threatened his wife and children, BosNewsLife learned Tuesday April 5. Christian news agency Compass Direct said its sources have confirmed that 35-year old Dulal Sarkar, who worked with a local branch of the Bangladesh Free Baptist Church in Jalalpur village in the Khulna area, was killed March 8, a week after sharing his Christian faith with several Muslim villagers.
He had planted several churches in the area of Khulna, the country’s main industrial city, and also worked as a guard and general caretaker for his congregation.
On his way home, he was attacked by a group of armed men "who separated his head from his body,” Compass Direct quoted an unidentified source as saying. The assailants were reportedly identified as a group of 10 local "Muslim extremists."
WIFE FLEEING
Sarkar’s wife immediately filed a police report and officers arrested three of the accused, the news agency reported. "However, local Christians say the remaining seven, who have connections with the Jamaat-e-Islami political party, have tried to bribe the police to get the suspects out of jail," claimed Compass Direct, which reports on the persecution of Christians.
The pastor leaves behind his wife, Aruna, and five children identified as Daniel, Joseph, Parboti, Moses and Tutol. His mother has also lived with the family since his father passed away some years ago, Compass Direct said. The militants allegedly also threatened Aruna after she filed the police report, forcing her to move from house to house to protect herself and her children.
Humanrighs watchers say the legal system in Bangladesh is "notoriously corrupt" and fear the political influence of the Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami party "may prevent the case from going to court."
SECOND BEHEADING
The incident was reportedly the second beheading in the space of a year. On September 18, 2004, Dr. Abdul Gani, a prominent Christian, was decapitated by a gang of assailants as he returned home from work around 9:30 p.m local time, Compass Direct said.
Dr. Abdul Gani and his family converted to Christianity in 1995 and he was reportedly a respected Christian leader and medical practitioner in his home district of Jamalpur, 140 kilometers (about 88 miles) north of the capital, Dhaka.
Abdul Gani — also known by his Christian name, Joseph Gomez — was a counsel member of the Bangladesh Baptist Fellowship and frequently worked with members of the Catholic church. He reportedly once mortgaged his own home to raise funds for flood victims and neighbors described him as "a very compassionate man."
TOUGH TIME
A source who asked not to be named told Compass that Bangladesh "is passing through a very tough time. Last year two evangelists were killed. Another was badly injured and is now undergoing treatment in India. This killing of Protestant ministers is happening for the first time in many years."
Another Christian evangelist, Hridoy Roy, was also murdered in April 2003, Compass Direct recalled. A group of eight men attacked him just after midnight as he returned home from showing the "Jesus Film" in a rural village. Entering his house, the assailants tied Hridoy Roy to his bed in "crucifixion style" and repeatedly stabbed him until he died, Compass Direct
said, after Muslim neighbors warned him several times to stop showing the “Jesus Film” and other films on the movies on the life of Christ.
Bangladesh has suffered from religious disharmony since 1971, when the nation was partitioned from Pakistan. The country is approximately 83 percent Muslim and 16 percent Hindu. Buddhists and Christians make up the remaining one percent, according to estimates. Islam was declared the official state religion in 1998.
Analysts say the current government is a coalition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and three other Islamic parties. The third largest party, Jamaat-e-Islami and its supporters allegedly want to turn Bangladesh into an entirely Islamic nation. (With Compass Direct, BosNewsLife Research).
