1990s-in-asia

"Fundamentalists attacked the Jagannath Ashram of Sitakunda on 31 October. Shri Shri Kali mandir of Battala, built around 200 years ago, turned into a prize target. The head of the idol was broken and its silver crown and gold ornaments were stolen. Hindus were in the majority at the Charsarat village. On 1 November, around two to three hundred people arrived and literally looted the entire village: Whatever they could not carry away, they consigned to the flames leaving behind ashes and mute, half-burnt trees. Finally, before the marauders left they warned the villagers to leave by the 10th, failing which they would face even more calamitous attacks. Goats and cattle were killed and the granary was completely burnt. About 4,000 Hindus suffered enormous losses. More than seventy-five per cent of the houses were burnt to the ground, numerous goats and cattle killed and many women raped. The estimated loss ‘was over twenty-five million takas. Approximately 200 people armed with lathis and iron rods attacked the Satbaria village temple and destroyed all the idols inside. The people in the adjacent villages came to know of the destruction and fled. Many of them took shelter in the neighbouring jungles. The invaders looted every house. The community Durgabari of Satbaria was razed to the ground. The temple and the residences of Khajuria village met with identical fate. The peasants lost everything. The raiders set Sailen Kumar's wife afire and the poor woman was critically injured. A few devotees were at prayer in the Shiva temple. When they were discovered by the hooligans they were taunted and abused; the idols in the temple were destroyed and as the mobs left they urinated on them for good measure."

"The Jaikali temple was smashed to smithereens."

"‘A room situated on the boundary wall of the Brahmo Samaj was blown up. Inside the Ram-Sita temple an exquisitely carved throne was totally destroyed. Needless to say, the temple's sanctum sanctorum itself was badly damaged."

"The monastery at Naya Bazaar was demolished, 50 too was the temple at Bongraam with crowbars,"

"‘At Dhamrai, the Shoni temple, a part of the gymnasium complex, was plundered."

"The homes of at least twenty-five families were incinerated by two to three hundred commianal thugs. At Lakshmi Bazaar, the walls of the Bir Bhadra temple were broken down and everything inside was destroyed."

"‘The image of the goddess Kali in Rai Bazaar was damaged ‘beyond recognition."

"‘The Bottholi temple in Thathari Bazaar was destroyed."

"The ancient Shamp mandir was partially damaged."

"Ruminating in this fashion, he lit a cigarette. His attention was drawn to a thin book lying on top of the table. He had never seen the book before. It was about the communal conflict of 1990 and he opened itand was soon engrossed in it. On 30 October 1990, at 1 a.m,, the residents of Panchanandhaam Ashram woke up to the sound of a slogan-shouting procession. The processionists broke open the front gate and breached the boundary wall, abused the ashramites, poured kerosene on a temporary shed and started a fire. One by one, all the idols were broken, including the top of the shrine over the sadhubaba’s grave, and all the religious books were burnt. The Sanskrit Language Institute was housed on the same plot as the Ashram. The crowd ransacked the book shelves, burnt the valuable books and looted whatever money they could find. On the same day, around midnight, approximately 2,500 armed people attacked the Sadarghat Kalibari with bricks, entered the main temple and broke and destroyed the idols. All the shops and hamlets alongside the Chatteswari Mayer mandir were looted and destroyed. The cremation area of Golpahar was consigned to the flames and the Kali idol (Swasan Kali) was destroyed. A news broadcast by the Voice of America on 30 October night resulted in an assault on Kaibolya Ashram, Every idol and every room in the ashram was torched; the inmates of the ashram fled to the hills. Those who failed to leave were beaten with iron rods or brutalized in other ways. The temple was damaged badly. Something similar occurred at the Haragouri temple; the idols were smashed, all the valuables looted and the religious scriptures burnt to ashes. The area around the temple was left in a shambles and the entire population of the place was rendered homeless. An armed gang attacked the Krishnagopalji temple on Chatteswari Road in the evening. Their total booty was two kilos of silver, 250 grams of gold and other precious items including the idol. The precious sculpture of the cow at the gate and the surrounding pine trees were not spared either. ias colony of Bahaddarhaat was turned into a ghost town—all Hindu houses were looted, the people of the area irrespective of sex and age were brutalized."

