DHAKA, BANGLADESH, October 15, 2001: The new Home Minister of Bangladesh, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, has dismissed as “exaggerated” reports of attacks on religious minorities after the general election two weeks ago, saying he had personally visited some of the areas from where such reports had come, but found them baseless. Mr. Chowdhury called the news conference to explain the situation following a decision by the leaders of the Hindu community to cancel celebrations for a major festival to protest the attacks on them. However, the local Government Minister and Secretary General of the the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, admitted there was some truth in the reports, but claimed many of the reports were politically motivated and conspiratorial.
A daily summary of world news for Hindus and non-Hindus alike