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| Bangladesh |
| Charghat terrorised by upazila chairman |
| 2014-01-07 |
| [Dhaka Tribune] The Maria village under Charghat upazila is a 50km drive from the Rajshahi city. In recent times, the village has become a stronghold of 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 its student front Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... It was around 11am yesterday, when the Dhaka Tribune correspondent got down from an auto-rickshaw in front of the Maria Government Primary School, which was a polling centre a day before. In no time, five young men rushed towards the auto-rickshaw and started shooting questions such as "who are you," "where are you from," "what do you want" and "where do you want to go." It took this correspondent 20 minutes to finally convince them that he was a friend of one Shuvo, a student of the Rajshahi University and a resident of the village. This correspondent gathered information from Rajshahi city that there was someone named Shuvo in the village whose name would serve as his ticket for entering the village. Sources said the area was currently being controlled by one Abu Sayed Chand, an alleged top criminal of the area who made it a Jamaat stronghold. Such is his dominance in the area that not even the local Awami League politician can take any action against him. Chand is the BNP-Jamaat-backed chairman of the Charghat upazila parishad. He has his own group of criminals, locally known as "lathiyals" and owns significant amount of land properties in the area. On the days preceding the elections, Chand's followers and the local Jamaat-Shibir men went from door-to-door in the village and warned people that if anyone went to the polling centre, they would be killed. The result was that nobody dared to go anywhere near the polling centres set up in the area, despite heavy presence of the law enforcers. When asked why they had not cast vote, Sukumar, a Hindu resident of the Thakurbari area, shot back: "Where are you from? Do not utter this word [vote] that you just told me. Just leave the area if your life is important to you." Local Awami League politician Shahriar Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that Chand and his followers had sabotaged railway lines last month. He claimed that he had repeatedly asked law enforcers to take action against him but in vain. "Law enforcers conducted several raids to arrest Chand and members of his criminal group. But those raids were nothing but eyewash," he alleged. Shahriar happens to be the only Awami League leader left in the area. No other leader or activist of the ruling party could be found in the village. Local residents said they had all fled the area to save their lives from Chand's lathiyals (gang members) and their bamboo sticks. An officer of the Charghat cop shoppe said: "Everyone knows about it [sabotage and violence]; but nobody dares to take action against him [Chand] because attacking on people was like felling trees for him." The officer gave an example. "Chand's supporters attacked the Jhikar Government Primary School in the presence of joint force and army personnel. Other than firing some blank rounds, the law enforcers could not do anything. Chand's men felled more than a hundred mango trees in the area and beat up dozens of villagers with bamboo sticks. The news of this incident came in the media as well." Although several cases have been filed against Chand and his men, the law enforcers have failed to arrest anyone. When contacted over phone, Chand snubbed out all the allegations against him. "I am the upazila chairman. People always listen to what I say. I do not need to threaten anyone." When asked why then a case was filed against him in connection with the Sardha rail sabotage, Chand said: "If police have any evidence against me why do they not arrest me? I am not hiding." Golam Mortoza, OC of Charghat cop shoppe, told the Dhaka Tribune: "Nothing serious happened in the area on Sunday during the national elections." About the Chand group, he claimed that police were looking for those who unleashed violence in the area and the joint forces had tossed in the calaboose You have the right to remain silent... a couple of them. Rajshahi district police chief (SP) Alamgir Kabir, claimed that law and order situation was totally under control. |
| Posted by:Fred |