ICC Note:

Church leaders in Bangladesh have condemned last week’s terrorist attack on a cafe in the country’s capital of Dhaka. According to reports, ISIS militants stormed the cafe in downtown Dhaka, took hostages, and killed those who could not repeat verses from the Quran. When police and military units finally took back the cafe, 20 hostages had been killed. Islamic extremism has seen a sharp rise in Bangladesh since the beginning of 2016. Before last week’s attack, over 40 secular bloggers, religious minorities, academics, and gay rights activists had been murdered by extremists claiming to be operating for ISIS. Bangladesh had denied the presence of ISIS in its borders, but now it seems that ISIS’s presence is highly likely. What does this now mean for Bangladesh’s Christians?

7/5/2016 Bangladesh (Asia News) – Mgr. Gervas Rozario, bishop of Rajshahi and president of the Bishops’ Commission for Justice and Peace, spoke to Asia News about last Friday’s massacre in Dhaka.

For the prelate, the attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery café “is an unjustified barbarous act. God’s name cannot and must not be mixed up with such acts. Now Muslims believers must stand up and intervene to save their religion.”

Twenty hostages died in the attack against the café popular with foreigners, including nine from Italy, seven from Japan, three from Bangladesh, and one from India. Six of the seven (presumed) terrorists also died, as did two policemen.

The gunmen stormed the café on the last Friday of Ramadan, shouting “Allah is great” and opened fire.

Bangladeshi’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina described the attackers as young misfits who do not understand the values ​​of Islam.

According to Mgr. Rozario, the condemnation must be unanimous. “No one, of any religion, can justify killing. It is sad to realize that the hostages died in this way. God shall not tolerate this massacre. Now it’s up to the country’s Muslims. They must stand up to save their religion. Peace must prevail upon all of us. ”

The Bangladeshi Church “is praying for the victims of Islamic terrorism. May God grant eternal peace to the departed souls. The Christian martyrs of the massacre shall be remembered in a very special way.”

…