Delivered at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council by CFI’s main representative to the UN, Michael De Dora:
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Hindu Priest Murdered in Bangladesh; Police Arrest Three Linked to Islamic Extremist Groups
The Guardian reports on a disturbing story out of Bangladesh:
Suspected Islamist militants have stabbed to death a Hindu priest at a temple in Bangladesh and shot and wounded a devotee who went to his aid.
Police said the attack on Sunday was perpetrated by a local militant group, while Islamic State claimed responsibility in a statement issued via social media.
Bangladesh has experienced a wave of militant violence in recent months, including a series of bomb attacks on mosques and Hindu temples.
Some of the attacks have been claimed by ISIS, which has said it was behind the killings of a Japanese citizen, an Italian aid worker and a policeman.
Five or six attackers cut the throat of the priest, Jogeshwar Roy, 55, as he was organising prayers at the Deviganj temple near Panchagar, 308 miles north of the capital, Dhaka, police said.
Fortunately, as CNN reports, police have since made arrests:
Bangladeshi police have arrested three people in connection with a religiously motivated attack on a Hindu priest and a devotee in the north of the country, a police official tells CNN.
The priest was killed and the devotee wounded Sunday in the latest attack on minority religious figures in the predominantly Muslim nation.
Two of those arrested are activists in the outlawed Islamist organization Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh, Police Inspector Muhammad Babul Akhter said. The other is a member of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamic political party.
They have been charged with murder and possession of weapons.
Despite media reports of claims of responsibility by ISIS, the official said that police have not found any evidence of a connection with the extremist group so far.
We will continue to track this story and provide updates when possible.
Bangladeshi Bloggers and Academics Fear for Safety After ‘List’ of Targets Published
From The Telegraph:
Bangladeshi bloggers, academics and writers living in Britain say they fear for their safety after being named on a “kill list” apparently written by a militant Islamic group.
Although some have shrugged off the threat as a fake, others say their safety could still be jeopardised by lone wolf attackers acting on their own initiative.
The list, whose masthead contained the logo of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, a group linked to the murders of four so called ‘atheist’ bloggersin Bangladesh earlier this year, sets out the names of 21 Bangladeshis living outside their home country, nine of whom live in Britain.
It said that unless the Bangladeshi nationality of those listed was cancelled, “we will find them and kill them immediately”.
You can read the full article here.