SADHU HATI PANTA PARA, Bangladesh — Aynal Haque, 63, a volunteer for Christian organization Way of Life Trust, said his brothers and relatives, along with Muslim villagers, beat him and his son, 22-year-old Lal Miah, on Oct. 9 when they refused to recant Christianity.
The family lives at Sadhu Hati Panta Para village in Jhenaidah district, some 155 miles southwest of Dhaka in Bangladesh. At a meeting to which Haque was summoned Oct. 9, about 500 men and women from several villages gathered.
“They tried to force us to be apologetic for our blunder of accepting Christianity and also tried to compel us to go back to Islam. I told them, ‘While there is breath left in our bodies, we will not reject Christianity.’ When we denied their allegation and demand, they beat us severely,” Haque said.
Hearing of the incident, the next day Muslims in Kola village about three miles away beat a Christian friend of Haque’s and robbed his seed shop. Tokkel Ali, 40, said around 20 people arrived at his shop at about 11 a.m. “A huge crowd overran me and started beating me, throwing my seeds here and there,” he said. Ali said he lost consciousness, and the mob scattered his seeds and robbed him of 24,580 taka, along with his bicycle. He said he has not dared file any charges. “If I file any case or complain against them, they will kill me.”
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