Portuguese saint triggers devotion in Bangladesh

A devotee kisses the statue of St. Anthony. (Photo: Piyas Biswas/UCA News)

For the past three years, Badhon Gomes has started preparing several weeks in advance for the annual pilgrimage at St. Anthony of Padua shrine in Panjora village in Bangladesh's Gazipur district.

Gomes, 30, is a Catholic from Parowan, one of 16 villages including Panjora that make up St. Nicholas of Tolentino Church (1695) of Nagari, one of the oldest Catholic churches in the country.

For the fourth consecutive year, Gomes coordinated distribution of free lunches to hundreds of devotees of the Portuguese saint during the annual feast day, celebrated on Feb. 7.

“We offered free meals to 500 devotees, but our target was more than 1,000. Due to restrictions on vehicle movements around the shrine, many devotees missed out,” the father of one told UCA News.

Christian and Hindu villagers from Parowan and neighboring Bhasania, under St. Augustine of Hippo Catholic Church, have been supporting the initiative. Between 800 and 1,200 people have received free food from Gomes’ group in the past three years.

“It is a matter of pride that we have St. Anthony shrine in our area. People believe they can receive special blessings from the great saint by serving his devotees,” Gomes added.

Panjora village houses a chapel with a small but extremely popular centuries-old statue of St. Anthony that is believed to have miraculous power to fulfil any wish of devotees.

The shrine, under Dhaka Archdiocese, is the most popular among about the dozen Catholic shrines in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Other shrines are mostly dedicated to Mother Mary, barely attracting 5,000 to 7,000 devotees during annual pilgrimages.

This year two Masses at St. Anthony shrine drew more than 70,000 devotees including Hindus and Muslims. About 6,000 devotees attended every day during the nine-day novena preceding the feast day, church officials said.

Bangladesh tea workers: A legacy of neglect and servitude

A worker at a tea estate in Srimangal in Bangladesh's Moulvibazar district. Despite a production boom, tea workers live a life of misery due to poor wages and denial of basic rights. (Photo: Stephan Uttom/UCA News)

It's been nearly three decades and counting since Sabuj Tanti started working as a laborer at Khadim Tea Estate in the Sylhet district of northeast Bangladesh.

"This is our ancestral profession and we have no vocational skills. That's why we have been stuck here for more than 150 years," he told UCA News.

Sabuj, 43, a lower-caste Hindu from Tanti community, is the fifth generation of tea workers from his family. Yet this father of four daughters wants all his children to get out of the tea estate. Three of his daughters, except the youngest of two-and-half years-old, go to school.

"I don't want my daughters to become tea workers like me. I want them to get an education and have a better life. I didn't have the opportunity to get an education, so I have been stuck in the tea estate forever," he said.

Sabuj sees no future in the tea industry under the current circumstances.

Muslims gather for peace, tolerance and solidarity in Bangladesh

Tens of thousands of Muslims throng the grounds of Bishwa Ijtema at Tongi, Gazipur district, near Dhaka, to join Friday prayers on Jan. 17. (Photo: Stephan Uttom/UCA News)

Muhammad Alimuddin and his friends took a 12-hour bus journey and traveled more than 400 kilometers from Tetulia in Panchagarh district to Tongi in Gazipur district.

They braved the chilly winter weather with one purpose — to join tens of thousands of fellow devotees at Bishwa Ijtema (World Gathering) on the banks of the River Turag, about 22km from Dhaka.

This annual congregation is the second largest Islamic gathering in the world after the hajj in Mecca.

Dhaka’s festival of ‘kites and lights’ promotes harmony

Young people release a paper lantern during the traditional Shakrain festival in old Dhaka on Jan. 14, 2020.  The festival is hailed for its secular character. (Photo by Piyas Biswas)

As the feeble winter sun starts setting, thousands of residents of the old part of Dhaka, on the banks of the Buriganga, clamber to their rooftops — to sing and dance, and to fly kites of various colors and shapes.

As dusk descends, the boisterous crowd start releasing hundreds of paper lanterns and firework. Some flamboyant groups arrange for daylong programs including music concerts, parties and fire-breathing by brave young men.

