. Communist Party with its training of secret organisation and ideological fundamentalism is comparable to Islamic groups only. Communist workers (and also the most dependent ally of Islamic fundamentalism in India from its inception) infiltrated refugee organisations and worked hard to hide the barbaric activities of Muslims. So the central refugee organisation UCRC had one of their demands from 1950 that all Muslims displaced in West Bengal should be rehabilitated but never demanded the same that they should also be rehabilitated in East Pakistan. Their procession shouted against American imperialism and about Korean war but never against Pakistan. East Bengali refugees lost self respect from then.

West Bengal could come into existence for the relentless struggle by Shri Shyamaprasad Mukherjee. Communists wanted to make West Bengal a part of Pakistan also. Communist Ashok Mitra, former finance minister in Jyoti Basu's cabinet proudly narrated in his memoirs that how they heckled Shyamaprasad baby in Dhaka in 1946. He also described his proud role as a Pakistani student leader visiting India for a youth conference in 1948. However within months he had to run away from Pakistan. And his illustrious teacher parents also had to all run away and take shelter in Shyamaprasad's Bengal. And Ashok Mitras, all the refugee communists, would abuse Shayamaprasad till today at every opportunity. Nehru-Liaquat Pact of 1950 made the communal situation worse. Due to that pact most of the Muslim refugees from East Pakistan came back to India but Hindus did not return. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee resigned from central cabinet to protest this act. And in return the UCRC leaders would condemn Shyamaprasad later as he demanded to put economic sanction on Pakistan.

Scheduled cast refugees did the same. Scheduled caste organisations here now aligning with Muslim organisations in the name of protest against caste Hindu oppression. Their protest against this oppression mostly may be genuine however they should have cautioned their people that yet this is far better than Islamic barbarism. Most important leader of the Scheduled Caste people of Bengal was Late Jogen Mandal who always had a cordial relation with Muslim League. After partition Jogen Mandal became Minister for Law and Labour, Government of Pakistan. However even being a minister himself, he had to run away from East Pakistan in 1950. He sent his resignation from India. He wrote in his resignation letter on 8 October 1950 - "Now this being in brief the overall picture of Pakistan so far as the Hindus are concerned, I shall not be unjustified in stating that Hindus of Pakistan have to all intents and purposes been rendered " Stateless " in their own houses. They have no other fault than that they profess Hindu religion….After anxious and prolonged struggle I have come to the conclusion that Pakistan is no place for Hindus to live in and that their future is darkened by the ominous shadow of conversion or liquidation. The bulk of the upper class Hindus and politically conscious scheduled castes have left East Bengal. Those Hindus who will continue to stay accursed promise and for that matter in Pakistan will, I am afraid, by gradual stages and in a planned manner be either converted to Islam or completely exterminated."

What Shri Jogen Mandal said 50 years back, is continuing for next another 50 years. Hindu exodus continued. Killing, raping, looting, destroying temples continued by the Bengali Muslims. Only the Hindus of East Bengal could have been helped by the refugees settled in India. But all groups of East Bengali refugees betrayed their own people who stayed back in their motherland. Communist party used theses helpless poor uprooted people to capture state power in West Bengal. Second generation of the refugees forgot totally about their roots. Though in film, literature, politics, academics - everywhere East Bengali refugees established themselves as leaders, yet no body dared to talk about the ongoing pogrom.

What is going in Bangladesh?
The establishment of Bangladesh on the ruins of East Pakistan did not change the matter for the Hindus. It is not mentioned at all that Bangladesh was born out of sacrifice of Bengali Hindus. About 20 lakhs Hindus were killed in 1971 by the Pakistani Army, thousands of women raped. 1 crore Hindus had to leave their homes and take shelter in India. Only the intervention by India made Bangladesh being a reality. Does Bangladesh feel any obligation for that? No. During 1971 genocide, Ramna Kalibari, the 500 year old temple was destroyed. After liberation, it would have been duty of the new government to help rebuild the old temple, a heritage for all. But on contrary, the temple land was confiscated and all traces of the temple complex were wiped out. (Very recently, the land has been again given back to the temple authority).
Within a few years of the formation of Bangladesh, the illusion of a civillised Bangladesh vanished. True to the tradition of Islam, Hindus were again tortured and oppressed continuously. The exodus started again. No Hindu father of young girls can sleep peacefully in Bangladesh.

