A report has been released by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad about the 205 instances of attacks on minority community members especially Hindus in the country’s 52 districts following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s departure on 5th August.
Notably, the council made the statement in an open letter to Nobel laureate Economist Muhammad Yunus. Yunus took the oath of office as the interim government’s chief adviser on 8th August.
The letter was unveiled at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) Nasrul Hamid Auditorium. Nirmal Rosario, the organisation’s president said, ‘We have preliminarily learned that at least 205 incidents of minority persecution have occurred in 52 districts so far. We seek protection because our lives are in a disastrous state. We are staying up at night guarding our homes and temples. I have never seen such incidents in my life. We demand that the government restore communal harmony in the country’.
The open letter welcomed Yunus as the head of a new era by the student and public movement seeking reform and an egalitarian society. The triumph was tarnished by a group’s brutality against minorities, according to the organization which expressed concern over the persecution of minorities. Many Hindu temples have been set on fire and thousands of families have gone without food, per media accounts and information collected by the organisation.
Murders have occurred in various locations, and many women have been victims of assault. Other minorities have also endured suffering. Minorities in Bangladesh are experiencing extreme uncertainty as a result of the ongoing communal violence that started on the 5th of August. The letter further said that this turmoil has drawn international condemnation. The letter stressed, “We demand an immediate end to this situation.”
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad President Basudev Dhar and Oikya Parishad General Secretary Rana Dasgupta both signed the letter.
‘The exclusion of readings from other religious texts contradicts our constitution, the spirit of the Liberation War, and anti-discrimination values. We hope that readings from all major religious texts will be included in future state functions. One does not leave their home, temple, or Tulsi tree unless compelled. Many Hindu community members are now taking refuge in others’ homes. I, too, am forced to stay at a friend’s house’, voiced Council Presidium member Kajal Devnath.
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