Men, women and children from all faiths—Muslims, Hindus and Christians — greet each other and offer sweets and traditional pithas (homemade cakes).

The narrow streets of Old Dhaka get overcrowded as residents and visitors rush to celebrate the feast in whatever way they can.

This unique feast is Shakrain, which marks the start of the sun’s northward journey at the end of Poush, the ninth month of the local calendar. It also marks the end of the winter solstice and the start of longer days.

This year, Shakrain fell on Jan. 14-15.

South Asia’s rape scourge and moral degradation

Parents protest against the school authorities after a eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a school boy, at the Sacred Heart Convent School in Beas in India's Punjab state on December 16, 2019. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP)

Seven years after the brutal gang rape and death of a college student on a bus in India’s federal capital New Delhi, a Court issued an execution order for four convicts on Jan. 7.

The 2012 barbaric assault on a 23-year-old medical student triggered massive street demonstrations and a nationwide reckoning over rape and sexual violence against women in India.

It led to changes in the anti-rape law, including the introduction of the death penalty. But changes in legislation have done little to change the scenario in India.

In 2018, India was ranked the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman due to the high risk of sexual violence and slave labor, according to a global survey by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Each day on average, some 100 women are raped in India. In 2016, India recorded 39,608 rape cases, at least 520 of them of children below the age of six, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau.

A burning flame of enlightenment for 100 years

Guests and dignitaries on stage during the 100-year jubilee celebrations of church-run St. Nicholas High School in Gazipur district near Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Jan. 2. (Photo: Robin Noel)

Subir Kashmir Pereira is disappointed that he missed out on an event that he had been looking forward to for years: attending the centenary jubilee celebrations of his beloved alma mater, St. Nicholas High School.

Geographical distance and other complications restricted him from attending the Catholic school's reunion in the first week of January.

Pereira, 49, is a Bangladeshi-born American citizen who settled in Maryland in 2007 with his wife and daughter.

St. Nicholas, where he studied from 1988 to 1991, is located in Nagari in Gazipur district of central Bangladesh, about 40 kilometers from the capital Dhaka.

"When the school marked 75 years [in 1995], I could not attend due to personal reasons. I told myself that I would have to attend the 100-year jubilee, but I missed out again. This failure is likely to upset me for the rest of my life," said Pereira, a Catholic.

Employed at a pharmacy of a multinational company in the US capital Washington, Pereira was a youth activist back home. He is also a seasoned poet with several titles published in recent years.

He credits his days at St. Nicholas, run by the Brothers of Holy Cross, for laying the foundation for what he has become today.

Bangladesh's dismal human rights record even murkier in 2019

A suspect inside a vehicle following a court verdict last October that sentenced 16 people to death over the murder of a 19-year-old female student who was burned alive last April in a crime that provoked outrage across Bangladesh. (Photo: AFP)

Rights activists including a leading church official have blamed poor law enforcement, a culture of impunity and negligence by state agencies for the increasing violations of human rights in Bangladesh.

In 2019, Bangladesh faltered in stopping human rights abuses such as extrajudicial killings, rape and sexual violence and curtailing of freedom of expression, according to a report by Ain-O-Salish Kendra (ASK), a rights watchdog based in Dhaka, published Dec. 31.

The human rights situation overview was based on media reports and ASK investigations.

Bangladesh recorded 388 extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in 2019, slightly lower than 466 cases in 2018, the ASK report said.

Rape cases almost doubled, from 732 in 2018 to 1,413. A total of 76 women were killed after being raped and 10 committed suicide, the ASK report revealed.

Some 487 children were killed and 1,696 were tortured in 2019, up from 419 and 1,011 respectively in the previous year.

A total of 1,087 children were raped or sexually assaulted, a massive rise from 444 cases in 2018.

Mob beatings claimed 65 people, most under the suspicion of being child kidnappers.

A total of 142 journalists were abused and harassed by law enforcement agency members, influential people, public representatives, miscreants and ruling party leaders and activists, mostly by exploiting repressive sections of the 2018 Digital Security Act.

