{"id":473,"date":"2010-11-02T04:46:55","date_gmt":"2010-11-01T21:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/martianuswb.com\/?p=473"},"modified":"2013-03-12T22:09:41","modified_gmt":"2013-03-12T15:09:41","slug":"christian-family-in-bangladesh-attacked-charged-with-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martianuswb.com\/?p=473","title":{"rendered":"Christian family in Bangladesh attacked, charged with crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>October 27<\/strong> (CDN) \u2014 Muslim neighbors of a Christian family in Bangladesh scheduled to be baptized last month beat them and filed a false charge of attempted murder against them and other Christians, the head of the family said.<\/p>\n

Foyez Uddin, 62, told Compass that his neighbor Nazrul Islam and Islam\u2019s relatives told him, his wife and his two adult children that as Christians they were \u201cpolluting\u201d society and beat them on Sept. 17 in Joysen village in Rangpur district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Dhaka. Islam is a policeman.<\/p>\n

Islam\u2019s uncle, Abdul Mannan Miah, then filed false charges against Uddin, his family and three others, accusing them of trying to kill Miah\u2019s niece, Uddin said by telephone after his release on bail on Oct. 8. The village is under Pirgacha police jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Uddin said his family was fishing at his pond on Sept. 17 when eight to 10 Muslim neighbors led by Islam appeared and began speaking abusively about their Christian faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cNazrul told us, \u2018You are polluting society by deviating from Islam. Come back to Islam, otherwise we will not allow any Christian to live here in this village,\u2019\u201d Uddin said.<\/p>\n

He told them that his family would not return to Islam, Uddin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI replied, \u2018Invite Islamic scholars, and if they can satisfy us in light of the Quran, then we will go back to Islam. Otherwise nothing can affect our unshakeable faith in Christ,\u2019\u201d Uddin said. \u201cThey beat me, my wife and two sons for objecting to their proposal to come back to Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n

The angry neighbors then broke into his home and burned two Bibles, tore two others and ripped four hymnals, he said, and they also damaged some furniture and chairs. Their home serves as a worship venue, and Uddin said the villagers also hacked with a machete the sign board of their house church, Faith Bible Church of God.<\/p>\n

The pastor of the church, Lavlu Sadik Lebio, told Compass that he went to a nearby police station to complain about the attack, but officers did not respond to him. He said he only went to inform police, not file a case, but even so officers were unresponsive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntentionally burning Bibles was the most sacrilegious attack on our faith \u2013 how can a member of the police department do that?\u201d Pastor Lebio said. \u201cThose people should have kept in mind how an announcement of burning a copy of the Quran in the U.S. stirred up the anger, discontent and hatred of Muslims all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taken into police custody on Sept. 18, Uddin said he and his family were unable to be baptized as planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were planning to be baptized in the last week of September,\u201d he said. \u201cSomehow our neighbors came to know about the baptismal ceremony, and they became very rude to us. We have been living in faith in Christ, the mainspring of our life, but we were not baptized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murder Charge<\/strong><\/p>\n

As part of the attack on Sept. 17, Miah, the uncle of police officer Islam, filed the charge of attempted murder against Uddin, his family and three others that day, the Christian said.<\/p>\n

When handing Uddin over to court, police filed a report stating that he had collaborated with people within the Christian community and that he had made defamatory remarks about Islam, Uddin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the police report while handing me over to court, I was mentioned as a troublesome Christian, but in the case copy filed by my neighbor, nothing was mentioned about me as a Christian,\u201d Uddin said. \u201cI was hurt by the police role.\u201d<\/p>\n

The police report to the court said that area residents did not approve of his Christian activities, and that there was the possibility of a communal clash. On this basis police requested he remain in custody while the investigation was underway.<\/p>\n

According to the case file obtained by Compass, Uddin and his companions allegedly attempted to kill Islam\u2019s sister (Miah\u2019s niece), Jahanara Begum, sexually harassed her, severely beat her and stole her gold jewelry worth 41,000 taka (US$570).<\/p>\n

