by MAHFUZ ANAM
“A Buddha statue stands amid the ruins of a Buddhist temple that was torched in Ramu in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sunday. Thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims angry over an alleged derogatory photo of the Islamic holy book Koran on Facebook set fires in at least 10 Buddhist temples and 40 homes near the southern border with Myanmar, authorities said Sunday.” PHOTO/AP/Jakarta Post
Political blame-game will only strengthen extremists
There should be no doubt in anybody’s mind as to the enormity and gravity of the meaning of what has happened at Ramu and in the adjoining areas. Never before in our history have places of worship of a religious minority been ravaged on such a large scale and in so deliberate a manner. Twelve Buddhist temples and more than 50 houses were burnt down and vandalised in a pre-planned manner. And these people are among the most peaceful, docile and non-violent that we have.
Just imagine the feelings of the Buddhist community and of the monks seeing their religious books and Holy Texts torn to bits and burnt, evidence of which was lying all around the destroyed temples for all to see. The best way to understand the agony of our Buddhist compatriots is to imagine how we would have felt if our Holy Book had been desecrated in any manner.
As The Daily Star and other print and electronic media reports make it clear, the whole tragic event was premeditated and carefully planned.
The natural question is: Who did it and for what purpose? Is it just to create unrest and tension in a disturbed region of our country? Is it to embarrass the government? Is it just to spoil the image of Bangladesh? Is it only to create misunderstanding between the majority Muslims and the Buddhists? The purpose, in our view, is far more sinister.
It is to weaken us as a people, as a country and as a culture. It is to hit at the very ethos of Bangladesh. It has been an attack on the very foundations of our state, our values and the principles of our Liberation War. And it has been done through using the religious sentiments of the majority Muslims.
It started with a posting on the social media Facebook. In the account of Uttam Kumar Burua, 25, an unknown Buddhist man, someone ‘tagged’ a picture that was insulting to the Muslim Holy Book. Facebook works on developing and enlarging the circle of online ‘friends’ who share messages, pictures, etc., between themselves. This ‘circle’ of friends grows exponentially as ‘friends’ of ‘friends’ and their ‘friends’ all become part of an ever widening group that grows all the time. In this scenario, anyone within a ‘circle of friends’ can ‘tag’ a picture on another’s account. In fact, that is how this social media links people.
That is how someone ‘tagged’ a picture that was insulting to us, the Muslims.
The Daily Star for more
(Thanks to Harsh Kapoor of SACW)