জীবনের গল্প

নি‌ম্নের গল্পগু‌লি (গল্প ম‌নে হ‌লেও স‌ত্যি) অামা‌দের চারপা‌শের মানুষ ও জীবন সম্প‌র্কে ক‌তিপয় ভ্রান্ত ধারণা দূর কর‌তে সাহায্য কর‌বে।

টাইল‌সের ভেজা ফ্লো‌রে পা পিছ‌লে প‌ড়ে অার একটু হ‌লেই অামার মাথা ফাটতে যাচ্ছিল, ঠিক তার অাগ মূহ‌ু‌র্তে হুইল‌চেয়া‌রে বসা ছে‌লে‌টি অামা‌কে ধ‌রে ফে‌লে। সে বলল, "‌বিশ্বাস করুন অার নাই করুন, বিগত ৩ বছর অা‌গে ঠিক এভা‌বেই অামার পি‌ঠে মারাত্নক অাঘাত পে‌য়ে‌ছিলাম।"

অামার বাবা ব‌লে‌ছি‌লেন, "যাও, যা কর‌তে চাও, ত‌ার জন্য চেষ্টা চা‌লি‌য়ে যাও। এক‌টি সফল প্রোডাক্ট তৈ‌রির জন্য তোমা‌কে পেশাদার হওয়ার প্র‌য়োজন নেই। অানা‌ড়ি লো‌কেরাই গুগল ও অ্যাপল প্র‌তিষ্ঠা ক‌রে‌ছে। পেশাদার লো‌কেরা বা‌নি‌য়ে‌ছিল টাইটা‌নিক।"

অাম‌ি অামার গুরু‌কে--৭০'র দশ‌কের অত্যন্ত সফল একজন ব্যবসায়ী--‌জি‌জ্ঞেস করলাম জীব‌নে সফল হওয়ার জন্য তার সেরা ৩টি টিপস কী। ঈষৎ হে‌সে তি‌নি উত্তর দি‌লেন, "এমন কিছু প‌ড়ো যা কেউ পড়‌ছে না, এমন কিছু ভা‌বো যা কেউ ভাব‌ছে না, এবং এমন কিছু ক‌রো যা কেউ কর‌ছে না।"

ম‌নো‌বিজ্ঞান ক্লা‌সের এক‌টি রিসার্চ পেপা‌রের অংশ হি‌সে‌বে অা‌মি অামার ঠাকুরমা‌র সাক্ষাৎকার নিলাম। তা‌কে জি‌জ্ঞেস করলাম তার ভাষায় জীব‌নের সাফ‌ল্য কী। তি‌নি বল‌লেন, "যখন তু‌মি জীব‌নে পিছন ফি‌রে তাকাবে ও দে‌খবে তোমার স্মৃ‌তিগু‌লো তোমার মু‌খে হা‌সি ফু‌টি‌য়ে তুল‌ছে, সেটাই হ‌লো সাফল্য।"

অা‌মি একজন জন্মান্ধ। যখন অামার বয়স অাট, তখন অামার বেসবল খেলার ই‌চ্ছে হয়। বাবা‌কে জি‌জ্ঞেস করলাম, "বাবা, অা‌মি কি বেসবল খেল‌তে পা‌রি?" বাবা বল‌লেন, "য‌দি তু‌মি চেষ্টা ক‌রো ত‌বেই না তু‌মি তা জান‌তে পার‌বে।" যখন অামি বয়:প্রাপ্ত হলাম, তখন বাবা‌কে জি‌জ্ঞেস করলাম, "বাবা, অা‌মি কি শল্য‌চি‌কিৎসক (সার্জন) হ‌তে পার‌বো?" তি‌নি বল‌লেন, "‌বাছা, য‌দি তু‌মি চেষ্টা ক‌রো ত‌বেই না তু‌মি তা জান‌তে পার‌বে।" অাজ অা‌মি একজন সার্জন হ‌য়ে‌ছি, কারণ অা‌মি চেষ্টা ক‌রে‌ছি।

