New Delhi, 5 October (ENI)--Church leaders in Muslim-majority Bangladesh say they are "surprised and disappointed" over the outcome of general elections that have given a landslide majority to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Muslim right-wing partners. The four-party alliance, including the Islamic Jamaat-i-Islami party, have won 202 seats out of 283 officially declared on 3 October following national elections held on 1 October for the 300-member Parliament. Results of 16 seats have been held back pending the outcome of re-elections at some polling places due to violence that left six people dead and dozens injured on election day. Election to another seat had been postponed following the death of a candidate.

With more than 300 people killed in political clashes since the election was announced in July, the caretaker government had ordered the freezing of 600 000 mobile phones on election day and had called on 50 000 military troops and the nation's entire police force to keep the peace.

"We [Christians] never expected the BNP to win. We are disappointed over the emergence of Jamaat-i-Islami," Susanta Adhikari, president of the National Council of Churches of Bangladesh (NCCB) told ENI.

The ruling Awami League party, which had enjoyed Christian support due to its relatively secular credentials, won only 62 seats compared to the 146 seats it had won five years ago in the last general election.

The winning BNP is a mainstream political party that has ruled Bangladesh before. But, Adhikari said, the emergence of Jamaat-i-Islami as "a political force and likely partner in government is a matter of concern to us".

The Jamaat-i-Islami party has publicly stated that it would like to turn Bangladesh into an Islamic state. Jamaat-i-Islami's representation in parliament has increased from one seat in 1996 to a total of 16 with this week's elections.

"They can create lot of problems for us," added Adhikari, who is also the president of the Bangladesh Baptist Council. Bishop B. D. Mondal, moderator of the Church of Bangladesh - a denomination which is not a member of the NCCB - echoed Adhikari's sentiments. "We are a little disappointed because the conservative side of the country has come up now," Bishop Mondal said. "Though there may not be any persecution of [Christians] as we are a small minority, we may have to face difficulties." The Christian population of Bangladesh - about 400 000 people - accounts for only 0.3 per cent of the estimated 130 million population, about 90 percent of which is Muslim.

"This [the election outcome] is not something that we had expected," Bishop Theotonius Gomes, secretary general of Catholic Bishops Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB), told ENI. "Maybe BNP's alliance with Muslim groups fetched them more votes," Bishop Gomes speculated.

When asked whether Christians were alarmed over the prospect of a government allied with amaat-i-Islami, Bishop Gomes replied that "this is an entirely new situation. Let us wait and see." The bishop pointed out that Begum Khalida Zia, head of the BNP and former prime minister, had already assured the people that a right-wing Islamic agenda would not be imposed on the nation.

"An Islamic republic was not an alliance pledge," Zia said in a news conference in Dhaka after her thumping victory, asserting that religion would not play any part in her administration under the secular laws of the nation.

Defeated rival Sheikh Hasina Wajed, head of the Awami League, has "rejected" the election outcome, accusing the caretaker government of rigging the election by colluding with the BNP against her party. However, a team of international observers led by the European Union hailed the election as "free and fair".

Bishop Mondal, who had visited several polling places as an election observer for a national forum of human rights organisations, also said that the election had been "free and fair". [ENI 10/5/01]