The Bangladesh Government has, of course, sought to play down the scale of the atrocities. In a recent statement in the country's Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament), the country's Home Minister, Mr Altaf Hussain Choudhury, put the number of those killed and raped over a period of 25 days at 266 and 213 respectively. While these figures are high enough, the actual incidence of the crimes appears to have been much higher. Governments invariably seek to understate the extent of violence and atrocities on all such occasions....". President Carter was one of the election monitors of 2001 Bangladeshi election. Prof. Amirtya Sen was then in New Delhi meeting Shabna Ajmi's husband Javed Akhtar for some private matter.

Owaisi’s secularism seeks special privileges for Muslims

Dr. Atul C. Sarma ---- Louisville, KY: With reference to the news item —Muslims are forced to take to fundamentalism: Owaisi —reported by J.V. Lakshamana Rao in India Tribune dated September 1, I have to state that Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi did a highly fabricated and divisive disservice to India. His presentation was based on full of misinformation, if not disinformation, to divide our North American Indian community as well as our multi-dimensional society back in the country. Contrary to the spirit of the nation, Owaisi insinuated his support to the fundamentalism leading to further propagation of terrorism in the pretext of “fundamental rights of Indian Muslims” in “secular India.” I wish being an MP, Owaisi would respect the essence of secularism. Democratic secularism does not imply any political empowerment, special privileges, quota system and specific consideration on the basis of religions, castes and creeds. Through ages, there is coexistence among all religions — Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism and others — until opportunistic leaders tend to crack on the pillar of the Indian secularism. As he stated, for the lack of education, economic conditions and other socio-cultural disparities, the Muslims of India have been led to fundamentalism, then to terrorism. When more than 80 percent of the population — irrespective of religious, linguistic and cultural diversity, are living in identical impoverishment, if not worst than the Muslims of India, what could be the motive of political leaders, like Owaisi, behind such irresponsible analysis? India’s educational, economic and employment scenario does not build on any basis other than national reality. Being an Indian immigrant of Assam origin, I am staggered to reading the Owaisi’s statistical analysis on Assam. He stated that Assam’s current Islamic population is 40 percent; but he skillfully avoided to report the true story of the Northeast India’s population demography. Prior to the creation of Islamic Pakistan and secular India, the indigenous Islamic population of the greater Assam (now divided into six states) was less than 5 percent. After creation of the hills states (predominantly Christians), the Islamic population of Assam during division time increased to about 10 percent, because the hill states have been protected from non-indigenous people. Starting about 1960s, the Islamic population of Assam is mushrooming disproportionately. Now, it is 40 percent as per Owaisi’s data, which was less than 30 percent a few years ago. Could Owaisi tell the truth to explain how this demographic disproportion is taking place in Assam? The answer is easy to find: The continuous migration of Bangladeshi Islamic people into Assam at the behest of national Islamic organizations and leaders, the sinister design of mapping Assam as Muslim majority region is easy to achieve. The politics over this invasion has been a pain for Assam through the last four decades. Today there is very little forest and government land left where there are no Bangla-deshi settlers. Taking Islamic Jehadi assistance from outside, thousands of Madrasas are being built which become a breeding ground of fundamentalists and terrorists. The India government has due documents that the bombing in Gujarat, Hyderbad and other places of the country have roots in Bangladesh via Assam. As many as 80 percent of terrorist bombings in Assam have been conducted by Islamic individuals. It is also known that Jehadi entities of Islamic networks have link with the Northeast terrorist elements to continue subversive activities. For example, the killing of Hindi-speaking people living in Assam along with indigenous people, has been conducted by those elements aided by Bangla-deshi and Pakistani Jehadis promoting more intrusion of Bangladeshi Islamic people. Today, Bangladesh is the haven for the Northeast terrorist leaders relaying subversive terrorizing activities in the Northeast. The unique social culture of Assam/the Northeast India stood tall with amicable and peaceful coexistence of people belonging to Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and others through its entire history until the chaos of hatred, jealousy, and conflict of incompetence (the root cause of so-called global fundamentalism alias terrorism) started along with the massive invasion of Bangladeshi Islamic Jehadis. The government employment, referred to by Owaisi, would have to be satisfactory to Islam only if all the Bangladeshi invaders are being employed prior to the employment of hundreds and thousands of unemployed indigenous young men and women of the land. Let us be human first, then Indian. Our faith, language, culture and diversity must not stain the great sense of secularism in India. The today’s history of mankind depicts the evils created out of hatred, jealousy and inferiority complex through out the world. India must continue the vision of unity, peace and solidarity. A religion is not a human religion if it does not teach unity for one and all. A language is not a human language if it does not speak to the mankind. A culture that does not respect socio-cultural assimilation, it cannot be a human culture.

  ---------