"Large-scale looting and arson took place in many areas of Chittagong, including the Dasbhuja Durgabari at College Road, the Baradeshwari Kali mandir of Korbanigunj, the Paramahangsa Mahatma Narsingha mandir at Chakbazaar, the Barsa Kalibari and Durga Kalibari at Uttar Chandgai, the Sidheshwari Kali mandir at Sadarghat, the Dewaneshwari Kali mandir of Dewanhaat, the Uttar Patenga Samshan Kalibari of Katghar, the Magadeshwari idol was broken and Rakhsha Kali mandir of Purva Motherbari, the Milan Parishad mandir of Mogultuli, the Durga mandir, the Shivbari and Hari mandir of ‘Tigerpass, the Sadarghat’s Raj Rajeshwari Thakurbari, the Kali mandir and Durgabari of Jalalabad, the Napitpara Swasan mandir of Kul Gaon, the Karunamoyee Kali mandir of Katalgunj, the Jaikali mandir of Chandgaon’s Nathpara, the Dayamoyee Kalibari and Magadeshwari Kali. mandir of Nazirpara, the Kalibari of Paschim Baklia, the Brahmamoyee Kalibari of Katalgunj, the Bara Bazaar Shreekrishna mandir of Paschim Baklia, the Shiv mandirs of Himangshu Das, Satindra Das, Rammohan Das and Chandicharan Das, the Krishna mandir of Monomohan Das, the Tulsidhaam mandir of Nandankanan, the Dakshin Halishahar mandir of Port Area, the Golpahar Mahasamshan and Kalibari of Panchlaish, the Jelepara Kali mandir at Aman Ali Road and the Anandamoyee Kali mandir at Medical College Road."

"Other areas that were destroyed and plundered included the Bura Kalibari of Nalua of Satkania, the community Kalibari and Durga mandir of Jagoria, the Chandimandap Magadeshwari temple of Dakshin Kanchara, the Madhyabari Kalibari of Dakshin Charti, the community Kalibari of Madhyanalua, the temple at Charti, the Rup Kalibari and Dhara mandir of Barnakpara of Dakshin Charti, the Jalakumari temple of Paschim Matiadanga, the Krishnahari temple of Badona Deputyhaat, the Durnigar Mahabodi Bihar of Bajalia, the famous Milan mandir and Krishnamandir of Boalkhali of Kodurkhil, the Jagadananda Mission of Aburdandi, the ‘community Magadeshwari mandir of Paschim Shakhpura, the Mohinibabur Ashram of central Shakhpura, the Kali mandir of Dhorla Kalaiahaat, the community Jagadhatri mandir of Kodurkhil, the Rishigraam Adhipati of Kok Dandiya, the Bigraha mandir, the Magadeshwari Dhanpota and Sebakhola of Kodurkhil’s Saswat Choudhury, the community Kalibari of Potiya, the Hari mandir and Jagannathbari of Dwijendra Das of Nolua in Satkania, the community Kalibari in Satkania’s Dakshin Charti Dakhshinpara and the Dakshin Brahmandanga’s community Kalibari."

"‘A hundred-strong communal crowd attacked the Mirzapur Jagannath Ashram (a place for meditation and study) in Hathazari subdistrict of Mirzapur at about 11 in the night. All the idols were destroyed and all the ornaments of Lord Jagannath were looted. The next morning the crowd set fire to the corrugated tin roof. The police who had been alerted to a second attack retreated in the face of the violent crowd. When a fresh complaint was lodged with the police they drew attention to their limitations and took no further action. That evening about forty to forty-five armed people attacked the unarmed villagers. They fled. The gang forcibly entered homes and temples in the area, destroyed idols and decamped with valuables."

