Title: Bangladesh rights group confirms violence against Hindus
Author:  
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: Oct 22, 2001
URL: http://expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=3749

Dhaka, October 21: Thousands of minority Hindus have fled their homes to escape attacks blamed on the supporters of Bangladesh's new government, rights groups and news reports said on Sunday. 

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's new government, comprising a four-party alliance that includes two Islamic fundamentalist parties, denies the charges. 

Women's rights groups, however, said several persecuted families have fled to India from predominantly Muslim Bangladesh. Many others have taken shelter with relatives far from their attackers. 

"The minority Hindus have suffered harrowing torture, including rape of teenage girls, by gangs of supporters of the new government," Rokeya Kabir, head of Nari Pragati Sangha, a leading women's rights group, told reporters. 

Volunteers from Kabir's group visited dozens of predominantly Hindu villages in seven districts in the past two weeks. "Our volunteers have met with families whose women we raped. Many of them would not speak out for fear of more attacks," Kabir said. 

Anil Kumar Shil, a Hindu farmer, told another news conference that a gang of Zia's supporters raped his teenage daughter in a recent attack. The family has traveled to Dhaka, the capital from the northern district of Sirajganj. 

Hindus were targeted on the charge of supporting former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League Party in the October 1 Parliamentary elections. 

The polls were swept by Zia's four-party alliance, which includes the Islamic parties, Jamaat-e-Islami and Islamic Unity Council.