Indian evangelists continue to suffer detention in silence in Bangladesh

A group of 14 evangelists remained detained in Bangladesh after completing a three–month sentence for unknowingly having crossed the border while evangelizing.

“Their jail terms finished on February 28," said the Bangladeshi Inspector General of Prisons, Zakir Hasan, in published remarks.

"We applied to our home ministry on February 9 about their repatriation to India, but so far, we did not get any information about their repatriation," Christian news agency Compass Direct News quoted him as saying.

Although the Bangladeshi officials are willing to send the detained missionaries, they are unwilling to do unless Indian authorities make an arrangement.

The evangelists were arrested on November 27, last year while they mistakenly trekked inside Bangladeshi territory near the Roma area of Bandarban hill district, some 272 kilometers (169 miles) southeast of the capital.

"Those Christian people were actually preaching Christianity in that mountainous terrain," said Sub–Inspector Babar Ali in a statement. "They could not understand the demarcation line of the border between India and Bangladesh. In actual fact, there is no demarcation line of border there."

“We investigated whether they were engaged in any illegal or criminal activities in Bangladeshi territory, but our investigation has drawn a blank. We did not find them involved in any criminal activities,” he added.

The evangelists arrested include four women and a 51–year–old man.

Religious extremism has grown in the last two years in Bangladesh. There have been reports of abductions, forced conversion of minorities and reports of rape of young girls.

On January 7, this year, a 70 year old woman on Bangladesh was in critical condition after suspected Muslim extremists reportedly tried to burn her alive to prevent her from being baptized as a Christian.

Christians account for approximately 0.3% of the total population. Of the 370,000 Christians, at least 221,000 are Roman Catholics and the rest being Orthodox and non–denominational.