"Armed gangs destroyed the idols at Dhairahaat Hari mandir at Chandnaish subdivision. They did the same with Jagannath’s chariot. The Matri mandir and the Radhagobinda mandir at Pathandandi village of Borokal union were destroyed. At 12 midnight, 400 men from Boalkhali destroyed all the family temples at Kodurkhil union, and demolished the homes of Himangshu Choudhury, Paresh Biswas, Bhupal Choudhury, Phanindra Choudhury and Anukul Choudhury. The ancient Rishidhaam Ashram of Banskholi subdistrict was destroyed. All the rooms were burnt down and the books were reduced to ashes."

"There is no state today, certainly not in India, to protect Hindu interest in the international arena, to raise voice for the Hindus .... In December 1992, no less than 600 Hindu temples were destroyed in Bangladesh, thousands of Hindu homes were burnt down, hundreds of Hindu women were paraded naked on the streets of Bhola town, a number of Hindus were killed, Hindu shops were looted, Hindu deities were desecrated, Hindu girls were dishonoured. But the Government of India remained silent. In Pakistan, 300 temples were destroyed. In Lahore a Minister of Pakistan personally supervised the pulling down of a temple with the help of bulldozers, and several Hindus were murdered. But the Government of India remained silent. No matter how much tyranny, how much injustice is heaped on Hindus anywhere in the world, the State of India is not bothered - this is the essence of Secularism in India."

"Muslims attacked and burnt down Hindu temples and shops across Bangladesh and disrupted an India-Bangladesh cricket match following the destruction of the Babri Masjid in India by Hindu fundamentalists. About 5,000 young men with rods and bamboo sticks tried to storm Dhaka National Stadium, but they were beaten back by police firing tear gas and rubber bullets. At least 10 people have died, many Hindu women have been raped, and hundreds of Hindu homes and temples have been destroyed."

"Taslima Nasrin, a physician, poet, novelist, and journalist, is an outspoken feminist from Bangladesh and the author of many books. Lajia (Shame) is a documentary novel about the plight of a Hindu family in Benes persecuted by Muslim fundamentalists during an outbreak of anti-~ in 1992. On December 6, 1992, Hind extremists demolished the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque in Ayodha, India. The incident set off weeks of mob violence in India during which more than 1,200 people were killed. In Bangladesh, Muslims terrorized Hindus and ransacked and burned Hindu temples, shops, and homes in retaliation. Hindus are a minority in Bangladesh, which has an Islamic constitution. The novel traces the events of 13 days in the life of a fictional family, the Duttas—Sudhamoy Dutta, a physician, his wife Kironmoyee and their grown children Suranjan and Maya—in the aftermath of the razing of the Babri mosque. It also reflects Hindu complaints of persistent violation of their rights. Many Hindu friends of the Dutta family crossed the border into India to settle with relatives, particularly after a 1990 wave of anti:"

"Bhola district had a majority of Hindu population. Till 1992, practically no Hindu family had migrated to India. The Hindu were prosperous paddy farmers who had learnt to have a good crop from the marshy farmland. Nearly 50,000 Hindu families were the victims of genocide in this district The Muslim mobs, mostly composed of Jammat-e-Islam goondas and members of the Awami League Party violently looted, damaged and set fire to the houses and commercial centers and temples in the entire district towns and villages Practically everything was either looted or destroyed. The condition of women and children was pitiable as they was no Shelter, no food and no clothes for days. Three hundred young girls, many minor among them, were raped, even gang raped, in front of their parents and families. In one village alone more then 200 women were abducted and have never been recovered. The onslaught in the Bhola district had been prepared far in advance as the land and properties of the Hindus were coveted by Muslims. Political parties were waiting for an opportune time and pretext. After this holocaust nearly 65 percent of the Hindu families in Bhola district migrated to India."

