500 Muslims mob pelt stones, desecrate temples, attack Hindu shops in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

24 hurt in Bengal clashes, RAF called out
September 09, 2010 8:10:56 AM

PNS | Kolkata

Rapid Action Force was called out as members of two communities clashed in the Basirhat sub-division of North 24 Parganas, about 150 km from Kolkata, leaving at least 24 persons, including the officer-in-charge of a police station, injured.

Reportedly, clashes started around 11 pm on Monday and continued intermittently till Tuesday morning when members of one community started digging the pathway leading to a Durga temple at Chattal Pally village in Deganga police station, sources said.

“When repeated requests to stop the digging failed, we called the police,” said one of the victims, adding that the clashes started only when the police intervened.

Some people reportedly led by local ruffians — Maqbur Rehman and Mintu Sahji — attacked shops selectively and ransacked a couple of religious places, sources said, adding that a mob of about 500 persons resorted to massive stone-pelting, injuring three policemen. Officer-in-charge of Deganga, Arup Ghosh, received head injuries and suffered fracture in his hand.

District Magistrate V Kumar said precautions had been taken and curfew had been clamped in the area. Paramilitary forces had been called out to assist the RAF, sources said, refusing to give further details.

Two temples of Kartickpur and Deganga Biplabi colony were desecrated by the mob, sources said. “When we protested, they chased us with swords and hurled bombs. The police intervened but were hopelessly outnumbered,” Anil, a local who was also injured in the clashes, said.

A particular community wanted to stop the 25-year Durga Puja in the area but failed in the face of resistance from the other community, sources said, but added that in recent times the administration in its bid to woo the minorities after the 2009 General Elections “simply looked the other way leaving us at their mercy”.

The clashes spread to Kartickpur, Kadambagachi area as four stationary buses were torched. Traffic on the Deganga-Kadambagachi-Basirhat route came to a standstill even as the police resorted to lathicharge to control the crowd. The mob attacked shops at Beliaghata market as well, police sources said, adding, the situation was tense but under control.

“The situation could have been even worse had it not been a bandh day on Tuesday,” police said and added that the area, a busy market place on a normal day, could have witnessed major violence.

Basirhat, a parliamentary constituency bordering Bangladesh held till 2009 by the CPI, was wrested by Trinamool Congress’ Nurul Islam. Deganga-Berachapa, which has a Muslim population of more than 69 per cent, had been otherwise a peaceful area which made news only in 2008 following reports of land-acquisition. The local population united against the reported Government move to acquire land leading the administration to shelve the projects.

Eight out of 29 blocks have a ‘minority-dominated’ population, thanks to unchecked infiltration from Bangladesh, locals complained, adding, the protest against infiltration continued to be an irritant between the two communities.

“TC leader Ratna Chowdhury was pressuring the police not to take any action against the erring mob which selectively looted and ransacked shops of a particular community,” said Anil.

There was no communication from administration. Locals complained both the Left and the TC leaders, including Islam, were backing the attackers. “We are under continuous threat in our own country and if this trend continues, we will have to migrate to some other district,” Subhashis Tarafdar, a local, said.

20 million illegal Bangladesh migrants form 2 per cent of India’s population

Two crore illegal Bangla migrants, 600 deported last year: states report
Amitabh Sinha 
 Oct 04, 2009

New Delhi: Estimates sent by the state governments have given an official number to
what has been known informally for a very long time – that illegal
migrants from Bangladesh now comprise at least two per cent of India’s
population.

According to “very conservative estimates” of the state governments, the
total number of Bangladeshi citizens residing in India without proper
documents or permits would be in excess of 2 crore, government sources
have told The Sunday Express.

The state governments had been asked to send estimates of the number of
Bangladeshi migrants living in their states and also the number of such
people who had been deported back to their country. Most states have now
responded.

According to these figures, not more than 600 Bangladeshi migrants had
been deported to their country in the last one year and the possibility
of many of them finding their way back isn’t being ruled out.

Migrants from Bangladesh now live in every part of the country. Besides
West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and other North-Eastern states – the known
places where these illegal migrants have been able to settle down –
Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka are
new regions having large concentrations of Bangladeshi citizens. Sources
said these were also areas witnessing rapid urbanization and
development, and therefore, offering job opportunities to these
migrants.

Though it had asked for the data from the states, the Centre was still
undecided on what use to put this data to.

“This was mostly an academic exercise, not aimed at any particular
objective. The figures that have come out are only estimates, but they
are reliable estimates,” a senior government official said. He said as
of now there was no clarity on how to deal with this migrant population.

