Buddhist Temple Destroyed in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, government leaders are blaming opposition parties and what they call "Islamic radicals" for attacks on Buddhists. Temples have been set on fire in the country, apparently after photos appeared on Facebook showing the Quran being desecrated. But there might have been other more complex causes for the violence, and some think the attacks were premeditated. Al Jazeera's Nicholas Haque reports from Ramu in southern Bangladesh.

Muslim Protesters Torch Buddhist Temples, Homes in Bangladesh
REUTERS.COM: COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh - Hundreds of Muslims in Bangladesh burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday after complaining that a Buddhist man had insulted Islam, police and residents said.

Members of the Buddhist minority in the Cox's Bazar area in the southeast of the country said unidentified people were bent on upsetting peaceful relations between Muslims and Buddhists.

Muslims took to the streets in the area late on Saturday to protest against what they said was a photograph posted on Facebook that insulted Islam.

The protesters said the picture had been posted by a Buddhist and they marched to Buddhist villages and set fire to temples and houses.

Police said they had deployed extra security forces and banned gatherings in Buddhist-dominated areas. » | Reporting by Nurul Islam; Writing by Anis Ahmed; Editing by Robert Birsel | Reuters | Sunday, September 30, 2012

Eid Spurs Bangladesh Holiday Rush
Aug. 18 - Thousands of people pack onto overflowing trains and ferries as they head outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, to celebrate Eid al-fitr with their families. Jessica Gray reports.

Clinton 'Hurt' by Charges of Anti-Islam US Bias

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was hurt by the idea that the United States was against Islam, during a public forum in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Clinton claims the US has gone farther than most countries to guarantee legal protections for minorities.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday she was deeply hurt by charges that the United States was biased against Muslims, staunchly defending her country's record in protecting minorities.

Clinton, visiting the world's third largest Muslim-majority country Bangladesh, was asked by a student at a public forum about perceptions that the United States was against Islam.

"That hurts me so much," Clinton said. "It's a painful perception to hear about and I deeply regret that anyone believes that or propagates it."

Clinton said that the decade of US-led war was "self-defense" after the September 11, 2001 attacks by Al-Qaeda and said extremists "perverted" the teachings of Islam. » | AFP | Sunday, May 06, 2012

Leading British Muslim Leader Faces War Crimes Charges in Bangladesh
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: One of Britain's most important Muslim leaders is to be charged with war crimes, investigators and officials have told The Sunday Telegraph

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, director of Muslim spiritual care provision in the NHS, a trustee of the major British charity Muslim Aid and a central figure in setting up the Muslim Council of Britain, fiercely denies any involvement in a number of abductions and "disappearances" during Bangladesh's independence struggle in the 1970s.

He says the claims are "politically-motivated" and false.

However, Mohammad Abdul Hannan Khan, the chief investigator for the country's International Crimes Tribunal, said: "There is prima facie evidence of Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin being involved in a series of killings of intellectuals.

"We have made substantial progress in the case against him. There is no chance that he will not be indicted and prosecuted. We expect charges in June."

Mr Mueen-Uddin could face the death penalty if convicted. » | Andrew Gilligan, Dhaka | Sunday, April 15, 2012

Bangladesh Retains Islam as State Religion
AFP: DHAKA — Bangladesh's government will retain Islam as the country's official state religion despite pledges by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to restore the state's secular character, a minister said Tuesday.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 150 million, was declared a secular republic in 1972 but a series of constitutional amendments by two military dictators abandoned the principle and made Islam the state religion in 1988.

Since coming to power two years ago, Hasina has taken steps to restore secularism, but a package of constitutional amendments approved by her cabinet Monday stopped short of full reform.

"Islam will remain the state religion," Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed told AFP, adding that Bangladeshi Hindus, Buddhists and Christians would be allowed to practice their religions freely. » | AFP | Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Bangladesh Retains Islam as State Religion

ON ISLAM: DHAKA – Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced her support for retaining Islam as the state religion in the Bengali constitution, relinquishing articles in 1972 constitution about the secular nature of the state, Indo Asian News Service (IANS) reported on Tuesday, May 31.