ফায়ার সা‌র্ভিস স্টেশ‌নে ৭২ ঘন্টা ডিউ‌টি শে‌ষে অা‌মি যখন এক মুদী দোকা‌নে, একজন ম‌হিলা দৌঁ‌ড়ে এ‌সে অামা‌কে জ‌ড়ি‌য়ে ধর‌লো। অা‌মি একটু হকচ‌কি‌য়ে গেলাম, সে বুঝ‌তে পার‌লো যে অা‌মি তা‌কে ঠিক চিন‌তে পা‌রি নি। চো‌খে অানন্দ‌মি‌শ্রিত অশ্রু নি‌য়ে ও কৃতজ্ঞতাপূর্ণ হা‌সি দি‌য়ে সে বলল, "২০০১ সা‌লের ১১ সে‌প্টেম্বর অাপ‌নি অামা‌কে ওয়ার্ল্ড ট্রেড সেন্টা‌রের ধবংসস্তুপ থে‌কে বের ক‌রে এ‌নে‌ছি‌লেন।"

অামার প্রিয় কুকুর‌টি গা‌ড়ি চাপা প‌ড়ে মারা যায়। রাস্তার পা‌শে ব‌সে অা‌মি তা‌কে জ‌ড়ি‌য়ে ধ‌রে কাঁদ‌ছিলাম। মৃত্যুর অাগ মূহু‌র্তে সে অামার মুখমন্ড‌লের অশ্রু সে চে‌টে মু‌ছে দি‌য়ে যায়।

অামার বাবা, তিন ভাই ও দুই বোন হাসপাতা‌লে মা‌য়ের শয্যার পা‌শে দাঁ‌ড়ি‌য়ে ছিলাম, অার মা তার শেষ কথাগু‌লো ব‌লে মৃত্যুর কো‌লে ঢ‌লে প‌ড়ে। মা ব‌লে‌ছি‌লেন, "‌নি‌জে‌কে অামার পরম ভা‌লোবাসাময় ম‌নে হ‌চ্ছে। অামরা এমনভা‌বে প্রায়ই য‌দি এক‌ত্রে থাক‌তে পারতাম।"

হাসপাতা‌লের ছোট বিছানায় বাবা মারা যাওয়ার কিছুক্ষণ পূ‌র্বে অা‌মি বাবার কপা‌লে চুম্বন ক‌রি। বাবা মারা যাবার ৫ সে‌কেন্ড পর অা‌মি উপল‌ব্ধি করলাম বড় হওয়ার পর থে‌কে অাজ অব‌ধি বাবা‌কে কোন‌দিন অার চুমু দিই নি।

খুব মি‌ষ্টি স্ব‌রে অামার ৮ বছর বয়সী মে‌য়ে অামা‌কে রিসাই‌ক্লিং করা শুরু কর‌তে বল‌লো। অা‌মি অবাক হ‌য়ে জি‌জ্ঞেস করলাম, "‌কেন?" সে উত্ত‌রে বল‌লো, "যা‌তে ক‌রে তু‌মি অামা‌কে পৃ‌থিবীটা‌কে রক্ষা কর‌তে সাহায্য কর‌তে পা‌রো।" অা‌মি অা‌রো অবাক হ‌য়ে প্রশ্ন করলাম, "‌কেন তু‌মি পৃ‌থিবী‌কে রক্ষা কর‌তে চাও?" সে বলল, "কারণ অা‌মি অামার সব‌কিছু তো সেখা‌নেই রা‌খি।"

অা‌মি দেখলাম ২৭ বছর বয়সী একজন স্তন ক্যান্সা‌রের রোগী তার দুই বছর বয়সী মে‌য়ের তামাশা দে‌খে পাগ‌লের ম‌তো হাস‌ছি‌লো। সে মূহু‌র্তে অামার উপল‌দ্ধি হ‌লো যে অামার জীব‌ন নি‌য়ে নানা অনু‌যোগ ও অ‌ভি‌যোগ করা অামার বন্ধ করতে হ‌বে এবং জীবন‌কে অাবার নতুনভা‌বে উদযাপন করা শিখ‌তে হ‌বে।

