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Here is a different kind of persecution story -- never heard
of this before. Also, this does not sound like Buddhists -- doing
something like this. BUT there it is.
Friday May 22, 2009
BANGLADESH:
BUDDHIST CREMATION RITE FORCED ON CHRISTIANS
Villagers demand
money, compel mourners to chant Buddhist mantras.
DHAKA,
Bangladesh, May 21 (Compass Direct News) – Buddhist
villagers in southeastern Bangladesh forced Christians to participate
in a Buddhist cremation rite for a deceased family member last weekend
and demanded money for a post-funeral ceremony. Uttam Lal Chakma, 55,
died last Friday (May 15) after a long illness in Dighinala
sub-district of Khagrachari hill district, some 400 kilometers (250
miles) southeast of Dhaka. He had converted from Buddhism to
Christianity two years ago. Pastor Vubon Chakma and Christian villagers
sought to give him a Christian burial the next day, but a hostile group
of local Buddhists forcibly stopped them from doing so, according to a
local Christian source. The source told Compass that a member of the
Buddhist group told family members, “He was born as a Buddhist, and
he will be buried as a Buddhist.†The source said that the Buddhists
demanded 12,000 taka ($US177) to hold a post-funeral ceremony today, to
which they planned to invite more than 250 Buddhists, including their
local monk. At press time the amount had not been given, but the area
Buddhists had taken no action, the source said.
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