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Designed to foil war crimes trial
[Bangla Daily Star] The ruling Awami League and other political parties yesterday said the attacks on temples and houses of religious minorities by fundamental forces in different parts of the country were aimed at protecting the war criminals now facing trial.They urged the people to build up united resistance against the communal forces, and demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the culprits responsible for the attacks. Members of civil society also condemned the attack. The main opposition BNP, however, did not give any formal reaction to the attacks on religious minorities till the filing of this report last night. Rahman Kajal, a BNP politician from Cox's Bazar-3 (Ramu), held the AL and its associated bodies responsible for the attack on Buddhist temples and houses.  AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, in a press statement, said "The conspiratorial attacks and planned violence are aimed at saving the war criminals who belong to the Jamaat-e-Islami... The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... and BNP. "They are resorting to violence in the country as in the past, curbing constitutional rights of the religious minorities, destroying longstanding social harmony and social and political stability in the country." The identified anti-liberation war criminals were trying to give their last death bite to save them from the ongoing trial, said Ashraf, also the LGRD and cooperatives minister. Condemning the communal attacks, different political and social organizations demanded that the government take initiatives to restore the temples and compensate the victim families. The parties and organizations include Workers' Party of Bangladesh, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikkyo Gay Pareehad, Ain O Salish Kendra, Mahila Gay Pareehad, Gonosanghati Andolon, Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajote. M Hafizuddin Khan, former adviser to a caretaker government, said the government must hand down exemplary punishment to the culprits whoever they might be, after conducting a fair probe. Talking to The Daily Star, Akbar Ali Khan said the government must take urgent steps to curb further violence to ensure long standing communal harmony among different religious people in the country. Sultana Kamal, another former adviser to a caretaker government, questioned the role of the police and intelligence agencies saying, "If they had detected the possibility of the attacks earlier, they could have prevented the incidents." Bipradash Barua, a litterateur,
Posted by: Fred 2012-10-01 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=353021 |