In a confirmation of the persecution being faced by the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh, the countries authorities confirmed on Tuesday that 88 incidents of communal violence against primarily Hindus have occurred under the Interim government of Muhammad Yunus.
Confirming the incidents, the Bangladesh press secretary Shafiqul Alam also said that 70 people have been arrested so far. The disclosure was made a day after the meeting with India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri who conveyed India’s concerns with regards to the persecution of minorities.
A total of 88 cases have been filed in incidents related to minorities from August 5 to October 22, Alam told reporters.
“The number of cases and arrests is likely to increase as new incidents of violence have also been reported in (northeastern Sunamganj, (central) Gazipur, and other areas,” he said.
Since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government and the installation of the Muhammad Yunus regime, violent Islamists have run rampage across the country, targeting the Hindu community in particluar. First the mobs descended on Hindu homes, then later on Hindu majority areas, attacking Hindu temples. Several Hindu priests like Chinmoy Das attempted to galvanize the Hindu community and question the Interim government over its inaction. In response the Yunus regime arrested Das and took action against the Hindu organization of ISKCON.
The concerns were flagged by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who arrived in Dhaka on Monday for the annual foreign office consultations with his counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin amid continued strain on the bilateral ties over the targeting of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority and the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das. Misri, the first senior Indian functionary to travel to Dhaka since the change of government in August, also met de facto foreign minister Touhid Hossain and caretaker administration chief Muhammad Yunus.
However, there has been a marked departure in the stance adopted by the Bangladesh’s Interim government. Earlier the Bangladeshi authorities had denied that there was any such persecution of the Hindu community and that the attacks were “political” and it was being exaggerated. Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus had severely downplayed the violence describing it as “exaggerated propaganda” with political motives. Yunus acknowledged that violence occurred but insisted it was political in nature and were “given a communal colour”, passing as if his brazen remarks absolved his culpability in the ongoing genocide of the Hindu community as for his inaction, rather active support to the Islamist forces, the latter have wreacked havoc on the countries Hindu community.
But now the Bangladesh authorities have taken a complete U turn and accepted the fact that the religiously motivated attacks have taken place and the Hindu community has been targeted. While the Indian Foreign Secretary’s press release had measured and nuanced take on the downright communal incidences continuing ever since 5th August traversty with democratic setup, India’s diplomatic pressure over the Bangladeshi government has forced it to admit the undeniable facts. Without castigating or diplomatic braggadario, the Foreign Secretary’s Bangladesh visit has brought its Interim government to face the bleak reality, admit it and take corrective measures on it. However, with Islamist forces at their ugliest in play in Bangladesh, it is time for India to up all the diplomatic levers and press hard to arrest the downward slide in the freedoms and rights of the Hindus in Bangladesh and take along the US-backed Yunus regime to act tough on anti-India elements.