Uddin said that Begum \u2013 sister of police officer Islam and niece of Miah \u2013 had a boil on her head that her father lanced the day of the attack. When blood continued rushing out from the procedure, her father, Azizul Muhury, took her to a nearby clinic called Pirgacha Medical and admitted her there. Later her brother Islam filed the false case, saying one of the eight accused had hit her on the head in an attempt to kill her, Uddin said.<\/p>\n

According to the case file, Uddin was fishing on Begum\u2019s inundated land, though he says he was at his own pond. Furthermore, the case file states Uddin was on Begum\u2019s land at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 17, when according to Uddin he was worshipping at his house church. The service did not end until 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

According to the police file, Begum objected to him catching fish on her flooded land, and after paying no attention to her he eventually became furious and allegedly beat her \u201cin a pre-planned manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uddin\u2019s companions were said to be hiding nearby with bamboo, knives and machetes to attack her, and at some point in a quarrel, they supposedly emerged and surrounded Begum. Nural Islam, 52 \u2013 known in the area as a recent convert to Christianity \u2013 allegedly struck her in the head with a machete on Foyez\u2019s order, according to the case file. Uddin said Islam is a rickshaw driver who was working all day and was not present.<\/p>\n

Uddin was then alleged to have hit her on the hand with bamboo, and when she supposedly fell down, according to the case file, his brother Iman Ali, 45, hit her with an iron rod on her back. Uddin said Ali could not have been present either, as he was suffering from tuberculosis and could not walk properly due to the debilitating illness.<\/p>\n

Uddin\u2019s son, Shahjahan Miah, 25, then allegedly snatched the 27,000-taka (US$375) gold chain from her neck, according to the case file, and 25-year-old Mohammad Sirajul Islam took her 14,000-taka (US$195) gold earring. Uddin said Mohammad Sirajul Islam \u2013 also known in the area as a recent convert to Christianity \u2013 had lost work due to his new faith and had been forced to relocate to Chittagong district, some 500 kilometers (310 miles) away from Rangpur district, and he was in Chittagong on that day.<\/p>\n

His father, Mohammad Farid, 42, had also converted to Christianity, and the case file accuses him of trying to strangle Begum. Uddin said Farid also lives in Chittagong district and was there at the time. In the case file, Uddin\u2019s wife, 47-year-old Mosammat Shahar Banu, is then accused of removing Begum\u2019s clothes. Uddin\u2019s other son, 28-year-old Shahdul Islam, then allegedly seriously wounded her by striking her with bamboo, according to the case file.<\/p>\n

Thus the case file charges all members of Uddin\u2019s family, as well as three people who were not present \u2013 two other recent converts to Christianity and Uddin\u2019s brother, he said. Uddin said he has sent letters stating the falseness of the charges to the Rangpur district administrative chief, district police chief, sub-district administrative chief, home minister of Bangladesh, home secretary of Bangladesh, inspector general of police (Bangladesh police chief), president of the Rangpur district press club, member of parliament of that area, Rangpur divisional commissioner and commander of Bangladesh\u2019s elite force (RAB-5), as well as to the Faith Bible Church of God chairman.<\/p>\n

The case file mistakenly identifies Uddin as Foyez Ali, and also errs in listing his age as 50 rather than 62.<\/p>\n

Since Uddin became a Christian in 2007, some of his neighbors have threatened to kill him or expel him from the village, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn threatening us, they have also said that the government will reward them if we Christians are beaten,\u201d Uddin said.<\/p>\n

The main weapon of Muslim villagers opposed to Christians is to withhold work from them, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I used to cultivate other people\u2019s land for my livelihood,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen the local people came to know that we lead our life in Christ, then they stopped giving us their land for cultivation. Nobody talks with us, and we are outcasts here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last Christmas, around 100 to 150 people went to Uddin\u2019s house to protest their celebration of the birth of Christ.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice are deployed in all churches at Christmas,\u201d he said. \u201cTwo police were deployed at our house to avoid any kind of unwanted situation. Those two police stopped the angry villagers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

http:\/\/www.compassdirect.org\/<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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