Voicing grave concern at the alleged grabbing of properties of religious minorities, veteran Awami League leader Suranjit Sengupta yesterday urged the prime minister to safeguard their rights.

BNP leader Asaduzzaman Ripon suggested that the government should have a separate ministry to protect the interests of religious minorities.

Their comments came a day after Bangladesh Hindu Buddha Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP) complained that proper-

ties of religious minorities were being grabbed using the name of the ruling Awami League.

Names of a minister, influential AL lawmakers and leaders, and officials of local administrations came up in connection to grabbing of properties, complained BHBCOP General Secretary Rana Das Gupta.

Speaking at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Thursday, he alleged that an AL MP has grabbed land at Ronbagh village of Baliadanga upazila in Thakurgaon while another ruling party lawmaker was trying to capture a shop of a businessman in

Swarupkathi upazila of Pirojpur. An influential woman lawmaker has grabbed land of Ramganj Mission and Ashram in Caibandha and felled trees there, he added.

There have been reports that an influential minister has occupied 300 decimal of land and a house, worth several crore taka, of a Hindu landlord at Jhiltuli, Faridpur by forcing him to sign a Bainama (deed of purchasing properties). The minister even demolished the old temple and Ashram, said the BHBCOP leader.

Rana claimed that almost all the endowed properties of religious minorities in Faridpur have been grabbed. "The local administration has occupied over 14,900 decimal and set up different establishments there."

He further complained that many religious minority people, including journalists, have been attacked, harassed, tortured, and implicated in false cases in Faridpur.

In Laxmipur, some local administration officials and ruling party leaders have been trying to grab 3,600 decimal in Dalal Bazar, he noted.

Apart from the Hindus, people from the Christian, Buddhist and indigenous communities are being subjected to torture and repression and their land has been grabbed in different districts, said Rana.

He urged the prime minister not to spare anyone who were involved in such illegal activities and demanded the government take administrative, legal and political measures against the alleged grabbers and torturers.

He also called for forming minority cells in all political parties and in the government to ensure security of religious minorities.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, he said they want Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina intervene in the issue to resolve the problems.

Speaking at a discussion at the Institution of Diploma Engineers in the capital, senior AL leader and former minister Suranjit Sengupta yesterday said the allegation of grabbing the properties of religious minorities by ministers, lawmakers and ruling party

men is serious.

"If the allegation is proved to be true, it would be very sad. You |AL men] chant slogans claiming yourselves to be secular and progressive, but act like predators by taking away properties from religious minority people." he added.

Suranjit said the complaint has been ultimately made against the state and the government. "So Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is the last hope for the religious minorities and she will have to take the responsibility |for their wellbeing]."

BNP BLAMES IT ON AL

The BNP yesterday claimed that the country's religious minorities are tortured and repressed when the Awami League is in power.

"It is publicised that the religious minority people face repression during the rule of BNP. But it has been proved now that they are repressed and their properties are grabbed when the Awami League is in power," BNP International Affairs Secretary Asaduzzaman Ripon told a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office.

He suggested that the government have a separate ministry to protect the interests of the religious minorities. In this connection, he said India, being a secular country, has set up a separate ministry for its religious minorities.