Hindu American groups flew a massive airline banner in a powerful appeal to the global community, calling for urgent global action to stop the ongoing genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh. The large banner flew over the Hudson River and circled the Statue of Liberty, a global symbol of human dignity, freedom and equality.
The 1971 genocide, as documented by US Congress Resolution HR 1430 in 2022, claimed 2.8 million lives and saw at least 200, 000 predominantly Hindu women raped, leaving an indelible mark on the region. Since then, Bangladesh’s Hindu population had dwindled from 20 % in 1971 to just 8.9 % today.
According to the media reports, systematic impoverishment, lynchings, kidnappings of minor girls, and forced job resignations affecting up to 200,000 Hindus, along with property seizures, pose a serious existential threat to the 13 to 15 million Hindus living in the country.
Since August 5, 2024, there have been around 250 verified attacks and over 1,000 reported incidents. Sitangshu Guha, from the Bangladesh Hindu Community and one of the event organisers, highlighted the threat and said, ‘Hindus in Bangladesh are on the verge of extinction. Hopefully, this will raise awareness among the civilized world and prompt the UN to take action to save the victims of militant Islamic forces in Bangladesh.
If Bangladesh becomes Hindu-free, it will become Afghanistan 2.0, and militants will spread to neighbouring India and other parts of the world, including the West. This is everyone’s problem’. Pankaj Mehta, another activist and member of the Interfaith Human Rights Coalition who helped organize the event, added, ‘It is time for the UN Human Rights Council to put aside politics and officially recognize the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, the largest genocide since World War II.
Three US-based organisations- The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, Genocide Watch, and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience have already recognized the atrocities committed by Pakistani occupation forces and their Islamist allies in 1971 as genocide, targeting the Hindu minority. The UN must follow suit and take steps to prevent another looming genocide.
Surjit Chowdhary, founding member of Sree Gita Sangha in New Jersey, US, urged the Bangladesh Government to stop all violence against the Hindu community and address political differences through democratic processes. The increase of Islamist fundamentalism in Bangladesh poses a serious threat to India, as it has the potential to spread through borders, affecting West Bengal and beyond, with existing ties between radical forces on both sides.
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