The government would like “Bismillah Rahman-ur-Rahim; meaning ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate’,” retained, Sheikh Hasina told a special parliamentary committee formed to study changes in the constitution in the light of Supreme Court verdicts on Monday.

Hasina’s aids explained that the decision was issued as the ethos of the majority of the population could not be ignored.

Bangladesh is the world's third-largest Muslim majority nation with a population of some 148 million.

The country has a secular legal system but in matters related to inheritance and marriage Muslims follow Sharia'h. » | OnIslam & News Agencies | Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Bangladesh Clerics Arrested after Girl Whipped to Death
THE GUARDIAN: Fourteen-year-old accused of relationship with married man given 70 lashes

Police in Bangladesh have arrested four Islamic clerics after a teenage girl accused of having a relationship with a married man was whipped to death. >>> Associated Press | Thursday, February 03, 2011

Muslim Charged with Plotting Genocide of Canadian Jews
THE TELEGRAPH: A Muslim immigrant who called for "the slaughter of Jews" in online postings has become the first person to be charged with promoting genocide in Canada, police said on Friday.

Salman Hossain, a 25-year-old from Bangladesh who apparently left Canada in May, was charged with five counts of promoting hatred and advocating or promoting genocide over postings on his website and blog, as well as on a third-party website, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said.

He "wilfully promoted hatred and advocated genocide of the Jewish community," said a statement.

Until now, Canada has only prosecuted suspects accused of mass atrocities abroad, in countries such as Rwanda. The Canadian government has also deported war crimes suspects to be tried in foreign courts.

Mr Hossain, who immigrated to Canada as a child, openly called for "violent regime change in Western nations in order to remove the presence of Jews" and "the slaughter of Jews," according to reports.

He also advocated terrorist attacks in Canada, cheered the killing of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, and urged fellow Muslims to overthrow the "Jewish-run Canadian government". >>> | Saturday, July 10, 2010

Bangladeshi Man Beheaded to Redden Bricks
THE TELEGRAPH: A Bangladeshi man was beheaded by labourers who burnt his head in a kiln in the belief this would redden their bricks, police said on Sunday.

Four suspects were arrested for murdering the 26-year-old bricklayer in a remote town in northern Bangladesh on the instructions of the brick-field's owners, said Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan, a local police chief.

"They said the owners were unhappy as the brick-field was not producing reddish bricks despite enough heating. A fortune teller then suggested that the brick-field needed a human sacrifice," he said. >>> | Sunday, March 21, 2010

Mein Kampf a Hit on Dhaka Streets
BBC: Booksellers touting their wares amid the heavy traffic in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, have discovered an unusual best-seller.

Adolf Hitler's autobiography manifesto Mein Kampf is selling as well as Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol.

The street vendors in Dhaka are found at every major road junction and intersection.

Most of the sellers are young boys and many compete with beggars to attract the attention of motorists.

Last week, Mein Kampf did unusually well because many bought the book to give it away as an Eid present. >>> Alastair Lawson, BBC News, Dhaka | Friday, November 27, 2009

British-run Orphanage in Bangladesh 'Is Islamist Training Camp'
Green Crescent madrassa and orphanage was being used as a training camp for Islamic militants. Photo courtesy of TimesONline
TIMESONLINE: An orphanage run by a British charity in Bangladesh has been raided by local security forces who say that it was being used as a training camp and arms factory for Islamic militants.

The Rapid Action Battalion said today that it had arrested four people, including a teacher and three caretakers, and was searching for the head of the charity, a British citizen known only as Faisal.

The arrests came after a raid yesterday on the Green Crescent madrassa and orphanage on the remote southern island of Bhola, Lt Col Munir Haque, an officer involved in the operation, told The Times.

“We found small arms – about nine or 10 in total – plus equipment to make small arms, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, two walkie-talkies, two remote control devices and four sets of army uniforms,” he said.

