Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorites in Bangladesh (CAAMB), a human rights organisation organised this conference on January 22 and 23 to discuss the problems related to repression on religious and ethnic minorities and human rights situation in Bangladesh . Leaders of different human rights organisations of Bangladesh , India , United States , United Kingdo,m Canada and France attended the conference. Among them were Prof. Santosh Bhattacharya, former Vice-Chancellor of Kolkata University, Shibnarayan Roy, a noted writer of West Bengal, Prof. Dr. N.C. Bhowmik, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad, Ushatan Talukder, leader of Parbattya Jana Sanghati Parishad, Sanjib Drong, leader of Bangladesh Adibashi Forum, Advocate Subrata Chowdhury and Advocate Rana Dasgupta, Joint secretaries of Oikya Parishad, Praggyalankar Vikshu of Peace Compaign Group Chittagong, Father Joseph Jiban Gomej, leader of Oikya Parishad, Salam Azad, a writer of Bangladesh, Rojalin D. Costa of Hotline Bangladesh, Advocate Rabindra Chandra Ghosh of Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM), Sitangshu Guha, international co-ordinator of Oikya Parishad, residing in USA, Bimol Pramanik, Director of Center for Research in Indo-Bangladesh Relations, Prof. Amalendu Dey, former President of Asiatic Society, Amitabha Chowdhury, a noted Journalist of west Bengal, Writer Esha Dey, Poet Amalesh Sen, Prof. Tathagata Roy, Prof. Pulak Ranjan Dhar and writer Bibhuti Bhushan Nandy of West Bengal, Prof. Sabyasachi Ghosh Dastidar and Thomas Dulu Roy of USA, Debabrata Chowdhury of UK, Bikash Barua of France and Amar Chakraborty of Canada. Tashlima Narsin, a noted writer of Bangladesh attended the conference and recited poems. Franchis Gratiyerer, a South-Asian Correspondent of a French newspaper spoke on the occasion.
The speakers said, 'religious and ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh is going on. The minorites are being forced to leave the country. In the last 50 years the percentage of minorities has come down to 10 from 30. This type of brutal cleansing is unparallel in the history of the universe.' The speakers presented detail picture of communal repression in three decades in Bangladesh at the two-day conference. They said 'This situation is injurious to both the countries. Catastraphe is inevitable if we do not face the fundamentalists.'
`The religious and ethnic minorities in Bangladesh are the victim of extreme fundamentalism. The rise of fundamentalism is not only for the democratic process of Bangladesh , but also dangerous for secular democratic India , the speakers added.
Ushatan Talukder described the situation prevailing in Chittagong Hill tract area and said, 'Islamisation is going on in the hill tract area. The government is working against the peace accord. So they are not implementing the accord.'
The speakers accused that 'thirty one extreme Islami organisations are working in Bangladesh . They are trying to establish a large Islami state combining some states of India .' The two-day conference demanded re-establishment of secular democratic constition, solution of enemy (vested) property problem, immediate arrest the repression on religious and ethnic minorites and communal discrimination in every sphere of life, end of attack on progressive forces and establishment of right of ethnic minorities implementing Chittagong hilltract peace accord. The conference urged the civil societies of the world to come forward to solve these problems.