"It is disgraceful that the Hindus in my country were hunted by the Muslims after the destruction of the Babri Masjid. All of us who love Bangladesh should feel ashamed that such a terrible thing ‘could happen in our beautiful country. The riots that took place in 1992 in Bangladesh are the responsibility of us all, and we are all to blame."

"Lajja was published in February 1993 in Bangladesh and sold over 60,000 copies before it was banned by the government five months later—their excuse was that it was disturbing the communal peace. In September that year a fatwa was issued against me by a fundamentalist organization and a reward was offered for my death, There have been marches on the streets of Dhaka by communalists clamouring for my life. But none of these things have shaken my determination to continue the battle against religious persecution, genocide and communalism."

"They walked away from the damage together. Suranjan asked, ‘Which other places have they torched?” “Chittagong’s temples at Tulsidhaam, Panchanandhaam and Kaibolyadhaam were broken to pieces. All the temples in Malipara, Samshan mandir, Korbanigunj, Kalibari, Chatteswari, Bishnu mandir, Hajari lane and Fakirpara were set ablaze. Ironically, there were processions at the same time pleading for communal harmony’ Suranjan sighed deeply. Kaiser pushed back his untidy hair and said, ‘It wasn’t only temples yesterday. They had even set fire to the fishermen’s colony in Majhirghat. Atleast fifty homes were totally destroyed’ ‘What else?’ Suranjan asked, suddenly indifferent to everything. “They raided the Madhav mandir and Durga mandir in Jaidebpur. At Sherpur, the Annapurna mandir at the Krishi Centre and the Kali mandir at the Sherighat Ashram were completely destroyed. In Faridpur, the temples in the Ramakrishna Mission were looted. The guru and his students were seriously injured.’ “And? Suranjan continued to be unconcerned. “At Narshindi, the temples and houses at Chalakchor and Monohordir were destroyed. In Narayangunj, the temple at the Morapara Bazaar in the Rupgunj station was demolished. At Comilla, the old Abhaya Ashram was burnt. At Noakhali also all Kinds of atrocities were perpetrated.” “Like what?’ “The Adhor Chand Ashramat the Sudharam police station and seven Hindu homes have been destroyed. All the Hindu homes in Gangapur were first looted and then set ablaze. The Sivakali temple at Shonapur and the gymnasium at Binodpur were destroyed. The Kali mandir at Choumuhini, Durgabari mandir at Durgapur and the temples at Qutabpur and Gopalpur were razed to the ground. Dr P. K. Singha’s medicine factory, Akhanda Ashram, and the temples in the Choyani area were all demolished. InChoumuhuni, Babupur, Tetuia, Mehdipur, Rajgunj Bazaar, Tongirpar, Kazirhaat, Rasulpur, Jameendarhaat and Porabari ten temples and eighteen Hindu homes were looted and set on fire. A shop, a car and even alady were setalight. Of the seventeen homes in Bhabordi, thirteen were torched and all of them looted and the ladies were tortured. Biplab Bhowmick was stabbed. Yesterday all the houses and temples in Birahimpur were damaged. The Jagannath mandir, three shops in the Charhazaari village, as well as clubs were looted and plundered. Two houses in the Charparbaati village, one house in Daasherhaat, two temples at Charkukri and Muchhapur and the Jaikali temple were burned. All the people living in Sirajpur were beaten up and all the homes were at first looted and later set ablaze’"

"Dhakeshwari mandir, Siddheswari Kali mandir, Ramakrishna Mission, Mahaprakash Math, Narinda Gouriya Math, Bholagiri Ashram have all been stoned, looted and plundered. ‘Swamibagh Ashram has also been looted. Twenty-five homes near Shoni’s gym have been burnt down. The Shoni mandir and the Durga mandir have both been destroyed and burnt. Narinda’s Rishipara and the Dayagunj Jelepara have not been spared either. Farmgate, Paltan, the Nawabpur Maran Chand sweetshop and the Deshbandhu sweetshop at Tikatuli have also been demolished and set ablaze. The temple at Thathari Bazaar has also been torched."

