As the oppression of Hindus continues unabated in Bangladesh, the state-funded American media has taken this opportunity to pile on the misery on the already suffering Hindu community. Recently, the mouthpiece of US administration, Voice of America, conducted a ‘survey’ that claimed the minority Hindu community “felt safer under the interim government” of Muhammad Yunus. Unsurprisingly, the tone-deaf survey findings were plastered all over the Bangladesh media as some kind of a great achievement, conveniently papering over the pleas of the severely oppressed Hindu community.
For those unversed, the Voice of America is an international broadcasting state media network which is funded by the federal government of the United States of America. Commonly known as VOA it is financed by the U.S. Agency for Global Media after approval by Congress.
In Bangladesh, the authorities have not only been watching the atrocities on the local Hindu populace in silence, but it has also been carrying out a glaring state-sponspored purge of the Bangladeshi Hindu community in assistance with the Islamist mobs. Now, at a time when the Bangladeshi authorities were facing mounting pressure for the ongoing Hindu pogrom, the Biden administration deployed its mouthpiece to do firefighting and directly defend the ‘secular credentials’ of the Genocidal Yunus regime.
Incidentally, the survey in question was conducted in late October but is now being widely shared by the Bangladeshi media houses to whitewash the country’s red-stains and project its credentials on minority rights as flawless. The contentious survey claimed that 64.1% of respondents believed that the caretaker government was offering greater protection to minorities than the previous Sheikh Hasina regime. Of those surveyed, 15.3% thought the situation had worsened, while 17.9% felt it was unchanged. Most of the Bangladesh-based media houses latched on the blatanly biased survey. These media houses include The Daily Star, Dhaka Tribune, Bangla News 24, and The Business Standard.
What is even more bizarre is that the poll had a sample size of only 1,000 respondents, with 92.7% of them identifying as Muslims. This when the country has a total population of 17 crores. The questionnaires had sought to ascertain the safety of the minority Hindu community while the sample size had an overwhelming 92% plus of muslim respondents. Only 13.9% of Muslim respondents believed the security of minorities had worsened under the Yunus government, 33.9% of non-Muslims believed the situation had become worse.
While the Dhaka networks were busy showcasing these biased reports from the US media, at the same time its official authorities were busy cracking down on the Hindu organization of ISKCON. There have been calls by radicals Islamists to ban the Hindu organization, and the government has also proceeded to push cases on ISKCON. While on the other hand, Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das was detained by the authorities on the contrived charges of sedition, sparking global outrage.
While the Bangladesh High Court has declined to issue a suo motu order to ban ISKCON’s activities in the country, bail has been denied to Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. The Hindu priest continues to languish in detainment as the Bangladesh government has now ordered the freezing of his bank accounts along with 17 other individuals associated with ISKCON. Chinmoy Krishna Das had been propagating for Hindu rights and had held massive rallies in Chattogram and Rangpur, on an eight-point programme to safeguard minorities in the Muslim-majority country. Instead of paying heed to the issues pertaining to the suffering minorities, the Bangladesh authorities instead pushed sedition cases against the Hindu priest.
Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus had earlier downplayed the targeted and religiously-motivated violence against the country’s Hindu minority, describing it as “exaggerated propaganda” with political motives. Yunus acknowledged that violence occurred but insisted it was political in nature and “given a communal colour.” Yunus made the shocking remarks when there had already been weeks of protests by tens of thousands of Hindus demanding protection amid a wave of attacks on homes, businesses, and religious sites.
While the anti Hindu violence has been criticized worldwide, the Indian PM Narendra Modi had also expressed his concerns at the treatment and safety of Hindus. Recently the MEA also issued a statement asking the Bangladesh authorities to safeguard its minorities. The global outrage had earlier been echoed by the US President elect Donald Trump who had also condemned the ongoing atrocities against the Hindu community in Bangladesh.