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WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 18, 2006) –
The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) affirmed its focus on
the grave human rights abuses faced by adherents of non-Islamic
religions in Bangladesh last week in yet another forum. The
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
(USCIRF), created by the federal government to provide policy
recommendations to the U.S. State Department and White House
on global human rights issues, invited HAF to be a respondent
at their forum on the upcoming Bangladesh elections. The forum
was held at the Gold Room in the Rayburn House Office Building
on October 17 in Washington, D.C.
Prior to the discussions at the forum, the
USCIRF had released a policy
brief on Bangladesh.
That policy brief, ahead of the January
2007 General Elections set in Bangladesh, was welcomed publicly
by HAF as it reached similar conclusions to those found in
the foundation’s annual Hindu human rights report. The
USCIRF recommended that the Bangladesh government take “urgent
measures to prevent anti-minority violence in the upcoming
elections”; “urgent measures to protect those
threatened by religious extremism”; “long term
measures to protect universal human rights”; and, that
the U.S. provide “assistance to promote human rights,
including freedom of religion or belief” in Bangladesh.
"We are pleased to see the Commission
taking a proactive role in bringing to attention and outlining
recommendations in light of Bangladesh's upcoming elections,”
said Ishani Chowdhury, Executive Director of HAF. “As
our annual Hindu Human Rights report
notes, the low scale religious cleansing of the already shrinking
minority Hindu population in Bangladesh, is of grave concern
to not only the Hindu American Foundation, but also to those
who share the ethos of pluralism and tolerance."
At the forum, among other issues raised,
HAF urged that international monitoring of upcoming elections
in Bangladesh must be implemented, that minority candidates
must be nominated by political parties, that attacks on Hindu
temples and properties must cease immediately and that a human
rights commission be established in Bangladesh to ensure due
process and minority rights and representation. Many of these
recommendations were corroborated by the Chair of the Forum,
Commissioner Felice Gaer, her fellow USCIRF commissioners
Preeta Bansal and Michael Cromartie, who all demanded international
monitoring of the January 2007 elections, and safety and security
for the minority population.
Distinguished invitees like Ambassador Tariq
Karim and Mr. Selig Harrison of the Center for International
Policy also demanded from the Bangladesh Government the promise
of free and fair elections and warned that the homogeneous
Bangladesh population, ninety-six percent of whom are ethnic
Bengali speaking, are now deeply polarized and divided because
of the Islamization of the polity enabled and encouraged by
the present Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government.
Cynthia Bunton of the International Republican
Institute (IRI) and Patrick Merloe of the National Democratic
Institute also weighed in with strong criticisms of the weak
institutions and severely flawed democratic process in Bangladesh.
"The recommendations of the USCIRF and
the comments by the commissioners and the distinguished speakers
go a long way in affirming HAF's stand on the situation of
minorities in general, and Hindus in particular in Bangladesh,”
said Ramesh Rao, PhD., member of the HAF Executive Council
who addressed the forum. “We hope that this is the first
step towards protecting the minorities and ensuring freedom
to practice one's faith without fear."
The Hindu American Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3), non-partisan organization, promoting the Hindu
and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism.
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