"Tapas Pal, who had been patiently waiting for his turn, now said, ‘I have just got news from Cox's Bazaar, that the temple at Sebakhola has been destroyed. There was another at Chitamandir which has suffered the same fate. The Central Kali mandir at the Jalalabad Idgaon Bazaar, the Durga mandir at Hindupara, the Manasha mandir and Hari mandir at Machuapara as well as the Club House at Machuapara have been burnt to cinders by the Jamaatis. The Durga mandir at Islamabad, the Boalkhali Durga mandir, the Adaitya Chintahari math, the chief priest's home at the math, and at least five more temples have been set ablaze. The Hari mandir at Boalkhali has been looted. Eight temples at Choufaldandi as well as six homes and two shops were destroyed. Ina Hindu locality hundred and sixty-five homes were completely demolished. In the shopping centre, five Hindu shops were looted and Hindus are being beaten up and tortured at sight. They are setting fire to the granaries in a number of Hindu homes. The Bhairavbari temple at Ukhia has been completely destroyed as well. The Teknaf Kalibari, along with the purohit’s home, has been burnt down. The mandir at Sarbang has also been demolished. At Maheshkhali, three temples and eleven Hindu homes were set on fire. Four schools for Gita recitals have been burnt down. At the Kalarama Market, the Kali mandir and Hari mandir have both been set on fire, The Kali mandir at Qutabdia Borghop Bazaar, and five others have also been set on fire. Four craftsmens’ shops have been destroyed at the market. At the Ali Akbar Dale, fifty fishermen’s homes were looted and burnt to the ground. At Qutabdia, three children sustained burns. At Ramur Idgah, the community Kali mandir and the Jelepara Hari mandir were destroyed and later burnt down. Many homes at Fatehkhanrkhul were set on fire... .’ Suranjan cut in abruptly and said, ‘Oh for God’s sake, stop. Instead, why don’t you sing a song?’ “Sing!,’ Everyone was taken aback. How could anyone sing in these circumstances? Today was not a normal day. Houses, temples and shops were being burnt in the city, and Suranjan was asking for a song!"

"In order to maintain peace and harmony, all the parties in Dhaka were spontaneously organizing processions. But all this was a facade. Behind the front, it was a different story. In Golokpur, thirty Hindu women were raped. Chanchali, Sandhya, Moni . . . Nikunja Dutta had died. Bhagavati, an old lady, had been so terrified that she had died of a heart attack. In Golokpur incidents of daylight rape were reported. Even women who had taken refuge in Muslim homes were being raped."

"Fourteen hundred maunds of betel nuts belonging to Nantu Haldar were burnt to ashes at Das’ Haat Bazaar, The police, magistrate and DC were mute spectators to the destruction of temples at Bhola city."

"The jewellery of temples was openly looted. A Hindu washermens’ colony was burnt to cinders."

"At Manikgunj, they destroyed the Lakshmi temple, the community Shiv temple, the goldsmith lanes of Dashara and Kalikhala and the big beverage and cigarette godowns of Gadadhar Pal ‘Three truckloads of people raided the police stations at Twara, Baniajuri, Pukuria, Uthli, Mahadebpur, Joka and Shivalaya. ‘Three kilometres from the city, Hindu homes were looted and burnt in the Betila village. ‘The century old Naat mandir of Betila was attacked."

"Jeevan Saha’s home at Garpara was torched; three cowsheds ‘were burnt to ashes; hundreds of mounds of paddy were lost in the flames. Hindu shops at Terosree Bazaar under Ghior police station, and Hindu houses at Gangdubi, Baniajuri and Senpara were burnt down. At Senpara, a Hindu woman was raped as well."