“That is something that the political leadership will have to take a
call on, probably after obtaining a consensus on the issue. Migration
from Bangladesh has huge social and economic aspects apart from having
security implications. There is no easy way to tackle this issue,” he
said.

Rise in Bangladesh female canings alarms rights groups

Rise in Bangladesh female canings alarms rights

Wednesday, 24 Jun, 2009 

 ‘Perhaps they are inspired by the kinds of courts used by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan,’ a Bangladeshi lawyer said. — AFP World

DHAKA: The cuts on Rahima Begum’s legs are healing but the unmarried mother of one will carry the psychological scars from a public whipping for revealing the father of her child for a long time to come.

In conservative Muslim Bangladesh, having a child out of wedlock is taboo, and the elders in Rahima’s eastern village decided she should be taught a lesson after pointing the finger at a neighbour, who denied he was the father.

‘They called me before a makeshift court and ruled that I was a liar,’ the 22-year-old told AFP from her hospital bed.

Rahima’s punishment was to be caned 39 times in front of elders and Islamic clerics.

The case shocked many in Bangladesh, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordering Rahima to be moved from a small village hospital in Comilla to one of the best in the capital Dhaka.

There, she is receiving treatment, including counselling, a month after the beating.

‘Every time I close my eyes, I play the scene over and over in my head,’ she said.

Human rights groups say Rahima’s plight is becoming increasingly common in Bangladesh, with hardline clerics taking the law into their own hands and handing down harsh punishments, mostly to women, found guilty by village courts.

The so-called crimes heard by the courts — most common in rural areas, and not recognised as legitimate — range from adultery to being raped, and in one case a Muslim woman was whipped for talking to a Hindu man.

Women’s groups and human rights activists have protested the unexplained rise in caning cases in the past two months, and note that many such incidents of violence probably go unreported.

‘We’ve recorded 15 such incidents in May and June. We’ve never seen such a sharp rise in cases. It’s very worrying,’ said Ayesha Khanam, president of the women’s group Bangladesh Mahila Parishad.

‘There are undoubtedly many more than have gone unreported.’

In Rahima’s case, police arrested the men who whipped her, but campaigners say most get away with the beatings because the kangaroo courts have until recently largely been ignored by authorities.
Salma Ali, head of the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association, said that while urban parts of the country were becoming more progressive in dealing with women’s rights, some rural areas were going the other way.

‘Conservative Muslim clerics are losing power in a country where women are increasingly holding more prominent positions,’ she said.

‘But some parts of the country are becoming more conservative.’

‘Perhaps they are inspired by the kinds of courts used by the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.’

Rahima said the physical and mental suffering of being publicly whipped mean that her hospital bed in Dhaka, 80 kilometres away from her village home, is the safest place for her right now.

‘My legs are almost healed but I’m not ready to go back to the village. I don’t know whether I can ever go back,’ she said.

Bangladeshi woman brutally whipped 200 times, critical

Fatwa: Bangladeshi woman brutally whipped
IANS 29 Jun 2009

DHAKA: A widow was whipped 202 times and a man 101 times following a fatwa by a religious leader for their alleged involvement in “anti-social activity” in a village in southeastern Bangladesh, prompting local protests and action by the police.

Piara Begum, a widow of 40, and Mamun Miah, 25, were whipped before hundreds of people at Khaiyar in Comilla district Saturday night.

The woman fell unconscious and was rushed to hospital. Doctors said she was critically injured and needed to be given intensive treatment.

Miah was whipped 101 times, The Daily Star newspaper said Monday.

Punishment under a fatwa is held illegal as per a high court ruling of 2001 in Bangladesh that has a predominant Sunni Muslim population.

The police arrested six people, including Moulana Mohammed Manirul Islam, a religious leader working in the local madrassa.

Piara Begum filed a case with the Debidwar police station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

Madrassa in Assam blamed for being a safe-haven for illegal migrants and illegal activity

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/318193.php

Assam tense as illegal migrant issue resurfaces

From ANI

Jorhat (Assam), June 17: Activists in Assam’s Jorhat district have alleged that a madrassa in Titabor region is sheltering a number of illegal migrants, and called for a 12-hour shutdown against state government’s inaction.

Activists of Jatiya Yuba Chatra Parishad and some former Madrassa-e-Islamia workers expressed fear that the migrants might be involved in various illegal activities.

