'Minorities in despair as justice denied in previous attacks'

Minorities in the country are in despair as no justice has been ensured for previous attacks on them, said speakers at a dialogue organised by the Editors Guild, Bangladesh.

Shyamal Dutta, general secretary of the National Press Club, said that the Shahabuddin Commission documented 3,500 communal violence incidents across the country after the 2001 national polls.

"None of these incidents have been filed as criminal cases, nor has the ruling Awami League brought the perpetrators to justice," he said.

The dialogue titled "Non-communal Bangladesh Question" was held on Saturday at the Dhaka Gallery in the capital.

Shyamal Dutta mentioned Awami League lawmaker AKM Bahauddin Bahar's call for a "liquor-free" Durga Puja and said, "The home minister today described the comment as a personal comment. The party has not sent him a show-cause notice or asked him for an explanation over the derogatory remarks.

"These kinds of remarks corner the minority every day and force them to observe Durga Puja in fear and tension. This is contradictory to the core spirit of a liberal Bangladesh," he said.

Jayanto Chattopadhyay, a renowned actor and reciter, pointed out that the statement made by AKM Bahauddin Bahar was delivered in his capacity as a member of parliament during that event. "Hence, it should not be viewed as a personal remark," he said.

He went on to say, "The reason we have not witnessed any meaningful progress in addressing communal violence because those responsible for ensuring justice and expediting trials often have vested interests. Both the AL and the BNP have been implicated in encroachments on minority lands at the grassroots level."

Jayanto Chattopadhyay also said, "In each case of communal violence, there tends to be a hidden motive related to land or property encroachment."

Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of the Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, said that the values of a society, state, or country depend on how its ethnic minorities and backward people live their lives.

Rasheda K Choudhury, former advisor of the caretaker government and executive director of the Campaign for Popular Education, said that mass people are not religiously blind or cult-minded, but some people see business in it, which is why people are misguided.

Z I Khan Panna, senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, said that religious minorities are in such a situation that they would be attacked whether they cast their votes or not.

Other speakers at the discussion, which was chaired by Ekattor Television's Chief Editor Mozammel Babu, included Nasir Uddin Yousuf Bacchu, freedom fighter and renowned cultural activist, Sadeka Halim, Dhaka University professor, and Pijush Bandyopadhyay, CEO of Ekushey Television.