2,000 Christians unite against Islamic extremists in Bangladesh

Chiqui Guyjoco Saturday, June 25, 2016

About 2,000 Christians in Bangladesh united in prayer Monday, June 20 amid the surge of Islamic extremism that submerged the country in a spate of violence.

Christians of various denominations participated in a simultaneous prayer gathering in the Archdiocese of Dhaka and the Diocese of Khulna to denounce the terror attacks performed by Islamic extremists against religious minorities, secular intellectuals, and liberal activists.

"We live in fear because every day ordinary folks become victims of Islamic militants," Fr. Kamal Corraya told AsiaNews. "For this reason, we urged Christian leaders to call on humanity to wake up."

People observe a sit-in protest around a national flag of Bangladesh with a map of the country on it, made by flowers, as they attend a mass demonstration at Shahbagh intersection, demanding capital punishment for Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami senior leader Abdul QuaderMollah, after a war crimes tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment, in Dhaka February 9, 2013. Thousands of protesters rallied in cities across Bangladesh to demand the execution of an Islamist leader sentenced to life in prison for war crimes committed during the 1971 independence conflict. Picture taken February 9, 2013. | REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

Since February 2013, a series of machete killings killed more than 30 individuals. The Islamic State and Al-Qaeda groups both claimed responsibility for the killings but home-grown militant groups disputed their claims and took ownership as well.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina denied the existence of IS and Al-Qaeda in the country and instead blamed the gruesome murders on her government's opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami, accusing them of trying to destabilize the country.

"All mankind cries because no one is safe in this country," Corraya said.

On June 10, Hasina vowed to bring to justice the perpetrators and launched the clampdown against the militants and extremists on a nation-wide scale. The murder of a top anti-terror officer's wife also further prompted the large scale police operation. Just three days after the police raids began, the anti-crime drive already arrested more than 8,000 suspects.

"Let us pray that this will become a country of unity, peace and harmony," Mgr Patrick D'Rozario, archbishop of Dhaka, told AsiaNews.

In a country where Christians are considered minorities, D'Rozario said that the Christian community must unite in their prayer.

"Let us pray that dormant humanity become aware of the violence, murders committed in secret, and the persecution," he invoked. "May Almighty God bless [the terrorists] so that they change their minds."