Marma protest in Khagrachhari after some killed for demanding justice
In a new violent incident involving a minority, three people were killed in the country's southeastern hill region home to a large Buddhist ethnic group. Soldiers opened fire on a roadblock manned by local activists protesting the authorities’ failure to arrest those responsible for the rape of a girl. An adviser to the Home Affairs Ministry in Bangladesh’s interim government added fuel to the fire by claiming that the violence was instigated by “fascist groups”.
Dhaka (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Three people were killed in violent clashes yesterday in Guimara, a village in Khagrachhari district, northern Chittagong Hill Tracts Region, in southeastern Bangladesh.
The local indigenous community, mostly ethnic Buddhist Marma, slam the military for cracking down with extreme violence against protesters demanding justice after a girl was raped.
“An eighth-grade Marma student was brutally raped by three Bengali settlers," a local leader wrote in a complaint also sent to AsiaNews.
“Students and residents asked the administration to deliver justice, but instead of arresting the rapists, the authorities remained silent. As a result, the indigenous hill people united and called for a broader movement,” the leader added.
"During a peaceful roadblock, the demand was reiterated: arrest the rapists. Instead of bringing the criminals to justice, the administration sent in the army, which opened fire indiscriminately on unarmed protesters. There were deaths and injuries.”
The young victims – Tayiching, Athwipru, and Akhrau – lived in Guimara, aged 20 to 22. After heavy clashes, security forces ended the roadblock and imposed a ban on gatherings, restoring a tense calm to the Khagrachhari district.
The Jumma Chhatra Janata, a local group promoting the protest, said the roadblock was lifted to enable treatment for the injured and the funerals of the victims; however, the protests will continue until justice is served.
Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, an adviser for home affairs to the Interim Government of Bangladesh, added fuel to the fire today by declaring that the unrest in Khagrachhari was fuelled "by India or by fascist groups”.
This episode comes at a time when tensions are already running high in the country in connection with the Hindu festival of Durga Puja, with numerous reports of acts of intolerance by Islamists against minorities.
For their part, the Marma are not ready to stop their protest. “Why did the army shoot my brother in the chest? Why did they fire on my sister's body? Why were our innocent children branded as 'terrorists' and arrested?” they write in a statement.
“There seems to be only one answer: because we spoke out against rape, because we protested. When will this endless oppression and brutality against us end? Let us all stand united," the statement reads. “Through organisation and disciplined struggle, we will fight and win our rights.”
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06/06/2006
