More violence, more funds

Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 18 — As part of a country-wide tour to observe the pre-election situation of the minority people, I traveled to different parts of Bangladesh. I observed situations that were highly alarming, not only for the religious or ethnic minorities, but also for the cultural minorities. These are people who have never dreamt of becoming a member of the parliament, yet have demanded justice and peace over the years.

People are screaming for a better Bangladesh; they are screaming for justice and peace. The left or right of politics does not mean anything to them. Non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh are politicized. As a human rights activist, I have seen that there are human rights organizations who support the Bangladesh National Party and the Awami league. Recently, some 25 organizations were officially tracked by these two political parties concerning monitoring the forthcoming election.

They are funded by powerful organizations. If you say something against them, they call it discrimination as said in Western countries. They know well how to beat the cat. Yet, once again, they will present the beloved country naked before the international community. As their naked dance continues, their fund will rise and they will become hero and savior of Bangladesh. Some of them have already won international awards.

Recently I was traveling with a team to visit a Hindu family who was attacked during communal clashes. I asked a gentleman, his opinion of how communal violence could be stopped. He replied, "we don’t have funds to work on that." That is right. No one is willing to provide funds to stop the communal violence, rape or other types of atrocities. The so called savior of the poor nation, also does not want to work on that foul component. These are the peoples carrying “the virtual lorry of dead bodies” to different international platforms, to get awards, praises and funds.

I was trying to explain this fact to the renowned Jewish Human rights activist Dr. Richard Benkin, who has been working for the people of Bangladesh for many years. He does have his own discernment about the situations of Bangladesh. I believe, he is amongst the few who wants to stop the violence and fund activities to bring justice and peace to the people of Bangladesh. Although he is a Jewish fundamentalist and I do not agree with all of his works, I do agree the way he works to strengthen the inter religious dialogue in some aspect.