‘Minorities targeted, bid to rewrite history, take revenge for 1971 events’

Among those sent to jailhouse were seasoned Awami League leaders and erstwhile Cabinet Ministers: Ramesh Chandra Sen, Narayan Chandra, and Sadhan Chandra Majumdar.

Awami League leaders The Indian Express spoke to accidental determination were astir 2,000 incidents of arson, loot and burning involving the minorities (Hindus, Buddhists and Christians) betwixt August 5 and August 20, 2024 and “scattered attacks” were inactive taking spot each day.

According to Pankaj Nath, three-time MP from Barishal constituency (a erstwhile wide caput of the Bangladesh Awami Volunteers League, helium fought the 2024 elections arsenic an independent), astir each number MPs person witnessed attacks connected their properties and person had their slope accounts frozen.

Nath’s residence successful Dhaka was among them and portion helium himself is underground, his family, too, is “taking precautions” moving from “place to place” successful Bangladesh. His idiosyncratic anguish continues arsenic helium could not be the past rites of his parent erstwhile she passed distant connected December 28.

On the continuing persecution of minorities and Dhaka’s petition for extradition of erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Nath said: “If Sheikh Hasina announces that she volition instrumentality to Bangladesh, volition the interim Government beryllium acceptable to person her? Millions volition unreserved to the borderline and the Government volition not beryllium capable to grip the situation.”

“It is precise clear,” Nath said, “that determination is an effort to rewrite past and instrumentality revenge for the historical events of 1971. The caretaker Government, led by Muhammad Yunus, is patronizing the attacks connected minorities. Besides the remainder of the planetary community, we present look to India to halt these crimes and reconstruct adjacent rights of the minorities.”

Last December, successful the archetypal high-level sojourn by India since the autumn of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met his Bangladesh counterpart successful Dhaka  and conveyed “India’s concerns, particularly those related to the information and payment of minorities”. India besides flagged “some regrettable incidents of attacks connected cultural, spiritual and diplomatic properties”.

Referring to the alleged incidents against minorities arsenic “propaganda… mendacious and misleading facts”, Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary, connected his part, responded that “other countries” should refrain from commenting connected Dhaka’s “internal matter”.

There is simply a consciousness of insecurity and foreboding among the Hindu assemblage which, astatine astir 8 per cent, is the largest number colonisation successful the state of 170 cardinal people. About (91.04%) of Bangladeshis are Muslims, and the remaining 9 percent has Hindus astatine (7.95%), Buddhists (0.61%) and Christians (0.30%) and others (0.12%) arsenic per the 2022 census.