Dhaka, Feb 9 (IANS) As Bangladesh readies to hold national election on February 12, minorities in the South Asian nation feel the insecurity more profoundly, a report has highlighted.

Quoting Bruce Allen of the Forgotten Missionaries International (FMI), a report in Mission Network News stated: “The social climate in Bangladesh has been one of uncertainty. FMI partners tell Allen that under the current caretaker government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, there’s an indifference to the rising militance in the country, so persecution has increased, anger, as well as rising price of commodities. It’s been a mess”.

According to the report, people of Bangladesh are looking forward to this election and there is also a sense of “We don’t like where the country is right now.” Another issue that is noteworthy is that Gen-Z momentum has fractured in Bangladesh. In December last year, the student-led National Citizen Party formed a multi-party alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, a party which has checkered past.

“Allen says minorities in Bangladesh, such as Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, feel the insecurity even more profoundly. Pray for us, for wisdom, for clarity as we speak. Since radical Muslims are being energised by the current chaos, the church planters and their congregations really face a lot of threats,” the Mission Network News stated.

Pastor “Mintu” and his congregation were about to break ground for constructing a church when their formerly willing Muslim neighbours stopped them from doing it. The work on the construction of the church has remained halted for the past year and a half.

According to Allen, many Christians in Bangladesh do not live on land that they own but on lands owned by government and their Muslim neighbours can evict them at any time. Allen stated that Christian community has a delicate relationship with their Muslim neighbours as the “Muslim majority wields all the power” in Bangladesh.

On February 2, media reports, quoting a study, claimed that Bangladesh has witnessed more than 50 attacks on minority communities in recent times in addition to election-related violence, harassment, and killings of political leaders, activists and potential candidates.

At least 15 political leaders and activists have been killed across the country in the last 36 days following the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming 13th national election, according to a study by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), reported Dhaka-based The Business Standard.

Activists claimed that more than 50 attacks on minority communities has raised serious concerns in Bangladesh. According to the study, a total of 401 incidents of political violence were recorded last year, leaving 102 people dead.

Additionally, at least 1,333 weapons have gone missing, added the report. It warned that the failure to recover this large cache of weapons looted from police stations, along with initiatives to issue new firearms licences to political personalities could further increase the risk of violence.

The TIB report also spoke of doubts raised by political parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizen Party (NCP), and Islami Andolan Bangladesh, questioning if a level playing field could be ensured.

Political parties have accused the Election Commission of bias in scrutinising nominations and cancelling candidacies over loan default and dual citizenship, it added. Incidentally, the Awami League is banned from participating in any political activity in Bangladesh.

The TIB findings, part of a research report titled ‘One and a half years after the fall of authoritarianism: Expectations and outcomes’, released on February 2 also mentioned a growing threat from deepfakes and misinformation.

–IANS

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