Hindus in Bangladesh have been under severe mass attack, with increasing severity of incidents since last few years. In a recent incident, extremists had set the houses of Hindu Bangladeshis in Chittagong's Sitakunda Upazila on fire, leaving around 10 families completely destitute. However, the recent burning of Hindu houses leaving the families in absolute misery is not an isolated event but is part of a chain of abusive events. Twitter account 'Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus' has been posting timely updates of similar abusive events against Hindus, all around Bangladesh.

 

 

 

 

The burning incident of Chittagong comes a day after the issue of atrocities against Bangladeshi Hindus was raised West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday (Jul 18) wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and requested an urgent intervention into the "repetitive communal violence targeted towards the Bangladeshi Hindu community". In his letter, he said temples, shops and several houses of the Hindu community have been vandalized.

 

 

 

 

 

He said, "Such attacks could be seen before and there's every possibility that it would be repeated again as because there is no independent investigation and proper probe in due time, leave alone prompt action. The impunity given by the administration to the perpetrators of such communal violence paves the way for more such attacks." Suvendu Adhikari's words; "Unfortunately the Hindus are living in fear, waiting like sitting ducks for the next attack to happen. This cannot go on in a civilized society in this day and age," precisely sum up the gravity as well as upheaval nature of the events.

 

The concern was raised after a chain of acts of terror had shook the spine of Hindus not only in Bangladesh but every Hindu across world, who was aware of the happenings. In another incident, a Hindu student (Nayan) was murdered by Muslims for his relationship with a Muslim girl. The family of deceased Nayan claimed that because of his relationship with a Muslim girl, the girl’s relatives called Nayan and beat him to death with a hammer. Injuries of being beaten to death were visible all over his body.

 

 

 

 

 

The twitter handle shared the updates of Narail Mayhem stating, "It's a curse for a Hindu to be born in an Islamic country." Suvendu Adhikari in his letter to the MEA also mentions about the mayhem and states, "Temples, shops and several houses of the Hindu community have been vandalised in Dighalia Bazar area of Lohagara upazila of Narail; southwestern Bangladesh." In Narail, three homes and dozens of shops were vandalized and burnt down in Sahapara village in Dighalia union of Narail's Lohagara upazila.

 

According to the reports of Bangladeshi media, the attacks were carried out by mobs protesting a Facebook post that reportedly hurt religious sentiments. Locals alleged the post was made by Akash Saha, an 18-year-old college student of the village. They gathered after Juma prayers and protested in front of the student's house, demanding his arrest. As he was missing, the mobs spread to neighbouring Hindu homes, the people who had nothing to do with the Facebook post. In the evening, the police detained Akash's father Ashok Saha to "bring the situation under control", while they prepared to file a case under the Digital Security Act against Akash. However, none of the attackers have been arrested yet.

 

 

 

 

 

According to a research paper published by Dept of Criminology, University of Dhaka, the atrocities against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh are not a new thing. After the death of the then president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, Bangladesh has gone through several military and dictator rulers. In that period, Bangladeshi ethnic and religious minorities were oppressed and persecuted, and even discriminated in a large number. Some ethnic minorities were forced to leave the place where they used to live for a long time.

 

During that period, some religion-based political groups were active in some ruling parties and discriminated against the religious minorities on various grounds. Political unrest and violence between parties like Bangladesh AL and BNP and other parties like Jamat e Islam etc, led the country to great turmoil where the minorities were abused and discriminated against.

 

The religious minorities were the victims in many times where some propaganda and rumors against the religious minorities were spread, and the majority of people attacked the religious minorities in different parts of the country. Though Bangladesh has gone through several rules at different times, the minorities' fate is not changed yet.

 

Earlier, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has been tackling the issue soundly, keeping the India Bangladesh relations at the centre of the matter. However, the recently escalated events demand an even more effective approach by the MEA to find a solution to the issue.

 

 

-- The article is based on a particular tweet.