“According to the Investigation Officer, 87 students are there in the madrassa and they provided photocopy of it president of madrassa, Farooq Ahmed. Others had firmly said that there are not more than 87 students in the madrassa. But they organized a press meet before the issue was raised and said that there are 150 students and they sent me a letter asking food for 150 students. Now, they are unable to provide any information on the whereabouts of remaining 63 students. In that case why the administration is not taking any steps or action against them. We hope that the state govt, especially chief minister would conduct a high level enquiry regarding this problem,” said Mukhtar Ahmed, former Secretary Madrassa-e-Islamia.

In the wake of a 12-hour shutdown called by AJYCP activists, policemen patrolled the streets to keep a check on any untoward activity.

People of the area see it as threat to their security and want the government to take action against the madrasas.

“It is a very serious problem for Titobar and entire Assam. Rebels are being trained here (at the madrassa) and then they are sent for carrying out blasts and other such activities. It has become a security problem for the locals. It is because of the porous border that people from Bangladesh enter the country easily and the state government and especially the chief minister should take strict steps to curtail the problem,” said Anuj Kumar Das, a local.

An increasingly strong student movement that has been campaigning against immigrants sparked off the current conflict.

Despite fencing its 4,000-kilometre border with Bangladesh, India has not been able to stop migrants coming to Assam.

Assam shares a 272 km (169 mile) porous border with Bangladesh.

Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_asia/2009-06-17/667474892644.html

Illegal Migrant Tension in India

2009-6-17

Northeast India is tense, after a Muslim religious school is blamed for being a safe-haven for illegal migrants and illegal activity. This has sparked youth protests in the region and the migrants have been put under surveillance.

India’s Assam state is the center of agitation over illegal migrants sheltered at Madrassa-e-Islamia – a Muslim religious school.

Muslim residents and former staff now claim that several illegal migrants have taken refuge there and are involved in unlawful activities. It boils down to a question of numbers. The Investigation Officer has counted 87 students, but the school says there are 150.

[Mukhtar Ahmed, Former School Secretary]:

“They sent me a letter asking food for 150 students. Now, they are unable to provide any information on the whereabouts of remaining 63 students. In that case why is the administration not taking any steps or action against them? We hope that the state govt, especially chief minister, would conduct a high level enquiry regarding this problem.”

Police patrol the streets to keep a tab on any unrest after a 12-hour shutdown called by the activists, Jatiya Yuba Chatra Parishad. The activists blame state chief Tarun Gogoi for not taking any action against the school, which denies the allegations.

[Anuj Kumar Das, Resident]:

“It is a very serious problem for Titobar and entire Assam. Rebels are being trained here (at the madrassa) and then they are sent for carrying out blasts and other such activities. It has become a security problem for the locals.”

An increasingly strong student movement that has been campaigning against immigrants sparked off the current conflict.

India has fenced parts of the 4,000 kilometer border with Bangladesh, but officials say this has done little to deter desperate migrants.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from Bangladesh have swamped the tea-growing and oil-rich Assam state, in search for work and food.

Illegal Migrant Tension in India

2009-6-17

Northeast India is tense, after a Muslim religious school is blamed for being a safe-haven for illegal migrants and illegal activity. This has sparked youth protests in the region and the migrants have been put under surveillance.

India’s Assam state is the center of agitation over illegal migrants sheltered at Madrassa-e-Islamia – a Muslim religious school.

Muslim residents and former staff now claim that several illegal migrants have taken refuge there and are involved in unlawful activities. It boils down to a question of numbers. The Investigation Officer has counted 87 students, but the school says there are 150.

[Mukhtar Ahmed, Former School Secretary]:

“They sent me a letter asking food for 150 students. Now, they are unable to provide any information on the whereabouts of remaining 63 students. In that case why is the administration not taking any steps or action against them? We hope that the state govt, especially chief minister, would conduct a high level enquiry regarding this problem.”

Police patrol the streets to keep a tab on any unrest after a 12-hour shutdown called by the activists, Jatiya Yuba Chatra Parishad. The activists blame state chief Tarun Gogoi for not taking any action against the school, which denies the allegations.

[Anuj Kumar Das, Resident]:

“It is a very serious problem for Titobar and entire Assam. Rebels are being trained here (at the madrassa) and then they are sent for carrying out blasts and other such activities. It has become a security problem for the locals.”

An increasingly strong student movement that has been campaigning against immigrants sparked off the current conflict.

India has fenced parts of the 4,000 kilometer border with Bangladesh, but officials say this has done little to deter desperate migrants.

Hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants from Bangladesh have swamped the tea-growing and oil-rich Assam state, in search for work and food.