ভাঙ্গা পা নি‌য়ে ক্রা‌চে ভর দি‌য়ে অামার ব্যাগ ও বই সামলা‌তে অামার খুব কষ্ট হ‌চ্ছিল। তা দে‌খে হুই‌লচেয়া‌রে অাসীন ছে‌লে‌টির মায়া হ‌লো এবং সে অামা‌কে গোটা ক্যাম্পাস, এমন‌কি অামার ক্লাসরুম পর্যন্ত পৌঁছ‌তে সাহায্য কর‌লো। বিদা‌য়ের সময় বল‌লো, "অাশা ক‌রি এখন তোমার ভা‌লো লাগ‌ছে।"

কে‌নিয়া‌ ভ্রমণকা‌লে জিম্বাবু‌য়ের এক শরণার্থীর সা‌থে অামার দেখা হয়। সে জানাল ৩ দিন যাবৎ সে অভুক্ত এবং তা‌কে দেখ‌তেও চরম শুক‌নো ও অস্বাস্থ্যকর লাগ‌ছি‌লো। অামার বন্ধু তা‌কে এক‌টি স্যান্ডউইচ দি‌লো যেটা সে নি‌জে খা‌চ্ছি‌লো। লোক‌টির প্রথম কথা‌টি ছি‌লো, "অা‌মরা এটা শেয়ার ক‌রে খে‌তে পা‌রি।"

মূল: সংগৃহীত
অনুবাদ: রক

A Wonderful Gift and An Extraordinary Life

Friends (Left-Right): Tony Wilson D'Costa, Philip Tushar Gomes and Rock Ronald Rozario on Holy Cassock Day at Holy Spirit National Major Seminary in Banani, Dhaka on 11 April, 2015. 

“If your friendship lasts longer than 7 years, you are no longer just friends. You are family”—is one of the most memorable friendship quotes. It has been more than ten years I have met and been in a friendly relationship with Philip Tushar Gomes, a wonderful man who decided to give up all worldly pleasures for love of God and God’s people for the rest of his life. He could have a life of his own and enjoy all the comforts that today’s extremely globalized, materialistic and consumerist modern world can offer. But by embracing ‘eternal priesthood’ Philip has made an extraordinary choice—to live a life in the service of God and His people.

More than a decade ago, I met a bunch of energetic, dedicated and witty youth activists when I joined Episcopal Commission for Youth as a member of the Executive Committee including Philip Tushar Gomes, Tony Wilson D’Costa and Lawrence Dipankar Gomes from Dhaka, Manik D’Costa and Clifton Gomes from Chittagong, Sony Ratna from Khulna and Pius Nanuar from Sylhet. From 1999-2007, I was a priesthood candidate myself and spent years in three diocesan seminaries in Dhaka. My time in the youth ministry became worthwhile and a learning experience because of these friendly people I met and worked with.

পথ চলতে ফিরে দেখা

গোড়ার কথা

ছোটবেলায় আমি বেশ লাজুক ও নিরীহ স্বভাবের ছিলাম সেটা হোক বাড়িতে, স্কুল বা বন্ধুমহলে। মনে পরে বাবা যদি কোনদিন কারো কাছে পাওনা টাকা ফেরত আনতে পাঠাতেন, তা চাইতে গেলেও আমার লজ্জা লাগতো। ক্লাস ফোরে পড়ার সময় আমাদের পবিত্র যীশু হৃদয় ধর্মপল্লীর (রাঙ্গামাটিয়া) সেবক দলে ভর্তি হই এবং ঐ বছরই কোন একদিন মিশায় সেবক হওয়ার পালা পরে। সেদিন ভয়ের চেয়ে লজ্জাই বেশি পেয়েছিলাম, আর তাই সেবকের কাজে ভুল করে ফেলেছিলাম। সাথে আমাদের বাড়ির এক বড় ভাই ছিল তাই কোন সমস্যা ছাড়াই পার পেয়ে যাই।

