Hundreds protest Buddhist attacks in Bangladesh

Friday, 5 October 2012 00:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Over 1,000 people including Buddhist priests from Myanmar, Thailand and Bangladesh staged a protest march in Colombo on Thursday calling on the Bangladesh Government to stop oppression of Buddhist people in the country, an activist said.

Protestors marched to the Bangladesh High Commission and handed over a petition calling for the Government to protect Buddhists in the Chittagong and Chittagong Hill regions who they alleged were under attack by Muslim extremist groups.

The protest was organised by a popular Buddhist organisation in Sri Lanka called the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).

A tense situation arose when an Embassy official was seen filming the demonstration. This provoked the protestors to fling plastic water bottles at the Embassy building. However, no one was injured in the incident.

“During the last few days 19 Buddhist temples, some of which are 300-500 years old, and about 100 Buddha statues have been burnt down. Many top monks have been attacked and rumour has it even killed. In fear of being killed, Buddhists are deserting temples,” BBS Secretary General Venerable Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera told reporters.

He insisted that around 250 Buddhist households and shops had been vandalised in these areas and people were fleeing in fear of the extremist groups.

The priest called on the Bangladeshi Government to take immediate action to protect and provide compensation for the Buddhists that have been affected by the attacks.

Government Spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the Government’s attention has been drawn to these incidents and that they were “gravely concerned”.

“We will have discussions with the relevant parties to find a solution to this crisis,” he assured, but declined to comment what steps the Government planned to take.

Meanwhile, a prominent organisation of local Muslim leaders titled the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama released a statement condemning the violence in Bangladesh and calling for co-existence between the different religions.