Religion in Bangladesh Quotes

“Noakhali riots”

“Jogendra Nath Mandal”

“In Uttar Chandgaon, the image in the Kuraisha Chandgaon Durgabari was destroyed.”

“The Jaigopalhaat Kali temple of Purna Lalangar village in Sitakunda was razed to the ground.”

“Wikipedia: Religion in Bangladesh”

“In the Ghazipur Municipal Corporation's Phaukal village, on the night of 26 May, the Lakshmi temple was raided and the image of the goddess destroyed.”

“Also, in the Muhammadpur union of the Chotkhali subdistrict of Noakhali, the Muslims were planning to convert an ancient Kali temple into a commercial complex.”

““As far as East Pakistan is concerned, its decision seems to indicate that all non-Muslims will be driven out from there. It is an Islamic state….non-Muslims cannot live there…””

“On16 April 1979, in the Ramgopal area of Shailakupa subdistrict (of the Jhinaidaha district) the famous statue of Ramgopal in the Ramgopal temple was stolen. The mutilated idol was later found beside the Shailakupa graveyard; its gold and silver ornaments were missing.”

“In Bortia village of Ghior in Manikgunj, it was decided that the grave of Advocate Jillur Ahmed as well as a mosque, would be constructed next to the Sri Sri Kali temple which was more than ahundred years old, a plan that, if implemented, was bound to disturb the prayers of the Hindus.”

“Hindu homes in Gopalgunj, Kotalipara, Maksadpur and other parts of the Gopalgunj district were victims of theft, dacoity, looting, forcible occupation, illegal lawsuits, forgery, rape, and general all round mayhem. Temples in the area were destroyed and the police forces actively helped in the persecution of the Hindus.”

“A 1992 report prepared by B.B. Dutta for the North-Eastern Congr­ess Coordination Com­mittee meeting in Guwahati looked into both types of im­migration and notes: "Between 1971 and 1981, Bangladesh census records show a reduc­tion of 39 lakhs in the minority population. "Between 1981-89, 36 lakh religious minorities were missing from that coun­try.”

“In the same year, on 12 August, in many more Hindu homes, similar atrocities were perpetrated by the police and young Muslim hooligans. Some temples were also destroyed in the process. Ashutosh Roy, Sukumar Roy, Monoranjan Roy, Anjali Roy, Suniti Roy, Bela Biswas were tortured. The marauders said before they left that no temple would be left standing in this country.”

“During my school years in the 1980s, religion was a matter of personal choice. No one batted an eyelid if you chose not to fast during Ramadan. Today, eat in public during the holiday and you may be chided by strangers. Thanks to shows on cable TV, social media and group meetings, Islamists have succeeded to an alarming degree in painting secularism as a threat to Islam.”

“The Chief of the Education Department of Gopalgunj was notorious for enticing Hindu women with the promise of jobs,and when they took the bait, raping them. Two women of the Biswas household in Demakoyir village were raped in this manner. The same person, by threatening to transfer Hindu schoolmagers and teachers, managed to amass a fair amount of money from them in the form of bribes.”

“In early 1964, there were bloody riots once more in East Pakistan between the majority and the minorities. The past six, seven years, the Muslims had been pestering the Adibasis .... a stream of refugees had ensued ... a mad anti-Hindu propaganda egged on the Muslims in East Pakistan, also against the Christians. It was the first time that Christians were systematically chase out from there.”

“In the same year on 27 May, in Baulakandha village of Kaukhali subdistrict in Pirozepur district, about ten or twelve armed people attacked the home of the Haldars. They demolished the house, destroyed the templeand chanted that all Hindus should be killed and all temples should be broken up and converted into mosques. They left with the warning that all Hindus should leave the country immediately.”

“On the night of 8 December, in the Dwimukha village of Kalihati subdistrict in Tangail, a raid was made on an ancient temple. A marble Shiv lingam, the images of Annapurna and Radha-gobinda and a Shaligram (ammonite stone worshipped as Narayan) were all stolen. When the police arrived, they were told that Noor Muhammad Talukdar was responsible for the thefts, but the police made no efforts to recover the stolen goods.”

“The enthusiastic soldiers, who, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, spread the faith of Islam among the timid race of Bengal, made forcible conversions by the sword, and, penetrating the dense forests of the Eastern frontier, planted the crescent in the villages of Sylhet. Tradition still preserves the names of Adam Shahid, Shah Halal Mujarrad, and Karmfarma Sahib, as three of the most successful of these enthusiasts.”

“On the same night, the policemen looted the house of the village schoolmaster, Amulya-babu. On the 4th, the police attacked the house of Kshitish Mondol of Surigati. None of the men of the house were around so they raped Mondol's wife and daughter. In the same village, policemen raided the house of Shyamal Biswas on the 5th. Unable to find Shyamal-babu at his home, they raped his daughter and then made off with all the valuables.”