Rome, Italy, Feb 24, 2011 / 01:09 am
More than 300 Muslims set fire to a town in Bangladesh in order to strip indigenous Christians, Hindus and Buddhists of their property.
The group of Muslim settlers set fire to the town of Rangamati in the Diocese of Chattagonag, Bangladesh on Feb. 17. According to the Fides news agency, news that the body of a missing Muslim man had been found was the pretext for carrying out what the Muslims called “an expedition to punish the town where indigenous peoples live.”
Other attacks on indigenous towns were reported in the region of Gulishakhali.
An eyewitness told Fides that recently, Muslim colonists have been expelling non-Muslim ethnic groups in order to take possession of their farmland. He said they are often successful because local officials do nothing to intervene and to guarantee the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
Bangladesh, located in southern Asia, is 89.7 percent Muslim, 9.2 percent Hindu, 0.7 percent Buddhist and 0.3 percent Christian.