On Thursday, a large banner was flown over New York highlighting the plight of the Bangladeshi Hindus and calling for decisive action to halt the ongoing persecution of the community. The massive banner featured the interim Bangladesh leader Muhammad Yunus’s face and was flown over the New York sky circling the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson River.

The banner with the message: ‘Stop violence against Bangladesh Hindus’, with the mention of the website StopHinduGenocide.org the organization who had put up the banner. It also featured an image of Muhammad Yunus, the current head of the Bangladesh interim government. The event was live streamed by StopHinduGenocide.org, who document such atrocities.

Plight of the Hindu Community in Bangladesh

For the past few months since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, Bangladeshi Hindus have been at the target of radical Islamist mobs. Over 200,000 Hindus have been affected by killings, kidnappings, theft and destruction of property. Since August 5, 2024, there have been roughly 250 verified attacks and over 1,000 reported incidents.

The Hasina government was ousted by student protests that led to Muhummad Yunus being appointed as the interim Chief Advisor of the country. Since Yunus came to power the leader has stood aside as violent mobs have caused complete upheaval in the lives of Bangladeshi Hindus.

“Hindu women and girls are being brutally gang-raped, in broad daylight while being stoned by other men, her dignity and safety shattered in the name of religious hatred by radical Islamists. Temples—sacred spaces of worship and community gathering—are being desecrated, burnt, and looted, symbolizing the erasure of Hindu culture and spirituality,” the Hindu Genocide Organisation wrote on its website.

Sitangshu Guha, who also hails from the Bangladesh Hindu Community and is one of the event organizers for the aerial banners, highlighted the threat, stating, “Hindus in Bangladesh are on the verge of extinction. Hopefully, this will raise awareness among the civilized world and prompt the UN to take action to save the victims of militant Islamic forces in Bangladesh. If Bangladesh becomes Hindu-free, it will become Afghanistan 2.0, and militants will spread to neighbouring India and other parts of the world, including the West. This is everyone’s problem.”

Pankaj Mehta, another activist and member of the Interfaith Human Rights Coalition who helped organise the event, warned that international bodies have to intervene to stop the coming genocide, “It is time for the UN Human Rights Council to put aside politics and officially recognise the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, the largest genocide since World War II. Three U.S.-based organisations—The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, Genocide Watch, and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience—have already recognised the atrocities committed by Pakistani occupation forces and their Islamist allies in 1971 as genocide, primarily targeting the Hindu minority. The UN must follow suit and take steps to prevent another looming genocide.”

Protests back in Bangladesh

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, Hindu groups staged protests in Chittagong on Thursday, demanding the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government. The demanded the leadership to address their eight-point agenda regarding increased violence and persecution against the minority Hindu community.

Protesters voiced their right to safety and called for an end to the ongoing torture, killings, attacks on temples, and vandalism of idols. “We will continue to protest and hold marches across Bangladesh until our demands are met,” said a spokesperson from the Minority Rights Movement, which organised the demonstrations.

The Bangladesh’s interim government and Muslim bodies have denied permission for Hindus to celebrate the upcoming Durga Puja festival, across the country citing poor security arrangements and threats. The puja committees have also been asked to maintain silence during Namaaz offerings. The directives came amidst reports of Durga idols being vandalized at several locations across the nation. With demands for 500,000 Taka as a kind of ‘jizya’ tax to peacefully facilitate the festival.

Hinduism is the second largest religion in Bangladesh, as according to the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, approximately 13.1 million people identified themselves as Hindus, constituting 7.95% out of the total population. Constant persecution has led to the Bangladeshi Hindu population dwindling down from 20 per cent in 1971.

Deaf Ears of the West

Many Hindu organizations have been trying to get international bodies to pay heed to the atrocities committed on the community across the globe. Yet it seems that the apparent ‘democracy and freedom loving’ west has no time to listen to their plight. Recently there have been numerous attacks on Hindu temples across the United States and Canada, yet no great action was taken to stop the rampant Hinduphobia spreading its tentacles in the west.

When Muhummad Yunus came for a visit to the USA, a few weeks back, Hindu groups protested vehemently outside his hotel. But the American President Joe Biden ignored their pain and had photoshoots hugging and smiling with the Bangladesh Chief Advisor. Hindus are now forced to do grand public acts like flying banners across cities to get the attention of the sleeping authorities in the West.

The Western indifference is so extreme that not only have international and American organizations ignored the pleas of the Bangladeshi Hindus, they have also turned a blind eye to the sufferings of their own Hindu citizens. One can only hope they wake up from their long slumber, as this banner starkly shows that the west is conveniently deaf and mute as far as Hindu hate is concerned