Citation

Kabir SM. Reprod. Health Matters 1996; 4(8): 104-109.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0968-8080(96)90307-9

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

On 30June 1994 a nationwide hartal (strike) was called in Bangladesh bylslamic fundamentalist political parties, following the fatwa (death sentence) against the author Tasleema Nasrin who, in her novel Lajja, had criticised the persecution of Hindus and women in the country. On the same day, the Bangladesh Women's Health Coalition's office and clinic at Zakiganj in Sylhet near the border with India, where Islamic fundamentalist forces had a strong presence, was burnt down by a frenzied mob, led by religious leaders. As the then executive director of the Bangladesh Women's Health Coalition, I was involved. This paper describes the events which led up to this act and what happened afterward. It describes the education and services provided by the Coalition project to women in Zakiganj, which became a convenient target for mob fury.