Democracy can take hold in Bangladesh, but only by opening government to Hindus, indigenous tribal residents and other non-Muslim religious groups, repealing discriminatory laws against minorities and cracking down on terrorists.

UUP member Sachi Dastidar made these statements to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom at a Dec. 4 public hearing on the probability of a free, fair and peaceful national election in Bangladesh. The election—the country’s first since its violence-riddled election in October 2001—was held Dec. 29 and went off peacefully, according to CNN.com.

Dastidar, a distinguished service professor at SUNY Old Westbury who has written extensively on Bangladesh’s culture and history, was invited by the commission to speak at the public hearing. Held in Washington, D.C., the hearing included testimony from U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh James F. Moriarty; Asif Saleh, founder and director of Drishtipat, a Bangladeshi human rights group; and National University of Singapore professor Shapan Adnan.

The speakers also considered the possibility of a stable democracy in Bangladesh, as well as religious extremism and its threat to democracy there, and methods the U.S. government might use to promote democracy and respect for human rights.

In his testimony, Dastidar, who has taught at Old Westbury since 1977, described the daily persecution faced by the Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, women and indigenous Bangladeshis at the hands of the country’s Islamist majority. This fundamental change must occur for democracy to work in Bangladesh, he said.

“Almost on a daily basis, I receive information from home about rape, forced conversion, murder, temple desecration or destruction, confiscation of properties and denial of jobs … but no one is prosecuted,” Dastidar said in his testimony, a copy of which is available at www.uscirf.gov. “These, I bet, are a fraction of intolerant acts that take place on a daily basis.”

Dastidar also listed changes necessary to ensure a democratic election—and the future of democracy in Bangladesh. They include developing a protocol to protect minorities; eliciting pledges from all political parties to nominate minorities and women as candidates; adding equal rights for all religions to the Constitution; compensating victims of violence in past elections; and punishing perpetrators of violence in past and future elections.

“I believe that political parties pledging these points will receive support from all Bangladeshis, including Hindu and other minorities,” Dastidar said. “These pledges will usher in a pluralistic, tolerant, prosperous, democratic nation, a symbol of success in the developing world among Muslim minority nations, and a leader in the Indian subcontinent.”

Created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the commission monitors the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief. It provides policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of state and Congress.

— Michael Lisi