Bangladesh government has no plausible explanation for Hindus exodus while jihadists and jamaatis have a field day.
Vinod Kumar Shukla
The person who would have been in jail serving life time in Bangladesh on graft charges was hurriedly acquitted by Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission after his sworn in to run an interim government. Sheikh Hasina’s unceremonious ouster was reduced to a brief item in most media coverage on turn of events in Bangladesh.
The Commission acquitted Muhammad Yunus, head of caretaker government and 13 others from corruption charges. Had Yunus been found guilty of money laundering charges, he would have been in jail for life. The caretaker government freed Jashimuddin Rahmani, the chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist outfit.
And, Mohammad Yunus is making desperate attempts to speak from the high podium with teachings on good neighbour etiquette to India. In the melee, Hindus in Bangladesh faced a tricky situation with a government that took the lead in unleashing terror on her own minorities. Backing from Democratic White House till Kamala Harris bit the dust in recent US elections lent credibility to the genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh front-ended by Jamaatis, army, civil police and para-military forces.
The government mandated to protect Hindus lives, property, jobs and honour was not just turning a blind eye but went on a denial mode by saying that reports of attacks on Hindus and other minorities were exaggerated.
This lie has been repeated from August 5, 2024 when the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee in view of students’ protests actually orchestrated by radical Islamist organisations.
Yunus not just downplayed attacks on Hindus but claimed that violence against minorities “only in some cases” and most complaints were “completely exaggerated”.
Yunus ascribed political angle to attacks are more of politics rather than acting against jihadist elements that unleashed terror on Hindus, Budhists, Jains, Christians, Ahmadis and other minor groups of colour.
His opined that attacks against Hindus was more political and on afterthought said that such reports were more exaggerated. On the contrary, Bangladesh government has taken an anti-Hindu stand notwithstanding that jihadists have had a free run.
Atrocities on Hindus post-August 5 is reminiscent of direct action by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, first Governor General of united Pakistan that began from Noakhali in Bangladesh killing thousands of Hindus.
Hindus had been subject to persecution by Islamists in the region from pre-independence days asurping their basic right to live with dignity. Islamists were very strongly poised even in erstwhile East Pakistan but after Bangladesh Liberation war they had gone underground albeit for a very short period. Testimony to this is that Hindus who made up 22 per cent of Bangladesh’s population in 1971 and 29 per cent in 1947 were reduced to about 8 per cent of 17 crore population.
Genocide on Hindus continued in full glare and was not hidden from anyone except that Yunus who apparently doesn’t read newspapers and listen to scholars of his own country. One scholar predicted way back in 2016 that no Hindus would be left in Bangladesh in 30 years if current rate of “exodus” at 632 people from minority community leaving each day continued.“The rate of exodus over past 49-years point in that direction,” Dr Abul Barkat, a Dhaka university professor had said in 2016.
If things were hunky dory for Hindus in Bangladesh as Muhammad Yunus is trying to portray, there’s no plausible explanation for continued and enhanced exodus. One needs to reflect as to why Taslima Nasreen was forced to flee Bangladesh for writing Lajja that documented killings, rapes, conversion and capturing properties of Hindus in Bangladesh. In the present context, Sheikh Hasina was big hurdle in giving free run to jihadists in whose hand Muhammad Yunus seems to be playing along.
Big questions therefore loom large before Muhammad Yunus. As chief of interim government, does he have anything to say about an Islamic song being recited at a Durga Puja gathering in Chittagong? Was the case filed in connection with the incident? Were reports on arrest of two people by his government fake? The incident occurred on September 26, 2024 at Durga Puja celebration at JM Sen Hall in Rahmatganj area of the city.
Insaf Keemkari Chhatra-Janta, a radical Islamic group, staged a protest in Dhaka against use of playground by the Hindu community for Durga Puja celebrations. There were many instances where Aarti and Bhajan were not allowed and organisers of Durga Puja were threatened with dire consequences. In certain cases, immersion Durga idols were not allowed in flagrant violation of basic right to practice one’s ‘faith’.
On September 19, 2024 violent muslim mobs attacked Buddhist Chakma and Hindu Tripuri communities in Dighinala and Khagrachhari Sadar in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. They set fire to over 200 shops and homes belonging to the minority groups. The Muslim mob also attacked a Buddhist temple and carried out an arson attack in which many people were killed. Some of the deceased identified were 20-year-old Junan Chakma, 60-year-old Dhananjoy Chakma and 30-year-old Rubel Tripura.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on August 15, expressed hope that the situation in violence-hit Bangladesh would return to normal soon and said 1.4 billion Indians were concerned about safety of Hindus and minorities in the neighbouring country. President-elect Donald Trump appointed Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in his administration and often condemned the atrocities against Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. This could be one factor for Yunus trying to whitewash the hundreds of crimes committed against Hindus and minorities.
Social media is replete with instances of attacks on Hindu villages, houses, temples and many other installations. The minority Hindu population faced vandalism of their businesses and properties, as well as the destruction of Hindu temples. They were forced to resign from government jobs. And, it was irony that Yunus urged them to protest as citizens of the country with equal rights and not as Hindus.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) had reported attacks on minorities especially on Hindus after August 5. Thousands of Hindus staged protest rallies in Bangladesh’s capital and the north-eastern port city of Chattogram on August 10-11, demanding protection amid nationwide vandalism that saw attacks on temples and their homes and businesses.
Yunus seems to be driving a false narrative that no protests have ever taken place. In contrast, another Hindu organisation, Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance compiled a report that Hindu community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts since fall of the Hasina-led government. This is just tip of the iceberg.
Yunus claimed that while beating up Awami League cadres, Hindus were also beaten up by mistaking that they were Awami League supporters. Some people were using it as an excuse to seize property. So, there is no clear distinction between Awami League supporters and Hindus.
Yunus claims notwithstanding, Bangladesh seems to have been taken over by jihadists and islamists backed by US deep state for other reasons.
World community will have to exert pressure on Yunus to come clean on basic rights violations in Bangladesh.
(Author is a senior journalist, writer, columnist and associated with Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies, a non-partisan think-tank based in New Delhi)
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