পরবর্তী জীবনে এই লাজুক ও নিরীহ ভাবটা কাটিয়ে উঠতে পেরেছি, এবং এর পেছনে বড় অবদান আমার দীর্ঘ নয় বছরের (১৯৯৯-২০০৭) সেমিনারি জীবন। ক্লাস নাইন থেকে বি.এ. চূড়ান্ত বর্ষ পর্যন্ত ঢাকার তিনটি ধর্মপ্রদেশীয় সেমিনারিতে নানা অঞ্চলের সহপাঠী, বড় ও ছোট ভাইদের সঙ্গে কাটিয়েছি। দেশের বিভিন্ন অঞ্চল ও জেলার নানা মানুষের সাথে পরিচয় হয়েছে—বাঙ্গালি ও আদিবাসী। একাদিক্রমে বাংলাদেশের বাকি সাত ধর্মপ্রদেশের সাথে যোগসূত্র স্থাপনে আমার সেমিনারি জীবন একটি চাবিকাঠি হিসেবে কাজ করেছে।

তবে, এ সত্ত্বেও, উত্তরবঙ্গ তথা রাজশাহী অঞ্চলে আমার ভাল কোন সংযোগ হয়নি। এর প্রধান কারণ সেমিনারি জীবনে আমাদের ব্যাচে এই এলাকার কোন সহপাঠী ছিল না। অন্যান্য ব্যাচে বেশ কয়েকজন বড় ও ছোট ভাই ছিল, বাঙ্গালি ও আদিবাসী। বাঙ্গালি যারা তাদের মুখের ভাষা ছিল হুবুহু আমাদের ভাওয়াল অঞ্চলের চলিত কথ্য ভাষা। তাদের কথা শুনে প্রথমে অবাক হয়েছিলাম, যদিও জানতাম ঐ অঞ্চলের তিনটি বড় ধর্মপল্লীর (মথুরাপুর, বোর্ণী ও বনপাড়া) প্রায় সব বাঙ্গালি খ্রিস্টানই আমাদের ভাওয়াল অঞ্চলের অভিবাসী ও তাদের বংশধর। আমার বাবার দুই মামা ও এক মাসি যথাক্রমে পাবনার চাটমোহর ও নাটোরের শ্রীখণ্ডীতে কয়েক দশক পূর্ব থেকে বসবাস করে আসছেন। ছোটবেলায় দেখতাম বাবার মামাতো ও মাসতুতো ভাই-বোনেরা আমাদের বাড়িতে বেড়াতে আসতেন। তবে সময়ের পরিক্রমায় যাতায়াত এবং সম্পর্ক উভয়েই ভাঁটা পড়ে যায়।

Tradition, spirituality and joy: Christmas carols in Bangladesh

A group of Catholics perform Borodiner Kirtan (Christmas carols) in Dhaka on Dec. 16. (Photo: Stephan Uttom/ucanews)

Hiron Patrick Gomes is a bit upset that his team lost its crown at a recent Borodiner Kirtan (Christmas Carol) contest in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.

Gomes' team was among 17 Kirtan Dals (Carol Groups) from around the country that participated on Dec. 16 in a competition organized by the Christian Cooperative Credit Union Ltd (CCCUL), the country's largest cooperative bank.

It was the third version of the contest hosted by the CCCUL, coming just days before most Christians in the city head back to their villages to spend Christmas with family and friends.

Gomes and his team were champions last year but this year had to settle for fourth.

"We practiced for more than a week and performed quite well. We are a bit upset, but not heartbroken. In the past years, I have won many competitions and hope to win more in the future," Gomes, 32, a Catholic father of one, told ucanews.

Gomes Gomes has been an ardent kirtan fan since he was a boy and has sung in numerous carol performances in his home village of Doripara in Gazipur district, covered by Dhaka Archdiocese, one of Bangladesh's oldest and largest Catholic settlements.

"For Christians in the country, carols have special significance during Christmas season in terms of spirituality and culture," Gomes told ucanews. "I have been involved with carols since my childhood in the village. Every Christmas we used to form groups and sing carols at every house in the village."

Gomes, a professional singer, spent a few years at a diocesan seminary and his time there helped him learn various forms of traditional carols.

He is now a busy NGO worker and lives with his family in Dhaka but never misses the chance to take part in Christmas carols, whether at home or in contests.

