BNP-Jamaat’s torture on voters in 2001: Murder threat to refrain minorities from voting

The violence and attacks on minorities increased at an alarming rate just before the 2001 elections. BNP-Jamaat terrorists beat and threatened more than half a hundred families to refrain from voting.

According to a news report by the Prothom Alo on October 1, 2001, the leaders of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islam and Chhatra Dal-Shibir systematically threatened the minorities to prevent them from going to the polling stations since the beginning of the election campaign in the district. As the election was approaching, the pressure on minorities was increasing.

Chintaharan Debnath of Charkali in Bhola town gave an account of the intimidation on minorities. He said that the terrorists ordered more than half a hundred families in his area not to go to the polling station night before the voting. Terrorists threatened to do harm and burn their houses if they voted. Some identified local terrorists of the BNP, accompanied by some armed terrorists from outside the localities, went from house to house and threatened to break their hands and feet if they go to the polling stations.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah said that minorities were being severely tortured for a month in the Charpata Union of Bhola-2 constituency. The BNP-Jamaat terrorists took away cattle from the herds of minorities and asked them to leave their houses and properties. Otherwise, they would kill everyone. He said that many families in this village fled their houses for safety.

Even before being elected, BNP and its war criminal ally Jamaat-e-Islam started showing their atrocities. They are always afraid of minorities because these people will never join BNP-Jamaat. They still consider the Hindus, Buddhists and Christians as their enemies. The people of Bengal will once again prove that such communal fundamentalism has no place in non-communal Bangladesh.