“We also found enough explosives and other equipment to make several hundred grenades. We found some ordinary Islamic books, but others that are in line with extremists like bin Laden.” >>> | Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Taslima Nasreen: "Je suis contre tous les fondamentalismes"
leJDD.fr: Exclusif. Stockholm, Berlin, New York, Calcutta... Depuis 1994, Taslima Nasreen mène une vie d'exil. Ses prises de position en faveur de l'émancipation des femmes lui ont valu une fatwa dans son pays, le Bangladesh. Ces dernières années, l'écrivaine avait finalement trouvé refuge en Inde. Mais ce "pays frère" l'a à son tour chassée. A partir du 1er février, c'est à Paris qu'elle s'installe.

Etes-vous heureuse de venir vivre en France?
J'ai toujours aimé Paris. J'ai toujours aimé vivre en France. Paris est d'ailleurs le meilleur endroit pour vivre, après le Bangladesh et l'Inde. Mais je ne peux plus vivre dans ces pays. Les portes du Bangladesh et de l'Inde me sont fermées. Je suis donc très contente de pouvoir vivre en France.

La mairie de Paris met un studio à votre disposition, dans une résidence d'artistes. Le loyer est pris en charge par la ville pendant une durée déterminée. Qu'en est-il?
C'est juste pour six mois. J'apprécie l'aide de la Ville de Paris. Mais je suis à la recherche d'un endroit permanent. Un endroit où je pourrais vraiment m'installer, rapporter mes affaires qui sont restées en Inde. Un endroit où je pourrais commencer à vivre ma nouvelle vie. Je n'ai pas besoin d'un lieu temporaire mais permanent. Si après ces six mois, je ne peux pas me le permettre à Paris, je chercherai un endroit moins cher dans un autre pays.

Après de violentes manifestations communautaires à Hyderabad en 2007, le gouvernement indien a décidé de vous placer en résidence surveillée...
J'ai vécu en Inde durant les quatre dernières années. Puis des fondamentalistes m'ont attaqué. Ils ont émis une fatwa et demandé ma tête. Ils n'aimaient pas mes idées. Au lieu de prendre des sanctions contre ces musulmans fondamentalistes, le gouvernement indien s'en est pris à moi. J'ai vécu en résidence surveillée pendant sept mois et demi. Puis le gouvernement indien m'a demandé de partir (en mars 2008, ndlr). Depuis, mon existence est modeste. Je n'ai plus d'endroit où aller. >>> Propos recueillis par Marianne ENAULT, leJDD.fr | Jeudi 29 Janvier 2009

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London Doctor Is Held as Forced Marriage Hostage
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Race is on to release trainee GP lured to Bangladesh by family, held captive, beaten, and about to marry a stranger against her will. Nina Lakhani reports

British lawyers were this weekend working frantically to rescue a London doctor who has been beaten and held captive in Bangladesh in an attempt to force her into marriage. Dr Humayra Abedin, known as Dorothy to her friends, this weekend faces being forced to marry a complete stranger, unless efforts by lawyers to free her, using new powers, succeed.

Dr Abedin is being held hostage by her family in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, where she is thought to have been gagged, bound and violently beaten to get her to comply with her parents' wishes. The 33-year-old trainee GP is depressed, suicidal and without hope, according to an email she managed to send to a close friend last Friday. This is the first time friends have heard from Dr Abedin for more than three months.

Her parents and uncle were yesterday served with a Forced Marriage Order issued by the British High Court on Friday. Dr Abedin, who has worked as a doctor in the Britain since 2002, is among the first cases to be heard under the Forced Marriage Act which came into force on 25 November. The move came after the family ignored orders from the Bangladeshi high court to bring Dr Abedin to court.

The new legislation allows judges to issue protection orders to prevent forced marriage and help to rescue victims who have already been married off. Those convicted of forcing people into marriage can be jailed for up to two years. >>> | December 7, 2008

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