Washington, D.C. (March 20, 2013) -- Upon receiving continued reports of widespread anti-Hindu violence, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) called upon the U.S. State Department and international community to urgently address the escalating crisis in Bangladesh. According to local Hindu community leaders, over 50 temples and 1,500 Hindu homes have been either damaged or destroyed by Muslim mobs since late January. The latest violence began when the first of three Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) leaders was convicted for committing war crimes during the country's 1971 War of Independence from Pakistan. JeI is widely believed to have instigated the current spate of violence and a local Jamaat official, Alamgir Kabir Chowdhury, was arrested last Thursday for inciting attacks on Hindus in the southern district of Chittagong.
"Despite the recent arrest of Chowdhury, Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir activists continue to attack the Hindu community in Bangladesh with impunity," said Samir Kalra, Esq., HAF's Director and Senior Human Rights Fellow. "The government's failure to adequately protect religious minorities from ongoing attacks or rehabilitate those already victimized by the violence is unacceptable."
Media accounts indicated that several Buddhist villages and temples had also been targeted by religious extremists. JeI supporters reportedly set off bombs and torched dozens of vehicles in at least four neighborhoods in the capital city of Dhaka, allegedly aimed at causing panic amongst ordinary Bangladeshi citizens.
"These latest attacks are not unique, but rather part of a larger historical pattern of violence against religious minorities and secular Bangladeshis by Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliates," said Jay Kansara, HAF's Washington, D.C. based Associate Director. "From 1971 to the present, JeI leaders have systematically orchestrated and engaged in attacks on non-Muslims and liberal Bengalis in their quest to create a theocratic Islamic state in Bangladesh."
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