Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Muslim fundamentalists in a village 119 miles north of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, have threatened to kill a pastor as part of an effort to keep his church from constructing a church building, according to the head of the “Isha-e-Jamat Bangladesh” (Jesus Church) denomination. Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, chairman of the Dhaka-based denomination, said the Muslims are trying to wrest land from the congregation in Lokmanpur village, Gaibandha district. The church planned to erect a worship building on the land, which the denomination purchased in January.

“The local Muslims came to know that there would be a church inside the enclosure, so they demolished the boundary wall Feb. 11,” Chowdhury said. Upon learning of the damage, that same day 30-year-old pastor Rezaul Karim went to the site, where local Muslims and supporters of the country’s largest Islamic political party wounded him and several others and threatened to kill him if he pursued plans to build a church in the village, Chowdhury said. “They drew a dagger at my chest and threatened to kill me if they see me in this place again,” Karim said.