Two-day-long second international conference of Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorities of Ba

Two-day-long second international conference of Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorities of Bangladesh (CAAMB) ended with three important declarations on February 12, 2006. The conference was held at Ballygan Siksha Sadan'sKhemka auditorium in Kolkata.

General Shankar Roy Chowdhury (Retd.) and Rosaline Costa, a renowned human rights activist from Bangladesh inaugurated the conference on February 11, lighting the traditional lamp.

In his inaugural address, General Chowdhury warned the people of West Bengal as well as of India to become alert of the threats of globalisation of jehad and the changed-demographic situation of the bordering districts of this state. He pointed out that according to the last census report (2001), along the 20 to 25 kilometers of the Indian side of West Bengal the Hindus have become minority. ?The fact that How miserably the minorities of Bangladesh are living there in an inhuman condition is very significant for us. Although the creation of Bangladesh could be made possible because of the sacrifice of the thousands of Indian jawans. Not a single Islamic state then wanted the rise of Bangladesh. Now we must not keep aloof from the happenings Bangladesh. We can take a lesson from Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan, who says, ?We are providing political help to the freedom fighters in Jammu & Kashmir only?. We must also help those who are fighting in Bangladesh for the human rights of the Hindus, Christians and Buddhists, said Gen. Chowdhury .

In his presidential address, Prof. Sunand Sanyal (Retd.) said: ?He is fighter under the banner ?Gan-Mukti Parishad? for demanding the valuable voting right of the citizens of West Bengal with the cadres of the ruling parties.? He ridiculed the love of the left for the Muslims.

Advocate Rana Dasgupta, Rosaline Costa and Advocate Rabindra Ghosh vividly described the true story of inhuman torture, rape, gang-rape of the women of Hindus, Christians and Buddhists including minor girls, incidents of forcibly conversion to Islam, etc. Shri Costa also said they are bound to compromise to recover a girl of minority community from those who have raped her. There is no human right for the minorities in Bangladesh. He further said there are more than eighty thousands madrasas producing jehadis in large number in Bangladesh. Dr Ajay Roy, a leader of Hindu-Buddha-Christian Unity Council and a freedom fighter, who had taken part in the freedom movement of Bangladesh, said they wanted to fight for true freedom of every citizen in Bangladesh. He blamed the Bangladesh government for telling a complete lie at every international platform that there is a complete harmony and all the minority communities are exercising their rights fully. He himself heard that in a seminar in London from the High Commissioner of Bangladesh there, he added.

The two writers of Kolkata- Esha Dey and Maitreye Chattopadhay-strongly criticised the so-called intelligentia and media of West Bengal for not highlighting the true incidents of cruelty said that happened in Bangladesh everyday. She said the ?secular? brigade came out to street when riots occurred in Gujarat and America attacked Iraq but they maintain studied silence when the minorities are cruelly tortured in Bangladesh.

Esha Dey said that both Bangladesh and Pakistan are Muslim-majority states and ruled by the Muslims but India being a Hindu-majority country is ruling in favour of the minorities (Muslims).

Achinta Gupta conducted the convention and poet Kamlesh Sen offered vote of thanks. Many speakers from New York (Pabitra Chowdhury, Nicoleus Sikdar), Sisir Mazumdar (London), Aloke Chowdhury (Canada), Arunjyoti Barua (Switzerland) spoke on the occasion.

Mohit Roy, convener of CAAMB'sKolkata chapter, read the declarations.

(The author can be contacted at 27/1B, Bidhan Sarani Kolkata-700 006.)