ICC Note:

A Catholic Bishop in Bangladesh has warned Christians of the treat of Islamic radicalism rising in the South Asian nation. Recently, Islamic radicals have targeted religious minorities, secular bloggers, and others deemed to be “non-believers” for violent assaults and assassinations. Several terrorist networks, including ISIS and Al-Qeada, have claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Bangladeshi government has denied these groups presence in Bangladesh. Should Christians in Bangladesh be worried?

4/29/2016 Bangladesh (Christian Post) – A leading bishop in Bangladesh’s capital city is warning Christians that fanatical Islamic groups are killing people they deem as non-believers.

“We are aware, concerned but not alarmed. Fanatical groups are spreading death, but we hope that the government can control them. The pastoral and social activities of the Church continues,” Mgr. Theotonius Gomes, the Bishop Emeritus of Dhaka, told Fides News Agency in a report on Tuesday.

Islamic radicals in Bangladesh have publicly targeted atheist writers and bloggers in the past few years, with extremists reportedly operating on a list of targets they claim have insulted Islam in online postings.

Persecution watchdog groups such as Amnesty International have accused the central government of not doing enough to protect non-Islamic minorities in the country.

“Some of these killings have been claimed by extremists — but they have been facilitated by the official failure to prosecute anyone responsible,” said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Bangladesh researcher.

“The prevalent impunity for all these cases continues to send a message that such attacks are tolerated by the authorities. Ending impunity and ensuring protection for those at risk must be a priority for the Bangladeshi authorities.”

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Christian converts from Islam have also been killed, including 68-year-old Hossain Ali, who was hacked to death in March in the northern city of Kurigram. Islamic radicals were once again suspected by police of having carried out the crime.

Bishop Gomes told Fides that the situation in Bangladesh is complex, with local Islamic extremist groups seemingly inspired by the Islamic State, the terror group that holds territory in Iraq and Syria.

“We proceed cautiously and carefully, we are aware of the situation, but our pastoral, educational, social activities continue,” he insisted, noting that Christianity is barely a 1 percent minority in the country, while the Catholic Church only has 300,000 faithful — or 0.2 percent of the population.

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