Vested Property Act: Grabbing 10 lakh Hindu homes and land worth Rs.60,000 Crore.
The Vested Property Act first appeared in 1965, during Indo-Pak War. It was at that time called the "Enemy Property Act." The law was directed primarily against the property of the Hindus who had temporarily fled to India in fear of their lives. The state was enabled to take their property into custody, with the rationale that a Hindu who went to India was an enemy. After the Bangladesh War of Independence (1971) it was expected that the law would be repealed. However, all that happened was that the act was renamed the Vested Property Act. Hence, on paper, according to this law, India is actually still an enemy of Bangladesh. Even worse, whereas previously the state was only the custodian of the confiscated property, an amendment was passed in 1976, which made the state the outright owner of the property, which it could redistribute. This was a cruel and callous move by the state. As a result of it millions of Bangladeshi Hindus who had fled to India from the Pakistani's Army's holocaust in which in the prelude to the 1971 war, could no longer return and reclaim their ancestral homes in the newly found state of Bangladesh. More so, the new amendment to the law encouraged a new long and slow repression of Hindus, particularly at the behest of hardliner Islamic clerics who wanted an infidel free Bangladesh and greedy politicians, who could redistribute confiscated property amongst themselves. A survey showed that the people enjoying Hindu lands consist of 44% Awami League supporters. Due to this, the property vested between 1976 and 1991 was far greater than previously, when Bangladesh was East Pakistan.
Much of the details of the long and painful story of how this law has been used against religious minorities in Bangladesh would not have been chronicled had it not been for a team of scholars led by a Professor of Economics at Dhaka University, Dr Abdul Barkat. It was estimated in the year 2000, that the land taken from Hindus in this manner totalled to 2.1 million acres, which would at current prices be worth $22,873 million (USA), accounting for some 40% of Hindu households of the country.

Constitution changed to make Bangladesh a Islamic State:
By successive amendments in constitution, Bangladesh has been brought close to becoming a fundamentalist Islamic state. Constitution of 1972 was changed in 1977, 1979 and 1998 to make the state officially a Islamic one in following manner
a) In the beginning of Constitution, above the Preamble, "BISMILLAH-AR-RAHAMAN-AR-RAHIM" (In the name of Allah, the Beneficial, the Merciful" was introduced.
b) "Absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah shall be the basis of all actions" was introduced as the "Fundamental Principles of the State Policy" in Article 8.
c) Article 12 titled "Secularism and Freedom of Religion" was omitted from Constitution.
d) "The State shall endeavour to consolidate, preserve and strengthen fraternal relations among Muslim countries based on Islamic solidarity" was introduced in Article 25.

So now Bangladesh is a country whose Constitution says that Absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah shall be the basis of all actions. So is it not a fundamentalist State? But have you ever heard that secular BBC reported Bangladesh as an Islamic state. The task of international liberalism has become to accept the Islamic Fundamentalism lying down.

Major Pogroms in 1990, 1992 and 2001
Killing Hindus, raping Hindu women, occupying Hindu properties are daily affair in Bangladesh. No riot ever took place in Bangladesh because Bengali Hindus never know to strike back. It is a one-way killing always. Forget about Bangladesh, in Kolkata, the citadel of secularism, after destruction of Babri Structure 1000 kilometer away, the Kolkata Muslims looted, burnt local Hindu temples, properties and killed Hindus. Overwhelming Hindu majority remains in fear of the don Rashid Khan who is helped by Communist party and supplied with women by Hindu Communist women leader. So there is no question that Hindus in Bangladesh can ever think of retaliation.

Besides these regular repressions some major pogroms took place. In 1990, when Babri structure at Ayodhya was attacked, not destroyed, attack came upon the Hindus. In fact before that during 1989, on the pretext of Babri agitation in India, 1500 temples and Hindu houses were destroyed in Chittagong area. This never came in the news with the excuse that this would harm the communal harmony. A detailed report was prepared by Rosaline Costa of Commission for Justice and Peace in Bangladesh. In Chittagong famous Kaibalyadham Temple was attacked, damaged and hundreds of Hindu houses were set on fire. 400 years old Dhakeswari Mandir in Dhaka was ransacked, looted. The Shakhari bazaar, the Hindu commercial area in Dhaka was looted. Famous Jaykali Temple (the locality in Dhaka is known as Jaykali for this temple) was ransacked and destroyed. In Dhaka Rayerbazar Kali temple, Dhaka Brahmmo Samaj, Madhya Goriya Math al were attacked, ransacked. Hindreds of Hindu shops were burnt. Kolkata intellectuals were as usual silent. Even the Hindu organisations in Kolkata like Ramkrishna Mission, Ram Thakur Trust etc. whose temples have been destroyed never raised any voice.

