It has been two days since the fall of the Hasina Wajed Government in Bangladesh, but violence in the country goes on unabated. Mobs are running rampant across the nation, targeting Awami League members as well as innocent Hindus. Members of the minority community have become the prime target for the Islamist mobs.
Extreme violence has been reported in 27 districts of Bangladesh where hindu temples, businesses, homes and even entire villages have been facing the brunt of these attacks. Hindus are also being blamed for being Awami League supporters as Hindu councilors affiliated to the party have been targeted.
Social media is rife with videos of Hindus being thrashed, their homes being ransacked, and their temples vandalised. So much so that a large number of terrified Hindus have started to gather on the border with India.
Journalists or famous personalities were not been spared. Pradip Bhowmik, a journalist, was killed, while the Press Club came under attack. Hindu singer Rahul Ananda’s home in Dhaka was ransacked and burned along with his musical instruments. Reports revealed that violent mobs have lists of Hindus and their families which are to be targeted.
Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeed Wajed has also expressed his concern over incessant attacks on the minorirty community He further denounced the “protests” and said what the country was witnessing was not a political movement..
Indian Foreign minister S Jaishankar gave a statement on the ongoing developments across the border in the Rajya Sabha yesterday. “On 4th of August, events took a very serious turn. Attacks on police, including police stations and government installations, intensified even as overall levels of violence greatly escalated. Properties of individuals associated with the regime were torched across the country. What was particularly worrying was that minorities, their businesses and temples also came under attack at multiple locations.”
Bangladesh has always struggled to give its minorities proper rights, with their population shrinking from 23.1 percent in 1971 to a paltry 8.5 % Hindus today. Repeated attacks, radical Islamist violence and targeted desecration of their business, temples etc have led to mass Hindu emigrations out of the country. This movement is no exception, and will further drive the shrinking minorities out of a nation they see no future in.