BANGLADESH and PAKISTAN - the destruction of Buddhism

and Hinduism
Lee Jay Walker Dip BA MA
The partition of India led to chaos and hundreds of thousands of people were
murdered. After this chaos divisions would emerge between East Pakistan
and West Pakistan and further bloodshed would occur, with the outcome
being the sovereign nations of Bangladesh and Pakistan. However, while
India remained to be multi-religious, the opposite happened in Bangladesh
and Pakistan and religious minorities faced enormous problems and
persecution.
To make matters worse both Bangladesh and Pakistan would witness the
gradual Islamization of their societies, notably Pakistan, and massive
corruption and persecution of women would continue. The Islamization of
both nations was especially traumatic for Hindus in Pakistan and Buddhists in
Bangladesh; and not surprisingly Islamic persecution of minorities in both
nations re-awakened anti-Islamic feelings in India.
For unlike the destruction of Buddhism in Afghanistan, which happened
centuries earlier because of Islamic conquests, persecution and controlling
all leverages of power; the Islamization of Bangladesh and Pakistan took
place in the twentieth century and continues today. Yet why were Buddhism
and Hinduism being allowed to be destroyed in both nations? After all,
Buddhists in Bangladesh were a small minority and they could never
threaten Islam; the same applies to Hindus in Pakistan.
Therefore, why did other nations remain quiet when massive religious
persecution was taking place? For nations like France, the United Kingdom
and United States were espousing 'democracy' and liberals were glorifying
multi-faith societies and stating that Islam was a religion of peace. At the
same time major institutions like the Commonwealth, which espoused global
human rights, remained quiet when religious genocide was taking place in
Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In Pakistan the destruction of Hinduism and persecution of Hindus took many
forms. The first path was the massacre of Hindus during partition and forcing
Hindus to leave via coercion. However, over the last 50 years the
destruction of Hinduism in modern day Pakistan was based on past Islamic
global conquests and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed who
sanctioned the persecution of non-Muslims. For the Prophet Mohammed had
told his followers to 'Fight those who believe not in God nor the last day . . .
Nor acknowledge the religion of truth (Islam) . . .’ Therefore, the followers of
Hinduism were to be subdued in accordance with the teachings of Islamic
Sharia Law, the Koran and Hadiths.
Given this, Hindus were now a subdued minority, like Christians in Pakistan,
and they were unequal in law and status in accordance with the teachings of
Islam. At the same time Hindu temples were often converted into Muslim
mosques or destroyed, and ancient Hindu architectures were destroyed. The
choice for many Hindus was either to convert to Islam in order to escape
persecution, flee to India or to accept that they were second-class citizens in
Pakistan and resign themselves to being persecuted. Not surprisingly
Hinduism in Pakistan continued to decline and this civilization was being
eradicated by Islam.
The situation for Buddhists in Bangladesh was different, for Buddhism had
survived countless Islamic conquests in one region because of terrain and
other factors; therefore, Buddhists and other faiths had survived in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts. However, the increasing population of Bangladesh led
to problems and the government of Bangladesh hoped 'to kill two birds with
one stone.' This applies to moving millions of people to remote parts of
Bangladesh, notably the Chittagong Hill Tracts, while at the same time this
new Islamic migration would crush the mainly Buddhist tribal opposition in
this region.
Therefore, millions of Muslim migrants were moved into the Chittagong Hill
Tracts and the mainly tribal Buddhists (some tribals are Christian, Hindu or
follow traditional beliefs) became embroiled in a civil war. Islamic radicals
also moved into this region and many Buddhist priests were killed, including
some being beheaded. At the same time hundreds of Buddhist temples were
destroyed and the Bangladesh army took part in many massacres, and some
Buddhist women were gang-raped by both Islamic zealots and the
Bangladesh army.
In time the mainly Buddhist tribals were overwhelmed by the armed forces of
Bangladesh and Muslim migration. Their situation, however, went unnoticed
in the West and Islamic nations obviously remained silent. To make matters
worse, the mainly Buddhist tribes had no nation supporting them and no
major world leader to draw attention to their plight. Given this, the
government of Bangladesh continued with their policy of persecuting
Buddhists while Muslim migration Islamized the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Therefore, the destruction of thousands of years of Hindu/Buddhist
civilization in these nations destroyed. It is clear that mainly Buddhist
nations like Japan (and Shinto), Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Vietnam, and others, should form an organization to help their co-religionists;
with Japan being the main financial power to raise awareness of Buddhist
persecution.
If global silence continues then Buddhism will one day be eradicated in
Bangladesh. However, the global community did condemn the Taliban in
Afghanistan for destroying Buddhist statues and art, yet the same global
community remains quiet when Buddhist tribes are being systematically
persecuted. Does this mean that Buddhist art in Afghanistan is more
important than the persecution of Buddhist communities and the gang rape
of Buddhist women in Bangladesh?
Surely the Hindus of Pakistan and Buddhists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts
deserve better? If the international community remains silent about this
crime, then soon these lands will be Islamized and ethnically 'cleansed.' This
is a shame for regional nations and the global community, for they are
leaving the most vulnerable and 'voiceless' without any hope. Are you
alarmed, if not, why?
http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/LJWalker30916.htm