Assam tense as illegal migrant issue resurfaces

From ANI

Jorhat (Assam), June 17: Activists in Assam’s Jorhat district have alleged that a madrassa in Titabor region is sheltering a number of illegal migrants, and called for a 12-hour shutdown against state government’s inaction.

Activists of Jatiya Yuba Chatra Parishad and some former Madrassa-e-Islamia workers expressed fear that the migrants might be involved in various illegal activities.

“According to the Investigation Officer, 87 students are there in the madrassa and they provided photocopy of it president of madrassa, Farooq Ahmed. Others had firmly said that there are not more than 87 students in the madrassa. But they organized a press meet before the issue was raised and said that there are 150 students and they sent me a letter asking food for 150 students. Now, they are unable to provide any information on the whereabouts of remaining 63 students. In that case why the administration is not taking any steps or action against them. We hope that the state govt, especially chief minister would conduct a high level enquiry regarding this problem,” said Mukhtar Ahmed, former Secretary Madrassa-e-Islamia.

In the wake of a 12-hour shutdown called by AJYCP activists, policemen patrolled the streets to keep a check on any untoward activity.

People of the area see it as threat to their security and want the government to take action against the madrasas.

“It is a very serious problem for Titobar and entire Assam. Rebels are being trained here (at the madrassa) and then they are sent for carrying out blasts and other such activities. It has become a security problem for the locals. It is because of the porous border that people from Bangladesh enter the country easily and the state government and especially the chief minister should take strict steps to curtail the problem,” said Anuj Kumar Das, a local.

An increasingly strong student movement that has been campaigning against immigrants sparked off the current conflict.

Despite fencing its 4,000-kilometre border with Bangladesh, India has not been able to stop migrants coming to Assam.

Assam shares a 272 km (169 mile) porous border with Bangladesh.

Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com

Muslim mother caned for talking to a Hindu man in Bangladesh under Sharia law

Muslim woman caned for talking to Hindu man

Canwest News Service June 7, 2009

A Muslim mother has been caned for talking to a Hindu man in Bangladesh, police said Saturday, prompting fresh concerns about a rise in harsh treatment of women under strict Islamic law.

The punishment was carried out in a remote village on the orders of village elders, said local police chief Enamul Monowar.

The elders found Kamala Begum, 38,a mother of four, guilty under Islamic sharia law of chatting with an unidentified Hindu man, Monowar said. Hindus make up around 10 per cent of Bangladesh’s population.

“The villagers got bundles of 25 sticks and hit her four times on the back. They claimed it was a symbolic punishment. But she’s humiliated and has been in great mental pain,”Monowar said.

Police have arrested one man and are looking for others who meted out the punishment to the woman in Shason in northeastern Bangladesh, Monowar said.

It is the third such reported case in two weeks and stirred concern among women’s groups in Muslim majority but officially secular Bangladesh about what they say is a rise in brutal treatment of women under locally applied Islamic laws.

“In the last few months, we have seen villagers invoking sharia to mete out barbaric punishments to women,” said Salma Ali, head of rights group Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Life/Muslim+woman+caned+talking+Hindu/1671312/story.html

Muslim woman caned for talking to Hindu man

Canwest News ServiceJune 7, 2009

A Muslim mother has been caned for talking to a Hindu man in Bangladesh, police said Saturday, prompting fresh concerns about a rise in harsh treatment of women under strict Islamic law.

The punishment was carried out in a remote village on the orders of village elders, said local police chief Enamul Monowar.

The elders found Kamala Begum, 38,a mother of four, guilty under Islamic sharia law of chatting with an unidentified Hindu man, Monowar said. Hindus make up around 10 per cent of Bangladesh’s population.

“The villagers got bundles of 25 sticks and hit her four times on the back. They claimed it was a symbolic punishment. But she’s humiliated and has been in great mental pain,”Monowar said.

Police have arrested one man and are looking for others who meted out the punishment to the woman in Shason in northeastern Bangladesh, Monowar said.

It is the third such reported case in two weeks and stirred concern among women’s groups in Muslimmajority but officially secular Bangladesh about what they say is a rise in brutal treatment of women under locally applied Islamic laws.

“In the last few months, we have seen villagers invoking sharia to mete out barbaric punishments to women,” said Salma Ali, head of rights group Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Photo of Hindu man beaten to death by Muslims after a Friday prayer in Bangladesh

Photo and more details click link

Top LeT operative arrested in Kolkata

Top LeT operative arrested in Kolkata

Kolkata, Mar 7 : A suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Abu Taher alias Mohamed Zakaria was arrested in Kolkata on Friday.