Remember that after the massive destruction of Hindu temples and properties in 1990, not a single Muslim person was attacked in West Bengal. But after the destruction of Babri structure in December 1992, 1500 kilometers away from Dhaka, in another country, Muslims in Bangladesh went on rampage. A repeat of chains of destruction was carried out. A report by Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council assessed such: About 28000 houses, 3600 places of worship and 2500 commercial establishments of the Hindus were destroyed. 13 people were killed, 1925 were injured and 2600 women were raped. Worst affected was Bhola district. The Hindu population in 1991 census of this district was 96005. Half of these people have been attacked and major raping was done in this area. About 25-30000 people have left the area after that. A report by well known film director Shahriar Kabir had details of these incidents.

IN 1993 HINDUS OF BANGLADESH DID NOT OBSERVE DURGA PUJA TO PROTEST THE SITUATION THERE. BUT NOT A SINGLE PUJA COMMITTEE IN WEST BENGAL, INCLUDING ALL THE REFUGEE COLONY PUJA COMMITTEES, EXPRESSED ANY SOLIDARITY WITH THEIR OWN RELATIVES IN BANGLADESH. HISTORY OF MANKIND WOULD RECORD EAST BENGALI REFUGEES AS WORST BETRAYERS OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

Most recent pogrom was organised after 2001 election in Bangladesh. : BNP-Jamaat-E-Islami led four party coalition own absolute majority in election. Begum Zia became Prime Minister for the second time. And Islamic hardliners now wanted to teach lessons to Hindus for their traditional support to Awami league. Another pogrom was planned. The old action of looting and raping continued for months and still going on. One report by International Federation of Bangladeshi Hindus & Friends alleged that since October 2001, over 100 people died, over 400,000 took refuge to India, more then 200,000 homes and businesses were looted or burnt. After a long time thousands of Bengali Hindus crossed the border for safety. These displaced persons also held a big rally in Kolkata which was attended by Shariar Kabir, the well-known writer of Bangladesh. But no so-called human rights organisation in Kolkata who are so vocal about any torture in any part of the world, uttered a single word to protest this pogrom. The human rights organisations in India have become another wing of Islamic fundamentalism like its leftists counterparts. Till from that time for last two years attack against Hindus are continuing.

Attack on Buddhists Chakmas in Chittagong Hill Tract is going on for long time. Grabbing the hill people's land has been a major target for the Bengali Muslims and also converting them. There have been a number of mass massacres also. Only difference is that the hill people has an armed wing called Shanti Bahini which retaliates from time to time. However that does not change the ground reality as Chittagong Hill Tract is getting islamised continuously.

Infiltration: West Bengal is also threatened
Massive infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims has already affected demography of West Bengal. A number of intelligence reports, government announcement have voiced the concern. But communists in West Bengal are welcoming infiltration to increase their vote bank. Bangladeshis are now a nuisance in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities. But secular parties are providing the safety for them. East Bengali Hindu refugees who were kicked out by the Muslims are also silent. The number of infiltrators in West Bengal can be anything between 60 lakhs to one crore. They are ruining economy of the state and are new forces of Islamic fundamentalism. Parts of Twenty four Parganas, Nadia, Maldah and Murshibad are now as good as Bangladesh. Hindus are selling their properties and moving to safer areas. Unless these infiltrators are all kicked out, West Bengal has no future. A new mass movement to drive out these people is now required.

Support the Campaign against atrocities on minorities in Bangladesh:
It is now a historic duty of all Bengalis in West Bengal to support Campaign against atrocities on minorities in Bangladesh. Only a strong support from West Bengal can stop the atrocities across the border. The support should not be only meek appeal, the voice from West Bengal should warn Bangladeshi oppressors that the situation would not be allowed to continue. We should demand
1) Stop all violence against minorities in Bangladesh.
2) Government of India should think of economic sanction against Bangladesh if violence continues.
3) Bangladesh should pay Rs. 60000 crores compensation for confiscation of Hindu properties.
4) Muslims of West Bengal should voice their opposition to the atrocities in Bangladesh.
5) West Bengal should be made free of Bangladeshi infiltration.
6) All refugee colonies should observe one specific day as "East Bengal Day" to protest the atrocities and to demand compensation for 50 years of looting.
7) Raise the issue in all international for a to create pressure from international community.

** Mohit Ray [Ph.D. (Engineering)] is a leading human rights organizer based in Kolkata, India and is a convenor of CAAMB (Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorities in Bangladesh)

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