More Brave Writers Targeted in Bangladesh

As a researcher on Bangladesh, I read the article ``Bangladeshi Writer Draws Death Threat,'' April 1, with great interest. However, it underestimates the seriousness of Islamic fundamentalism and that of the persecution of minority non-Muslims. Both of these issues have been ignored by the rest of the world since partition of Bengal in 1947.

The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has made no secret about its dislike of secularism, which is practiced in the Marxist-run West Bengal State across the border in India. BNP has amended Bangladesh's secular constitution and added Islam in its place.

I have visited Bangladesh several times and the reality is much harsher than what Taslima Nasreen, the subject of the article, writes. School curriculum, dress, and many other aspects of life are being changed through Islamization.

Many courageous Muslims and minorities have written about this. Like Ms. Nasreen they are the target of fundamentalists and the governing party. Bangladesh's minority human rights groups compare their plight with that of the non-Muslim minorities of Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Sachi G. Dastidar, Bellerose, N.Y.

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