"The Kali temple of Pirozepur, the Debarchana committee Kali mandir, the Manasha mandir, the Sheetala mandir, the Shiv mandir, the Narayan mandir, the Pirozepur Madanmohon Bigraha mandir, the Kali temple of Roykathi, the Krishnanagar Rai Rasaraj Seva Ashram, the Dumurtala Shreeguru Sangha ashram and mandir, the Kali temple at Suresh Saha’s home in Dukheri Dumuriala, the Manasha mandir at Naren Saha’s house in Dumurtala, the Manasha mandir at the ancestral home of Ramesh Saha, the community Kali mandir at Dumurtala, the temples at the homes of Sucharan Mondal, Gouranga Haldar, Harendra Nath Saha, Narendra Nath Saha, the Kali temple beside the Dumurtala high school, the Ranipur Panch Devi mandir, the community mandir of Hularhaat and Kartick Das’ furniture shop, the Kali mandir, the Kalakhali Sanatan Ashram, the Jujkhola Gour Govinda Seva Ashram, the Harisabha Sanatan Dharma mandir, the Kali mandir at the home of Ranjit Seal, the Jujkhola community Puja centre, the community Durga mandir near the Gabtola school, the temple in Bipin Haldar’s house at Krishnanagar, the community Kali mandir at Namazpur, the temple and math at Kalikathi Biswas’ home, the Lairi Kali mandir, the community temple of Inderhaat under Swarupkathi police station, the Durga mandir at Kanai Biswas’ homein Inderhaat, Nakul Saha’s cinema hall, the Durga mandir at Amal Guha’s home, the temple at Hemanta Seal’s house and the Kali mandir at Jadav Das’ house at Mathbaria police station were all set ablaze, The Shiv mandir at Mistripara in Syedpur was also destroyed. The community temple at Rathdanga village of Narail district, the Ghona community mandir, the Kudulia community crematorium, Nikhil Chandra Dey’s family mandir, Kalipada Hazra’s family temple, Shivprosad Pal’s family temple, the family temple at Dulal Chandra Chakraborty’s home in Badon village, Krishna Chandra Laskar’s family temple, the Taltala village community temple, the family temples of Baidyanath Saha, Sukumar Biswas and Pagla Biswas at Pankabila village, the community temple at Pankabila village, the Narayan Jiu mandir at Purbapara Daulatpur under Lohagara police station were all ransacked and demolished."

"Ten temples at Khulna were razed to the ground. Four or five temples along with houses were looted and plundered at Raduli in Paikpara and at Shobonadas and Baka villages. Two temples were destroyed in the Talimpur area under Rupsa police station. The Hindu homes adjacent to it were also looted."

"On the night of 8 December, three temples in the Dighlia and Senhati areas were burnt down. A group of processionists raided thirteen homes in Sahadevpur village, Feni. Twenty people were injured in the Jaipur village of Chagalnaiya At Langalboa village, Gobinda Prosad Roy's home was raided by two hundred people at the instigation of Moazzem Hussain. A person by the name of Kamal Biswas was seriously injured; it was possible he would succumb to his injuries. These tales of the continuing carnage in Bangladesh were being furnished by Birupaksha, Nayan and Debabrata. They satin front of Suranjan and chattered on but Suranjan gave no sign that he heard them. He was lying down with his eyes closed. He thought savagely—none of you know that it was not only at Bhola, Chittagong, Pirozepur, Sythet and Comilla that Hindu homes were looted; there was also a home at Tikatuli which was looted and from where a beautiful girl named Maya was stolen! Women after all were like commodities, and therefore stolen just like gold and silver."

"Gangs of Moslems, many armed with knives and clubs, attacked Hindu temples, smashed idols and set fire to hundreds of homes in response to clashes in India, witnesses said today. Angry mobs took to the streets late Tuesday on hearing news of an attempt by fundamentalist Hindus in India to take over a mosque and replace it with a temple at the holy town of Ayodhya. More than 150 people have been killed in India in fighting related to the dispute. The worst violence flared at Kaiballadham, site of the Chittagong’s largest temple. Witnesses said 2,000 people with knives and iron rods rampaged through a residential district around the temple at midnight and burned at least 300 houses. One group destroyed about 50 mud-and-straw houses inhabited by low-caste Hindus, mainly fishermen. Another group attacked a garage owned by a Hindu and damaged five vehicles."

