FLASH from COMPASS DIRECT NEWS
News from the Frontlines of Persecution

Summary:
DHAKA, Bangladesh, January 6 (Compass Direct News) – The torture and harassment that a Christian pastor in Meherpur district has faced for more than a year loomed anew last month when a 4,000-strong crowd of Muslims celebrating Islam’s largest festival accused him of “misleading” Muslims. Jhontu Biswas, 31, said residents of Fulbaria town, 270 kilometers (168 miles) west of Dhaka, accused him of misleading Muslims by distributing Christian booklets. They confronted him en masse on Dec. 9 as they gathered for the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival of sacrifice. Biswas denied the accusations against him, and the Muslims threatened to harm him and other converts to Christianity if a new government came to power following Dec. 29 elections, he said. “They said, ‘You will be in great trouble at that time,’” Biswas said. Fortunately for Biswas, the left-leaning Awami League-led Grand Alliance won a landslide victory in the election, and it does not include Islamic fundamentalist parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami. On Dec. 31, 2007, police had arrested Biswas on trumped-up drug charges – but instead of taking him to the police station, they took him to a nearby mosque. “They told me, ‘If you accept Islam after confessing to Christianity and ask forgiveness of Allah, we will not do anything against you and release you,’” Biswas said. “They beat me with sticks in the mosque after my vehement denial to their proposal.”