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Wednesday,
April 24, 2002
Human Right
Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM)
Begum Khaleda
Zia
Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Dhaka, Bangladesh
RE: Murder
of Buddhist Monk, Gyanjyoti Barua- Bring the Criminals to Justice
Honorable
Prime Minister:
Human Rights
Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) is deeply shocked at
the brutal murder of Buddhist Monk, Gyanjyoti Barua, of Hingala
hill tract, in Raujan, Chittagong. We express our grave concern
for the safety and security of the Buddhist and other minority
communities in the region and all over Bangladesh.
According to daily Janakantha dated April 23, 2002, members of the SAKA group, who are supporters of the ruling BNP party of Bangladesh, attacked
Mr. Barua on Sunday, April 21 around midnight and slaughtered
him in his Anath Ashram (Orphanage). According to the local
community, the slaughtering was led by two cadres of the SAKA
group namely Ajijul Haque and Taslime Uddin.
A devotee at the orphanage, Mr. Mahanam Shram stated that Mr. Barua
entered his room after the daily prayer services at the night
of his murder around 12:30 AM at night. Suddenly a group
of 7 to 8 terrorists burst into the orphanage with Chinese knives
and swords. The terrorists then tied up Mahanam Shram
and murdered Mr. Barua at his second floor room by slashing his
throat. According to the community, SAKA group wanted the land belonging to this orphanage
to expand their terrorist operations at Hingala. The terrorists
had threatened to kill Mr. Barua numerous times and wanted to
occupy the orphanage so that they could operate from there and rob the funds donated by Netherlands, which is valued
at 25 lakhs Taka ($12,000.00) per year.
Buddhist and other minority communities around Raujan are
in a state of shock. They are besieged by the lack of safety, security
of life and possessions.
We, on behalf of the HRCBM, urge you to request your government
authorities to immediately arrest the criminals and give them
exemplary punishment, and ensure safety and security of the minority
community.
Sincerely,
Chanchal
Chatterjee
Secretary General, HRCBM |