RUTHFULLY YOURS

In the past few days, we’ve witnessed unspeakable acts of brutality perpetrated by Muslims against non-Muslim nationals, principally American, French, Canadian and Israeli.  The carnage began last Wednesday night when two “Palestinian” Muslim gunmen drew automatic weapons in a posh Tel Aviv café and began shooting everyone in sight. Four Israeli civilians, including two women were murdered in that attack to revolting cheers of Gazan and West Bank Muslims.

That bestial incident was followed by the largest act of mass murder ever committed by a lone gunman in the U.S. The attack by an ISIS inspired gunman at an Orlando night club claimed the lives of at least 49, with the death toll likely to climb as several of the wounded remain in critical condition. Barely a day later, a Muslim terrorist stabbed a French police chief to death in the town of Magnanville while chanting Allahuakbar. He then proceeded to torture to death the man’s wife in front of their toddler son. And yesterday in the Philippines, Muslims belonging to the Islamist Abu Sayyaf terrorist group beheaded a Canadian national after their ransom demands for his release were not met.

But the victims of Islamist terror and barbarism have not been limited to Westerners or those whose values are otherwise rooted in the Judeo-Christian faith. Hindus too have recently come under attack in the Indian subcontinent.

In Bangladesh, Muslims, who constitute 90% of the population, have carried out a series of deadly attacks targeting Hindus, Christians, gay rights activists and secularists. The most recent victim, named Nitya Ranjan Pandey, was an elderly Hindu monastery worker who was hacked to death. His decapitated body was found in a rice field. A few days prior to that gruesome discovery, another Hindu, a 69-year old priest, was found hacked to death. Hindus, who constitute roughly 9% of the population, have always been victims of discrimination in Bangladesh but oppression by the Muslim majority has worsened in recent years.

Since February 2015, at least 30 people, mostly Hindus, have been murdered in sectarian violence committed by Muslims, with many of the victims butchered with machetes. ISIS and Al-Qaida have claimed responsibility for these attacks but Bangladeshi authorities have placed much of the blame on local Islamists and opposition parties, including the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party (BNP). Police forces have responded with an oppressive crackdown and mass arrests, over 8,000 since this past Friday.

Following Pandey’s death, xenophobic Bangladeshi authorities, mired in a convoluted mix of conspiracy, anti-Semitism and paranoia, absurdly blamed Israel’s Mossad for the recent surge in anti-Hindu violence and gruesome murders. The government accused Mossad operatives of collaborating with the BNP and local Islamists, including the outlawed Jamaatul Mujahedin organization, noting that the “killings are part of a national and international conspiracy,” and that “those who are carrying out these incidents are communicating with Mossad.”

As if to underscore this point, On May 15, Bangladeshi police arrested a BNP politician who had the temerity to meet and shake hands with a low-level Israeli political figure in neighboring India. The two politicians, Aslam Chowdhury of the BNP and Mendi N. Safadi of the Israeli Likud party exchanged courteous greetings and handshakes during their informal meeting. Safadi then posted a photo of the two on his Facebook page which prompted outrage across the Bangladeshi political spectrum.

Days after his arrest, Chowdhury was charged with sedition against the state.  Police officials announced that, “initial investigations found evidence of conspiracy with the leaders of Israel’s Likud party to destabilize the country in an effort to damage the government’s image.”

There was of course no investigation and the entire affair, from arrest to formal charging was an absolute sham and a mockery of due process. Instead of addressing the root cause of the Islamist murder spree, Bangladeshi officials have chosen to blame the Mossad, which is synonymous with Jews. There is not a single Jewish soul living in Bangladesh and the country is thousands of miles from Israel but no matter, the Jews are somehow to blame for the murder of Hindus by Muslims.

Despite its deeply ingrained xenophobia and medieval penal system, western governments consider Bangladesh to be a “moderate” Muslim nation. However, the government’s policy of deflection is only contributing to the worsening situation for minorities. In the meantime, while the Bangladeshi government conjures up conspiracy theories involving the Israel, Jews and the Mossad, Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh continue to be the targets of an orchestrated Islamist campaign of terror and brutality.