EKTA BENEFIT FOR THE
"CHEYE DEKHO" CAMPAIGN IN BANGLADESH

SAN FRANCISCO - Ekta is arranging a benefit for Drishtipat's "Cheye Dekho Campaign". Dj Cheb i Sabbah will be spinning at the Blind Tiger Lounge on Jan 25 Friday at 9:00pm to raise funds for the benefit. By January 31, 2002, Drishtipat's "Cheye Dekho Campaign" plans to raise $25,000. The funds raised through the campaign will be used for the rehabilitation of victims at Annada Prashad, raise awareness of current minority related human rights abuses at Annada Prashad and elsewhere in Bangladesh and lobby the Bangladesh government to take action.

Recently, there has been an outburst of minority related human rights abuses in Bangladesh. Many minority communities have been attacked. On October 2-3, 2001, minority Hindu residents of the remote Bangladesh village of Annada Prashad were subjected to intolerable human rights abuses. Almost two hundred women were raped and the local power elite rendered hundreds of families homeless in organized attacks. Similar incidents have also happened at other places in Bangladesh. In Patuakhali, 22 Hindu women were raped and forced to walk naked in public on Oct 3, 2001 (Mayer Dak News Service). On October 10 resident minority groups were attacked in several villages in Pabna district. Hindus who have been living in those areas for generations were told to leave the country or face "dire consequences". At least 400 minority families in Sujanagar in Pabna reportedly fled their homes (The Daily Star). In all of these incidents the police and the government have often remained indifferent towards the attacks.

We would also like to note that these human rights related abuses of minority communities are not unique only to Bangladesh. Elsewhere in South Asia, such as India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal minority related human rights abuses abound. In India, a gang of upper caste landlords, the Ranvir Sena, have openly claimed responsibility for massacring entire Dalit villages in Bihar, and the overall oppression of Dalits in India continues. The Hindutva forces in India continue to carry out reprisals against Muslim communities the worst of which occurred in Bombay's "cosmopolitan" business center following the Babri Masjid demolition. Hindutva forces also carried out a backlash against the Adivasi Christian community in Orissa. Villages in Kashmir, Assam, Karnataka, and Nagaland continue to be persecuted for their suspected involvement in separatist movements. In Pakistan, the Christians and the followers of the Amadi sect face persecution. In Nepal and Bhutan, supporters of the Maoist rebellion are victimized. In Sri Lanka, the ruling Singhalese continues to repress the Tamils.

In these incidents while the oppressed minority communities vary from country to country, what is common is that within each country, the dominant community, often with the connivance of the local police and government, is frequently responsible for abusing the rights of people in minority communities. What we would also like to stress is that women and children of minority communities experience added abuse as violent attacks are often specifically directed towards them.

Alongside these violent outbursts of oppression, there have been positive efforts. What should be recognized is that many NGOs (e.g. Drishtipat), civil society organizations (e.g. Mahila Parishad, Ain-O-Shalish Kendra), institutions (e.g. Fair Election Monitoring Alliance, Sachetan Nagorik Samaj) and individuals (e.g. journalist Shahriar Kabir) have been productively active in drawing attention to these recent violent outbursts against the minority communities in Bangladesh. While the fund we raise will rehabilitate victims of oppression on minority communities only at Annada Prashad, through our work we would like to draw attention to human rights abuses throughout South Asia and to show our support and appreciation for the people and organizations working to prevent it.

Special thanks to dj Cheb i Sabbah

Born in Algeria, dj CHEB i SABBAH began spinning in Paris in 1964. In the late 80's he became a fixture on the club scene in San Francisco and since 1990 has produced 50 plus concerts in the U.S. as part of his groundbreaking 1002 Nights Live series including performances by Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and Rai singers Fadela and Sahraoui, Cheba Zahouania, Cheb Hasni, and Cheb Nasro. Cheb i Sabbah may have helped to create the DJ phenomenon, but also stands apart from it. His passion for bringing the great traditions of Asia, Arabia and Africa to the immigrants of those continents and to Western listeners led to the release of his two albums Shri Durga and MahaMaya and the forthcoming Krishna Lila on Six Degrees Records.

For more information, visit
http://www.ektaonline.org/events/banglabenefit/