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WORLD  Religious "Cleansing" Of Bangladesh VNN BANGLADESH, Sep 24 (VNN) — Open letter and petition to The Prime Minister of India: To:ĘThe Prime Minister of India September 14, 2002 The Honorable Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Prime Minister of India New Delhi, India. Re: The on-going government -sponsored Ethnic and Religious "Cleansing" of Bangladesh. Honorable Prime Minister: We, the Bangladeshi-American Hindus, are writing again to seek your government's assistance to stop the government-sponsored Hindu cleansing campaign in Bangladesh that is being conducted by the armed ruling "Islamic hardliners" (The Guardian, October 2, 2001), led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The situation has worsened since you had urged Khaled Zia to stop this carnage at the SAARC meeting, and the dwindling Hindus of Bangladesh (34% in 1941, 20% in 1971 but 9% today) can't survive without further Indian intervention. Prime Minister Kaleda Zia's BNP and its Islamic extremist partners are working decisively on a dual goal: (i) cleansing Bangladesh of its Hindu population and declaring it a "pure" Islamic state utilizing their absolute majority in the parliament. Typically, after looting their property, desecrating/razing/burning temples and homes and gang-raping women from the age of seven to seventy, and in one instance raping 200 women in one night at one spot --, the armed cadres of the ruling parties extort "infidel security tax" from them and leave such ultimatum as: Either you pay jijiya or convert to Islam, failing which you will be driven out of the country (please refer, for example, to the incident of Daspara in Mireshwarai in Chittagong, The Daily Janakantha, Dhaka: November 8, 2001). Unable to pay the exorbitant sums of jijya, and after helplessly watching the women of their community raped, thousands of Hindus have had left for Indian refugee camps. According to published reports, about four million (The Daily Janakantha, Dhaka: November 4, 2001) Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians have been affected by the on-going pogrom. We are seeking a permanent solution to this problem. The international community actively is seeking a solution to the plight of the Palestinians, aid and hope has come to the East Timorese, and we believe the 12 million Hindus of Bangladesh deserve a just solution to our problem. Our problem remains largely ignored by the rest of the world, who seem to care little about the non-European populations, and hence we turn to you for assistance again and again. It is also in the interest of India to reverse the course Bangladesh has adopted - Islamization by cleansing the country of its ethnic and religious population (specially Hindu)--, form this country, and exporting Islamic fundamentalist terrorist and also Muslim population is increasing in a alarming rate to bordering Indian states, may pose a much more dangerous a threat to India than does Pakistan. Making polite requests would not work with the ruling "Islamic hardliners" of Bangladesh. You need to offer a real solution. Flouting the requests made by the European Union (EU), respected members of the US Congress like Benjamin Gilman, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the progressive Muslim intellectuals of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has encouraged her armed cadres to conduct the atrocities with complete impunity. In closing, we would like to stress that if you decide to exercise your power to rescue the Hindus under siege in Bangladesh, time is of the essence. By acting now to save us and to create a more stable and successful region. With deep gratitude for your anticipated attention and help. Sincerely, Dr. Jiten Roy President Bidyut Sarker Secretary Sincerely, The Undersigned Read the full petition and/or sign: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/bngla101/ Contact VNN about this story  Send this story to a friend
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