Christians increasingly vulnerable in Solepur

Dhaka, Bangladesh, September 10 — The Solepur parish is a Catholic parish in Bangladesh with more than 3,000 members; it is blessed with the historical St. Joseph's Church, which was established back in 1850. As law and order is breaking down in that area, Catholic Christians have come under attack many times. Many of them had to leave the area.

On April 30, a group of Muslim gangsters broke into the house of local Catholic woman Philimona Gomes, in the village of Boraihase, located in the Solepur parish. Gomes said that a group of nine to ten people forcefully broke into her house late at night around 2 o'clock. The gangsters were heavily armed. They tied her tightly and threatened to kill her if she moved even a little bit.

"I was shocked by this sudden attack," said Gomes. "They slapped me and started kicking me and used very rough words. In fear, I prayed to Mother Mary, who saves us from danger."

She continued, "In my fear, I felt the urgent need to urinate and the gangsters told me to urinate in front of them; when I said no, one gangster took me to the toilet and forced me to urinate in front of him. I felt very ashamed about being sexually harassed. I live in this house with my husband Daniel, my son Richard, and his wife, Elizabeth."

Her husband, Richard Gomes, said, "The gangsters broke into my room and first hurt me by beating me. They took gold ornaments and valuable goods." He also said, "Only gangsters come to this Christian village. This seems like an intentional act of persecution against us so that we are forced to leave the village."

Pavel John Gomes said, "On the previous Christmas, Muslims attacked us even when we tried to stop them from entering our church during mass, which they were trying to enter in order to disturb the women.

Prokash Rozario, a local Catholic of Solepur, said, "On August 15, a local Muslim gangster attacked our house and stole our valuables. We don't get any help from the police, and there is no safety of our lives. We are small in number, and we are surrounded by Muslims. Their main goal is to evict us Christians from the land and then take over the land."

Pavel John Gomes, a local Catholic youth activist, said, "The Solepur Catholic parish was attacked by Muslims back in 1997 during the Gulf War. We remember those fearful days. Huge numbers of people came from different madrassas [Islamic schools] and said they would destroy our church; God saved us. The police were silent. I am also afraid to say anything about the recent persecution against Christians. There are cases of Muslims grabbing lands. Many of our people were forced to sell their land to Muslims and leave the village. Once before, some Muslim youth tried to hijack a Christian girl. We have become cornered by persecution.”

Fr. Alvin, the local parish priest, informs me of incidents involving gangsters. I then ring the bell of the church to alert the local people. I also inform the local government about the persecution.

Recently, a local Muslim Swopon took by force the motorcycle of Raju Augustine Rozario on August 30. The young Catholic filed a police report, but the motorcycle has not been recovered by the police yet.

Rozario said, “I have filed a police report against the person who took my motorcycle by force. Yet no one has been arrested by the police.”

Human rights activist Annie Halder said, “We know that persecution against minorities is increasing in Bangladesh. The government fails, in many ways, to protect the minorities of Bangladesh. Young men and women are the targets of fundamentalists. The fundamentalists try to stop progress in minority communities by persecuting them.”