Army removes Buddha statues from Bhujulichuk meditation centre

Army personnel have removed the statues of the Lord Buddha form the Bhujulichuk meditation centre, situated on a remote hilltop in Lakshmichari under Khagrachari district, sources from Lakshmichari said.

A member of Lakshmichari Union Parishad told chtnews.com on condition of anonymity that on 23 September a group of 20 - 22 Bangladesh Army soldiers led by Captain Islam, commander of Shuknachari Indra Singh Karbari Para camp, went to the meditation centre at Bhujulichuk hill. They took two villagers -- Sunil Chakma and Bhejallya Chakma of Shuknachari village -- along with them.

"The soldiers passed the night there, and came back the next morning, taking four statues of the Lord Buddha with them." the UP member said and added that they did not know where the statues had been kept.

He further said the army men at first asked Sunil and Bhejallya to carry the statues, but they refused saying they could not touch them (Buddha statues) without the permission of the Buddhist monks.

No Buddhist monks or novices were present when Buddha statues were being stolen.

Until 31 December 2007, when a group of army personnel from the same camp destroyed the Bhujulichuk Meditation centre for the third time, two fully ordained monks and a novice used to live there. (See Hill Watch Human Rights Forum report No. 3 titled "Army ransacks Buddhist temple in Lakshmichari") However, because of persistent harassment and pressure from the army they eventually had to leave the place, leaving the Buddha statues behind for the nearby villagers to take care of.

During another attack on 21 December last year, Captain Shohel declared: "we will not tolerate any 'Buddha house' here; we will build 'Allah's house'."

Ms Rina, an activist of the Hill Watch Human Rights Forum, told chtnews.com that they had verified the allegation and found it to be true. She said religious persecution and other forms of human rights abuses in the Chittagong Hill Tracts had increased dramatically since the state of emergency was imposed in the country.

chtnews.com
News No. 154/2008, October 02, 2008