Protesters cast light on oppression
SASKATOON — Members of Saskatoon’s Bangladeshi community gathered Saturday in hopes of effecting positive change in their home country.
About 100 people congregated in front of city hall carrying signs denouncing the repression of minorities in Bangladesh.
“The minorities of Bangladesh have been oppressed culturally and in all aspects of social life,” said Jebunnessa Chapola.
Religious and ethnic minorities suffer the discrimination, she said. People are beaten, raped and have their homes seized or burnt down.
“We were a British colony for 200 years, and that’s the root cause. It came from a colonist mentality,” said Chapola.
Saturday’s protest was solemn and peaceful. The main intention was to urge the Canadian government to intervene politically.
“We are here to appeal to the Canadian government and to put an end to all the atrocities being committed against the minorities,” said Jiban Podder.
Bangladesh — a parliamentary democracy — elected a new federal government on Jan. 6, but voting was marred by violence and controversy. Many opposition parties boycotted the election, and 21 people were killed on the day of voting, according to international news organization Al-Jazeera.
Chapola said that during the campaign, the newly elected Awami League government claimed it would work to end the repression of minorities, but she is skeptical that any real changes will occur.
“We have seen several regimes. Maybe during the election, they say they’ll work for minorities, but once they’re in power, they don’t care. They just manipulate the emotions around the issue,” she said.
Bangladesh achieved independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a bloody nine-month war. According to Podder, whose grandfather died during the fighting, freedom of religion was one of the main tenets of the newly formed country, making the modern persecution even more offensive.