US Praises Bangladesh Freedoms

Katy Greene
May 1st, 2009
1:45 PM

A United States congressional panel has decided to remove Bangladesh from a list of countries that it says violates religious freedoms. A spokesman for the Prime Minster said that the government is now determined to protect religious minorities within the country. Pakistan, however, is still considered very problematic, according to the panel. Afganistan and Sri Lanka are also considered troublesome.
Bangladesh recently held elections, which were relatively unviolent. The party that won is said to be much more supportive of the rights of minorities in Bangladesh. Minorities were allowed to vote in the 2008 elections, and they were relatively unpersecuted during the process. In the 2001 elections, there was a serious outbreak of violence against religious minorities who tried to vote. The party in office at that time failed to investigate these cases, some of which were very serious offenses, such as murder, rape, arson, and extortion. Hindus were persecuted in particular. In Pakistan, however, there has been a recent rise in power of a religious extremist group whose members are very violent to those in Pakistan and elsewhere. Shia Muslims, Ahmadis, Christians, and Hindus are all targets of this extremist group. The government has done very little to protect its citizens from harm.
I think that it is wonderful that Bangladesh has recently decided to protect all it's citizens, even the ones that are minorities. It sets a great example for the rest of the countries in that region, many of whom do not show responsibility for all of their citizens. Pakistan should learn from Bangladesh, and help to remove this religious extremist group from power.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8028613.stm