"Carol is a soulful expression of our joy and spirituality during Christmas, our pride and heritage. We are glad that together we are back to revive and carry on our age-old tradition. I hope this will continue in the coming days," Gomes added.

A Christmas special

Kirtan is a widely popular tradition among Bengali Christians in Bhawal as well in other parts of the country and also among ethnic indigenous Catholics in the north and northeast of Bangladesh.

A dispassionate farewell to a solemn year in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her party, the Awami League, have become intolerant of criticism since winning their third straight election in 2018. (Photo by Prakash Singh/AFP)

Every time users log into Facebook they are prompted to post “what’s on your mind” or “what have you been up to.”

Christmas is only a few days away and the year is diminishing fast so it is a good time to reflect on what Bangladesh, and the Church in particular, have encountered in 2019 and what 2020 might have in store.

The illusion of human rights in South Asia

An Indian policeman walks past as people hold a candlelight vigil in Bangalore on Dec. 6 in support of sexual assault victims and against the rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad. (Photo: Manjunath Kiran/AFP)

Only hours after police in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad killed in "an encounter" all four men accused of the rape and murder of a veterinarian, many people in the country exploded in wild cheers.

Men and women chanted cheerful slogans and came rushing to congratulate police, flooded them with flower petals and distributed sweets. Some even set off firecrackers in great delight.

"This is what these filthy animals deserved and the police have done a great job," some chanted as people from all walks of life, including politicians and film stars, hailed the police as heroes.

The police had assuaged public anger over a case that provoked street protests after the brutal rape and murder on Nov. 27.

Only a few people including rights activists questioned how the extrajudicial killing of the accused on Dec. 6 was permitted in a country famed as "the world's largest democracy."

Ranjana Kumari, director of the Center for Social Research, a social advocacy group, termed the police action an "utter violation" of human rights and "a total failure" of the criminal justice system, warning that India was moving toward a vigilante justice system.

There is little doubt that the accused men committed the most serious crime, but in the 21st century we cannot rely on stray bullets to deliver quick justice. This is nothing but committing one crime to obliterate another one.

The Hyderabad case represents a common feature of human rights violations in many countries in today's world, including those in South Asia.

Forgotten and invisible: modern-day slaves

Indian sex workers look out from their brothel in the red light district of Kamathipura in Mumbai. Socially conservative India, Bangladesh and Pakistan do not permit legal prostitution but all have brothels spilling with sex workers. (Photo: AFP)

In today’s modern world overshadowed by extravagant globalization, materialism and consumerism, it is very common for people to forget about people who are less fortunate.

These people with relative fortune and comfort might get a jolt if asked what they think about slavery and slaves. In most cases, the answer is likely to be simple: slavery was abolished in the 19th century.

The British parliament passed its Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 and the US government made the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1865, marking the official abolition of slavery.

However, slavery didn’t end with its abolition 154 years ago. It has just changed forms and continues to plague millions of people in the world today.  

The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery on Dec. 2 passed almost unnoticed in much of the globe as if our world today has almost pulled itself out of the curse of slavery.
The reality is that about 40 million people are trapped in various forms of modern-day slavery and one in every four victims are children, according to the United Nations.

No light in the darkness for Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends the inaugural summit between South Korea and five Southeast Asian nations along the Mekong River, at Nurimaru APEC House in Busan, South Korea, 27 November 2019. (Photo by EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT/MaxPPP)

Myanmar and its civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi are in hot water again over the country's mistreatment of minorities, specifically the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

In recent weeks, three international lawsuits have been filed against Myanmar over brutal atrocities in 2016 and 2017.

On Nov. 11, The Gambia filed a 46-page application at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention by committing crimes against humanity against Rohingya.

Three days later, Suu Kyi was named among several state officials in a lawsuit in Argentina by Rohingya and South American human rights organizations for serious crimes including genocide against the minority community.

The same day, judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) authorized a full investigation into allegations of persecution and crimes against humanity that forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh from Rakhine.

Bangladeshi Catholics caught up in ugly land disputes

Bangladesh is a small country packed with 160 million people, so land disputes are common and it is often the poor who suffer most. (Photo: Rock Ronald Rozario/ucanews)

Residents in a southern Bangladesh village were shocked to hear that a violent clash erupted recently between two Catholic families.

