A dozen priests get death threat
A deep sense of insecurity has gripped Christian priests in the country.
Two priests have narrowly escaped attacks on their lives recently while at least a dozen others have received death threats in a little over a week's time.
They now fear attacks on their lives anytime.
Five priests yesterday told The Daily Star that they all had received text messages on their phones on November 11 and 12 which asked them to prepare for death.
"Eat whatever you like the most. Only five days are left. Not more than that," reads an SMS received by a Savar-based priest at 1:25pm on November 11.
The SMSs received by the other four had almost identical texts.
The next day, the Savar priest received another text message from the same number. This time it said, "One day has elapsed. Should we arrange your burial or let your family do it? Inform [us] today."
"I really am scared. Now I have limited my movement to the church compound," said the priest, whose quarter is within the premises.
The five priests, who serve churches in and around the capital, wished anonymity on security grounds.
They told this correspondent that at least seven other clergymen who had received the same threat. At least five of them had registered general diaries with different police stations of Dhaka.
Most of them have restricted their movements.
"I always remain afraid that somebody is following me to kill," said a priest of a Mirpur church.
According to Bangladesh Christian Association (BCA), the country has around 3,000 churches served by as many priests.
On Wednesday, unknown gunmen shot an Italian doctor-cum-pastor Piero Parolari in Dinajpur. Earlier on October 5, pastor Luke Sarkar escaped an attempt on his life when three suspected radicals tried to slit his throat in Pabna.
Parolari is now under treatment at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka while Luke fled his area on October 28 without informing anyone about his next whereabouts.
"We do not write anything against any religion. We do not even run conversion campaigns. Why did we become a target?" said a clergyman in the capital.
"The kind of uncertainty we are in is unprecedented," he added.
BCA Organising Secretary William Proloy Samadder feels the same.
"We now feel unsafe to an extent that we experienced never before," he says.
"We are receiving information from across the country that priests are getting death threats," William says, claiming the number of clergymen to have received such threats would be at least a few dozens.
Khandaker Lutful Kabir, who commands the Rab unit responsible for law and order in Savar and Mirpur areas, said that they had received such allegations and beefed up security for the churches and the priests.
"We are in constant touch with them," he said.
Asked whether they were satisfied with the security arrangements, several pastors replied in the negative.
"The government has to do more ... Even though several days have passed since the text messages were sent, the security agencies failed to track down any of the senders," said a clergyman.