Bangladesh has acknowledged, close on the heels of the visit of the Indian foreign secretary to the country, that minorities were targeted in communal violence that ensued in the country following the toppling of the Sheikh Hasina government in Dhaka in August. India for months raised concerns over atrocities against minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh, where the interim government under Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus rejected all such reports as “completely exaggerated.”
Attacks on minorities, including Hindus, in Bangladesh were kept under wraps by the interim government authorities. However, the stance appeared to change following Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s Bangladesh visit on Monday (December 9).
Misri raised the issue with the Yunus-led interim government, underscoring India’s concerns over the “regrettable incidents” of attacks on minorities.
On Tuesday, almost four months after these attacks began, Bangladesh confirmed 88 incidents of communal violence targeting minorities. It said most of those targeted were Hindus in the series of violence that ensued following the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who took shelter in India on August 5.
On Tuesday, Yunus’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam said a total of 88 cases have been filed in connection with the incidents involving minorities between August 5 and October 22.
Alam said 70 individuals have been arrested in connection with these incidents.
“The number of cases and arrests is expected to rise as fresh reports of violence have emerged in northeastern Sunamganj, central Gazipur, and other areas,” Alam said.
He also said that some victims could have been members of the previous ruling party — Awami League. The Yunus government, however, has maintained that apart from a few incidents, Hindus were not targeted because of their faith.
Alam indicated that details of incidents occurring after October 22 would be shared soon.
Yunus earlier dismissed claims of widespread atrocities against minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh. He convened a meeting with religious leaders to address the situation where he accused “foreign media” of exaggerating reports of minority persecution, as he called for a more rigorous verification of information.
He had claimed that the situation was not as severe as portrayed in the media. “We are seeing reports of renewed attacks and torture. Some of this information comes from foreign media. There are glaring gaps in what we know, and that must end,” Yunus alleged.
The Bangladesh interim government has now repositioned itself with its acknowledgement of the act of atrocities against minorities.
This came within hours of Misri meeting his counterpart, Mohammad Jashim Uddin, and Yunus in Dhaka on Monday.
Misri’s trip to Bangladesh was the first high-level visit from India since the ouster of Hasina.
After the meeting, Misri said, “We had the opportunity to discuss recent developments, and I conveyed our concerns, including those related to safety and welfare of minorities.”
The Indian foreign secretary said he also discussed some “regrettable incidents of attacks on cultural, religious, and diplomatic properties” in Bangladesh.
Not just people of the minority communities, secular symbols, such as sculptures and cultural institutions, were also destroyed in Bangladesh, signalling the growing radicalism in the country.
The Indian Cultural Centre in Dhaka was burnt down within a day of Hasina’s ouster. Around 1,500 sculptures, reliefs, murals, and memorials were vandalised, set on fire, and uprooted between August 5 and 14 this year, mostly in Dhaka, a report The Economic Times quoted Dhaka-based sources as saying.
Amid these developments, Iskcon Kolkata vice president Radharamn Das urged the United Nations Human Rights to “wake up” after another devotee was allegedly attacked in Uttara area of Dhaka.
Talking to the media, Das said that despite Foreign Secretary level talks, the attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh continues.
Sharing a post on X on Human Rights Day, Das said, “Thought @UNHumanRights might take a break from their nap and acknowledge the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. But alas, the snoring remains louder than the cries for justice. Priorities, I guess.”
He also shared a video post in which a fundamentalist purportedly threatening the Hindu minorities and Iskcon in Bangladesh, Das said, “Just listen to this open call of genocide against Bangladeshi minorities & wake up.”
Bangladesh’s minority Hindus constitute only about 8 per cent of the 170 million population.
With inputs from agencies.
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It took a visit from India for Bangladesh to acknowledge what world has been saying
