Being the target of mob rage in Bangladesh, Hindus try to flee to India

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Hundreds of Hindus Bangladesh tried unsuccessfully to flee to India this week. This comes after many homes and businesses in minority communities Hindu damage after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Union Council said 45 of the country’s 64 districts had been targeted mainly at Hindu homes, businesses or temples this week.

Rana Das Gupta, who heads a religious minority group in Bangladesh, said attacks on Hindus left at least two dead and more than 100 injured.

“Some of the people whose homes were attacked may have been directly involved in Awami League politics, but the majority were ordinary Hindus,” he said. clearly this is general and targeted violence.”

Hindus make up about 8% of the 170 million people of Muslim-majority Bangladesh. They have traditionally supported Hasina’s Awami League party, which is largely characterized as secular, rather than an opposition bloc that includes hard-line Islamist parties.

In addition to the more than 400 people killed during the government crackdown, at least 60 people were killed in violence that erupted Monday in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Reliable details about the attackers and their victims were not immediately available.

Hasina has taken refuge in India after fleeing the country on Monday in the face of massive protests against what critics say is her authoritarian rule – sparking anger among some Bangladeshis against the minority group.

Many Bangladeshi Hindus living near India tried to escape but were met with resistance from all sides, local residents said. Both countries say they have increased border patrols since the violence.

Mohammad Rakibul Hasan, a local government official in the Thakurgaon district of northwestern Bangladesh, said around 700-800 Hindus had tried to flee to India around Wednesday night after being attacked. some of their homes and their loot.

“They returned home after we provided protection,” Hasan said Reuters. “Border guard troops are patrolling the area. Everything is fine now with no further violence reported.”

On the morning of Thursday 8 August 2024, around 300 Bangladeshis had gathered at a border point near Jalpaiguri district in India but later dispersed. Indian media showed Indian border troops surrounding a group of people there.

A Hindu goldsmith in Narsingdi district, about an hour from Dhaka, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said two youths demanded protection money of 1 million Bangladeshi taka and repented immediately after for them to agree to pay 100,000 taka.

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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who returned to Bangladesh on Thursday to head an interim government after Hasina’s departure, said attacks on minorities could be part of a conspiracy. He did not say who was behind the conspiracy.

“Our duty is to protect them all,” he said when he arrived in Dhaka from Paris.

“If you trust and believe in me, please don’t attack anyone in this country. If you don’t listen to me on this, there’s no point in me being here.”

The two countries have long had cultural and business ties and India played a key role in the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Hindu-majority India says it is concerned that minorities, their businesses and their temples have been attacked in many places.

“It is the responsibility of every government to ensure the welfare of all its citizens,” India’s foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told a news conference.

“We hope that law and order will soon be restored in Bangladesh. This is in the interest of the country itself and the region in general.”

Hindu community leaders in Bangladesh are urging other communities to look after religious minorities.

“I call upon the people of conscience in this country to forget all differences and unite on the side of the affected communities and build social struggle,” said Moyna Talukdar of the Bangladesh Hindu Law Reform Council.

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Reuters