Bangladesh: Minority groups hold nationwide protests demanding a separate minority commission and laws against discrimination.
Minority groups of Bangladesh under the leadership of Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council held nationwide protests and rallies on Saturday, demanding a separate commission for minorities, anti-discrimination law, and protection of religious property of minorities, among others.
In the rally organized at Chattogram, Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council Secretary General Advocate Rana Dasgupta declared a mass hunger strike on October 22, if the demands of the minority groups were not met by the government.
More than 35 Hindu and other religious and political organizations like Bangladesh Hindu League, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, and Hindu Mohajote organized the protest near the National Shahid Minar in Dhaka. Similar protests were held in Chattogram and other places also. The speakers on the occasion demanded the enactment of laws for minority protection as promised before the 2018 parliamentary election by political parties in their manifestos.
The leaders said that insecurity was forcing the Hindus to leave the country. They expressed apprehension over the communal persecution of the religious and ethnic minorities and demanded to stop the harassment of teachers. Secretary, Bangladesh Mahila Oikya Parishad Dipali Chakravarty called upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to suppress the communal forces with a heavy hand and implement the election promise of 2018.
The protest meeting in Dhaka was presided by former MP Ushatan Talukdar. Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Unity Council in a statement said that it has been forced to protest as no step has been taken to protect the interests of the minorities over the last three years.
Earlier, in another attack on the minority community, houses, and shops of Hindus were vandalized at Dighalia Village in Narail district on Friday over a Facebook post by a youth, allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad. Police and Rapid Action Battalion have been deployed in the area to maintain peace.
The 2021 Bangladesh communal violence
The 2021 Bangladesh communal violence saw horrible violence. From 13 to 19 October 2021, Muslim mobs instigated communal violence against Hindu communities across Bangladesh during the Durga Puja festival. More than 50 temples and makeshift worship arrangements were vandalized all over Bangladesh.
According to ASK aka Ain o Salish Kendra – a Bangladeshi legal aid and human rights organization; there were 3,679 attacks in 9 years (between January 2013 and September 2021), and Bangladesh’s Hindus suffered a ‘regular threat’ of violence.
The Bangladesh government deployed paramilitary Bangladesh Border Guards forces in 22 of the 64 administrative districts of Bangladesh to quell violence against the Hindu community. As of 22 October 2021, at least 11 people have been killed across the country, including 7 Hindus, in the “worst communal violence in years” as termed by The New York Times.