13th August, 2014
A mob of about 60 people armed with machetes, knives and iron rods raided a Catholic convent and beat up its nuns and priest – the Catholic mission in Rangpur district, 280 kilometres northwest of Bangladesh”s capital city Dhaka.
The attack was said to be the first attack of this kind in the country, according to the Bishop of the local diocese Dinajpur, Sebastian Tudu: "It”s unprecedented because nuns are highly respected in Bangladesh. The attack is obviously a targeted and planned attempt at intimidation."
The 7th July attack including attempted rape and looting began around 2am and lasted for nearly two hours; consequently the incident led to multiple protests by thousands of Christians across the country.
Speaking with World Watch Monitor, Father Anthony Sen, Secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission in the Catholic diocese of Dinajpur, said the assailants of Boldi Pukur Catholic mission had ulterior motives including the seizure of the church”s land.
According to UN-funded IRIN, a humanitarian news and analysis service, attacks on Bangladeshi minorities” property is increasingly common and “it is not clear whether Islamist politics is behind the violence, or whether bandits are taking advantage of political instability to seize land and other assets from vulnerable groups.”
Of Bangladesh”s 154 million people, Sunni Muslims constitute 90 per cent and Hindus 9 per cent, according to the 2001 census. The remaining one per cent are mainly Christian and Buddhist.
"One of the major reasons for the attacks is occupying land and assets. If repeated attacks take place, Hindus (or any religious minority group) will migrate and this will help local (lawbreakers) to occupy the land," Rana Dasgupta the general secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, told IRIN.
After a primary investigation, police found that a robbery had been committed in the convent but denied the allegation by clergy that the raid was a planned attack by local Muslims over a land dispute.
Rabiul Islam, inspector of Mithapukur police station under Rangpur district, told World Watch Monitor that robbery was the sole motive.
"Three teams perpetrated the robbery. We have arrested one team (12 people) so far. Our initial interrogation yielded that robbery was their motive," said Islam. Of the twelve, ten are Muslims and two are local tribespeople.
However Father Sen still isn”t convinced: "One of the robbers asked the nuns, while beating (them), about the documents of the case regarding a current land dispute between the church and a local influential political leader." (The church donated a piece of land to a school run by Muslims near the church. But the local political leader has tried to illegally occupy more of the church”s land).
"The robber also asked where the Father and the nuns get money to continue the case regarding the land dispute," said Sen.
The authority of the Catholic mission filed a robbery case in the nearby police, without reporting any names.
The Bishop of Dinajpur, Sebastian Tudu, said: "The most recent attack is clearly a targeted response to Catholics” commitment to the country”s poorest people."