"The independent Ittefaq newspaper said a Moslem businessman who was shot during the anti-Hindu rampage in Dhaka died in a hospital late Wednesday night. There was no immediate indication who shot him. The newspaper said about 100 people were injured in Dhaka, most of them from stabbings. Twenty-six were hospitalized. Ittefaq also reported anti-Hindu trouble in Jessore, Narail, Gaibandha, Mymensingh, Sunamganj and Sylhet in northern and western Bangladesh. It gave no details except that gangs attempted to break into temples. Bangladeshi newspapers tend to be cautious in reporting sensitive issues such as religious strife. In Chittagong, the trouble erupted Tuesday evening, several hours after Hindu fundamentalists in India stormed into a 16th century mosque they want to replace with a temple in the Hindu holy town of Ayodhya. At least 11 Chittagong temples were vandalized. About 30 percent of the 2 million people in Chittagong, the nation’s second-largest city after Dhaka, are Hindus."

"In Bangladesh, an Islamic country with a Hindu minority, newspapers reported hundreds of demonstrators were injured when anti-Hindu gangs clashed with police in Dhaka, Chittagong and Barisal. Dainik Bangla, a government-owned daily newspaper, said police used steel- tipped batons to disperse 400 Moslems who tried to break into a Hindu temple in Barisal, 75 miles south of Dhaka. At least 50 people were injured. In Dhaka,the capital, riot police armed with tear gas guns and truncheons wounded about 100 people who tried to ″vandalize and loot Hindu-owned shops and temples,″ said Ittefaq, an independent Bengali-language daily. It said nine people were hospitalized. In Chittagong, the country’s second largest city, 500 Moslems attacked a Hindu village with knives and homemade bombs Thursday night, witnesses said."

"A mob had set fire to the Dhakeshwari temple. The police had. not made the slightest attempt to stop them. The main temple where prayers were offered was burnt to ashes and the dance hall of the temple had been damaged as well."

"The Shiva temple, the guest rooms and the ancestral home of Shridham Ghosh were all razed to the ground. The main temple of the Gouriya monastery, the temple for devotional dance as well as its guest rooms were demolished. Valuables inside the temple were looted."

"The main temple inside the Madhav Gouriya monastery was destroyed."

"From across the store there was a sound like a subway train entering a station, and when we heard that sound people started running here and there. Suddenly a piece of concrete dropped on my head and I was knocked unconscious. After I awakened I was completely surrounded by darkness and all sides around me were closed in. There wasn’t any room. I cried for help and banged on the steel pipe beside me, but they couldn’t hear me from outside."

"I can feel a hole in my head so large my finger can go through it, that’s how big it is. And I can feel something squiggly in a cut in my back, like my intestine. I don’t want to die. As I look around I think it’s just a wall that’s collapsed on me. I try calling out but there’s no answer. I think it’s just me who’s stuck here."

"“Endless Disaster, Disaster, Disaster,” declared one local headline in the wake of the Sampoong collapse. Not only had the public caught on to that pattern, but the investigation of the Sampoong Group and the government officials with which they dealt threw light on a staggering depth and breadth of corruption. Worse still, the thoroughgoing inspection of Seoul’s by then proudly characteristic towers found that one out of seven needed rebuilding, four out of five needed major repairs, and just one in 50 could qualify as safe."

"The investigation into the tragedy revealed that, in addition to the not well thought out fifth floor addition, the badly placed air conditioning units, and reducing the diameter and number of support columns, the collapse was a perfect storm of terrible engineering. Had the developers stuck to the original plans, the stucture would have been twice as strong as it needed to be. Given all of the errors, it was amazing that the structure had had stood for 6 years."