Officials said Taher was an expert in making explosive devices and was staying in Bangladesh for the last few years.

“For the last couple of days he was staying in Bangladesh. He has been arrested from the crossing of Taizei Street and APC road…. Bangladeshi crossed over to India. There was liaison with Border Security Force (BSF) intelligence. So we have been able to work this out,” said Rajiv Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police, Special Task Force, Kolkata.

Police officials also said that Taher received training at Lahore and also at Rajsahi district in Bangladesh

LeT is one of the largest and most active militant organizations in South Asia.
LeT is currently based near Lahore in Pakistan and operates several militant training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Flash movie of Islamic Destruction of Hindu Temples in Bangladesh

Destruction of Hindu Temples in Bangladesh

Flash movie: Click here

Here is one example of temple destruction in Bangladesh

Temple burnt, idols destroyed in Bangladesh
Press Trust of India/Agence France Presse
Tuesday, October 08, 2002

Dhaka, October 8: A Hindu temple was torched and statues of deities were destroyed in three attacks on Muslim-majority Bangladesh’s main religious minority ahead of a festival, officials and reports said today.

In the northern area of Kishoreganj, a temple was set ablaze and badly damaged Saturday. A leaflet left behind called for an end to “idol worship” and for a mosque to be built in the temple’s place, the Sangbad newspaper reported.

One day later, a group destroyed statues of deities, made ahead of the major Hindu festival of Durga Puja on Thursday, in Narayanganj near the capital Dhaka.

A private guard identified as Shah Alam was arrested for the attack Sunday, police officer Ashadul Islam told AFP by telephone.

Separately, two teenagers were arrested for destroying idols in the western Natore district, Sangbad reported.

Opposition leaders have alleged persecution of Bangladeshi Hindus since Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Islamist-allied coalition swept in to power last October.

The government has denied any campaign against Hindus, who form about 12 percent of Bangladesh’s 130 million-strong population, and has assured full security for the festival Thursday.

The US State Department’s 2002 International Religious Freedom Report said Bangladeshis “generally are free to practice the religion of their choice,” but said police are often slow to assist minorities who are victims of crimes.

In the Narayanganj incident, local lawmaker Giasuddin Ahmed, who is from Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, offered 40,000 taka (689 dollars) for the destroyed deities to be rebuilt.

Bangladeshis swarming Uttar Pradesh; Alarming report, UP cops finding it tough to act against them

While Bangladeshis are busy populating India, they are at the same time busy depopulating their country of Hindus.  Read  Ethnic Cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh

UP cops finding it tough to act against Bangladeshis
Feb 24, 2009

Lucknow With majority of the estimated 3.5 lakh Bangladeshi immigrants living in the state “managing” to procure electoral photo identity cards and ration cards, the Uttar Pradesh police is in a fix as to how to deal with the menace.

“Establishing identity of Bangladeshi living in the state is proving to be an uphill task, specially keeping in mind the fact that they have been living here from almost last one to three decades and have also managed to get identification proof of being Indian nationals”, informed official sources.

“During our drive we found electoral photo identity cards, ration cards and others proofs with them. Despite knowing that they are Bangladeshi and living illegally here, we are in a fix as how to deal with the issue,” the sources said.

According to an estimate of the intelligence department, which had carried an extensive drive across the state to identify Bangladeshi immigrants, there are over 3.5 lakh Bangladeshis living in the state, with temple city Varanasi topping the list with around 40,000 immigrants.

This is followed by around 30,000 Bangladeshis each in Aligarh and Ghaziabad, 20,000 each in Meerut and Muzaffarnagar and 25,000 each in Lucknow and Noida, the sources said.

“The population of Bangladeshis is increasing almost every day in the state…As their extradition is a tardy task we are keeping an eye on them”, the sources said.

On the directives of the Supreme Court to identify the Bangladeshi immigrants, the UP police launched a massive exercise in major cities of the state, wherein densely populated areas especially slums were searched extensively and an effort was made to identify those living there.

“But the problem is that majority of the immigrants claim themselves to be residents of Assam, West Bengal and areas adjoining the Indo-Bangladesh border. Cross checking their credentials is difficult as it involves time and manpower”, they said.

“Increasing population of the immigrants in the state capital and other district, including National Capital region is alarming”, the sources said.

From Lucknow only five Bangladeshis were deported in the past one year for living here illegally, official sources said.

When asked Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal said the department was working on the identification of Bangladeshi immigrants living in the state.

“The intelligence department has some inputs and we are working on it. The department is keeping an eye on their activities and we will ensure that those living illegally in our territory are brought to book”, he said.