The mob violence was the culmination of a bitter dispute lasting more than two years over ownership of a small plot of land.

South Haldibunia village is near the country's second largest port — Mongla in Bagerhat district — and also close to the Sundarbans mangrove forest, an area covered by St. Paul's Church in Mongla under Khulna Diocese.

The sense of shock was understandable, happening in a village where people of various faiths — Catholic Christians, Hindus and Muslims — have been living peacefully together for decades.

South Asia: a region of rising intolerance

Muslims protest against the verdict of India’s Supreme Court to award Hindus control of the bitterly disputed Ayodhya holy site for a Hindu temple, widely seen as a victory for Narendra Modi’s ruling BJP. (Photo: Arun Sankar/AFP)

“When a fire engulfs the city, even the temple cannot escape.” That is an old proverb but it still resonates strongly in a world today that is overshadowed by increasing intolerance and extremism.

The proxy wars in the Middle East, the constant global export of extremist Salafist Islam by some Persian Gulf countries, the deadly terrorism of transnational jihadist outfits like Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, the state-sponsored campaign of annihilation of Uyghur Muslims in China and the brutal ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The list is ever-increasing.

South Asia is home to more than a quarter of the world’s population and is well advanced in intolerance and extremism, having exited British colonial rule (1757-1947), during which time the imperialists adopted a divide-and-rule policy that stoked communal tensions and led to the bloody 1947 partition of India and Pakistan along religious lines.

50 Years of Truth, Love and Dialogue

A dance troupe kicks off Radio Veritas Asia’s 50^thanniversary celebrations at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB) center in Dhaka on Nov. 1 (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews)

In 1983, 10-year-old Ashik Iqbal was given a small radio and a list of stations to listen to by his elder brother to overcome times of boredom in their village in Bangladesh's northern Rajshahi district.

One of the stations was the Bengali Service of Radio Veritas Asia (RVA).

Iqbal, a Muslim, found the RVA programs very interesting, and became a regular listener of the Philippines-based Catholic shortwave radio service.

"RVA programs can attract and hold a listener's attention for ages. It is a voice of people like me. There are various religiously-affiliated media but the RVA is different. It is Christian but doesn't limited itself within religious boundaries," Iqbal, now 47, told ucanews.

RVA first went on air in 1969, while the Bengali Service stated in 1980.

Bangladesh fails to control hidden radicalism

Islamist activists protest in Dhaka on Oct. 21, a day after deadly clashes following a Facebook post that allegedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad. The failure to punish extremists threatens religious harmony. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP)

An unusual but most welcome calm prevailed at Borhanuddin in Bhola district of southern Bangladesh on Oct. 20.

Tensions had run high in the area over two days, involving the Muslim majority but also a handful of Hindus, over a Facebook messenger post that defamed Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

A radical Islamic group, Touhidi Janata (Movement for Islamic Uprising), vowed to avenge the "hurtful religious sentiments" and declared a mass protest gathering on Oct. 20.

Biplob Chandra Shuvo, a Hindu man, was in the eye of the storm for allegedly spreading the messages. He told police on Oct. 19 that his account had been hacked and two Muslims were quickly arrested for the crime, allegedly carried out for the purpose of extortion.

Police engaged with Muslim clerics to assure them that action was being taken and asked them to cancel the impending gathering to avoid likely violence.

The clerics agreed but failed to stop Muslims from joining the protesters, who soon became a violent mob chanting Islamic slogans and demanding the death penalty for the Hindu man.

They vandalized Hindu temples and Hindu people's homes before attacking police with bamboo and bricks. Officers fired back — four rioters were killed and more than 100 people, including police, were injured.

News of the deaths infuriated Islamic hardliners. In Chittagong, clerics and students from the Hathazari Mosque and madrasa organized another march and attacked the local police station.

The escalating tension was only defused after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned of "stern action" against anyone attempting to create "anarchy" over the situation.

Three men, including the Hindu, remained in police custody a week later, while police arrested hundreds of unnamed rioters in connection with the violence.