"52 hours after the collapse, there was jubilation from the rescue workers and the families who had gathered around, as 24 people were pulled alive from the wreckage. They were all cleaners, who had been fortunate enough to be inside a basement dressing room which remained intact. However, they had little air and no food or water. Some of them drank their own urine to survive."

"It was one of several man-made disasters that set off public hand-wringing over the human cost of South Korea's breakneck economic growth and drew attention to the sometimes lethal effects of corruption."

"Many of the casualties were women: sales clerks and housewives who had gone to the basement because the food department lowered prices on perishables in the late afternoon."

"Officials blamed the disaster on shoddy construction. Four executives of the shopping complex were arrested tonight on negligence charges. Police had said they knew the top floor was crumbling hours before the disaster but decided not to close and left without warning anyone."

"The owner, Lee Joon, has been arrested and there are demands from relatives of missing family members that he be tried for murder. Five civil servants, including two high-ranking ones, have been arrested on bribery and corruption charges for having allowed Mr. Lee to operate the building even though it did not meet safety code standards."

"The collapse of the fashionable store was one in a series of disasters in South Korea that were attributed to inadequate construction or to corruption. Several Seoul city officials face bribery charges relating to the collapse."

"The one on the right concerned the shift from an older understanding of economic liberalism to what is now called "neoliberalism." Neoliberalism is not... a synonym for capitalism. I don't see how you can have any kind of modern economy without a market based economy. Neoliberalism took that basic insight and stretched it to an extreme seeking to deregulate, privatize and basically pull back the role of the state, which many neoliberals regarded as simply obstacles to individuals, to entrepreneurship, to economic growth, and as a result markets did their usual work. They produced a great deal of inequality, as... global corporations searched for very small cost advantages by moving jobs to low cost areas... [T]hey destabilized the global economy in certain important ways by deregulating the financial sector. As a result of the deregulation that occurred in the 1980s and 90s we had an escalating series of financial crises. In the sterling crisis, the Asian financial crisis, Argentina, Russia, and finally culminating in the big American subprime crisis in 2008. The... cumulative effects of this instability were political and they were very serious because many ordinary people were hurt... a lot of people lost their homes, lost their jobs, and the elites that ran these big banks and financial institutions suffered only a momentary disruption in their incomes, and went on to continue to dominate their respective economies... [T]his had a direct impact on the rise of populism in subsequent years, both on the right and on the left."

"Everyone in the world needs money – to get paid, to trade, to live. Paper money is an ancient technology and an inconvenient means of payment. You can run out of it. It wears out. It can get lost or stolen. In the twenty-first century, people need a form of money that's more convenient and secure, something that can be accessed from anywhere with a PDA or an Internet connection. Of course, what we're calling 'convenient' for American users will be revolutionary for the developing world. Many of these countries' governments play fast and loose with their currencies. They use inflation and sometimes wholesale currency devaluations, like we saw in Russia and several Southeast Asian countries last year [referring to the 1998 Russian and 1997 Asian financial crisis], to take wealth away from their citizens. Most of the ordinary people there never have an opportunity to open an offshore account or to get their hands on more than a few bills of a stable currency like U.S. dollars. Eventually PayPal will be able to change this. In the future, when we make our service available outside the U.S. and as Internet penetration continues to expand to all economic tiers of people, PayPal will give citizens worldwide more direct control over their currencies than they ever had before. It will be nearly impossible for corrupt governments to steal wealth from their people through their old means because if they try the people will switch to dollars or Pounds or Yen, in effect dumping the worthless local currency for something more secure."

"The interesting thing is that, on the whole, the economics profession didn't learn the lessons of the East Asian crisis. I wrote about it a great deal, and I continued to do some research on the subject. But because we didn't learn the lessons of that crisis, we've had the crisis that began in 2007."