Hindus in Muslim-majority Bangladesh rally to demand protection from
attacks
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[November 02, 2024]
By JULHAS ALAM
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of minority Hindus rallied
Friday to demand that the interim government in Muslim-majority
Bangladesh protect them from a wave of attacks and harassment and drop
sedition cases against Hindu community leaders.
About 30,000 Hindus demonstrated at a major intersection in the
southeastern city of Chattogram, chanting slogans demanding their rights
while police and soldiers guarded the area. Other protests were reported
elsewhere in the country.
Hindu groups say there have been thousands of attacks against Hindus
since early August, when the secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina was overthrown and Hasina fled the country following a
student-led uprising. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel peace laureate named to
lead an interim government after Hasina's downfall, says those figures
have been exaggerated.
Hindus make up about 8% of the country's nearly 170 million people,
while Muslims are about 91%.
The country’s influential minority group Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist
Christian Unity Council has said there have been more than 2,000 attacks
on Hindus since Aug. 4, as the interim government has struggled to
restore order.
United Nations human rights officials and other rights groups have
expressed concern over human rights in the country under Yunus.
Hindus and other minority communities say the interim government hasn't
adequately protected them and that hard-line Islamists are becoming
increasingly influential since Hasina's ouster.
The issue has reached beyond Bangladesh, with Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi voicing concern over reports of attacks.
While the administration of United States President Joe Biden has said
it is monitoring Bangladesh’s human rights issues since Hasina’s ouster,
U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has condemned what he described
as “barbaric” violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities
in Bangladesh.
In a post on X, he said: “I strongly condemn the barbaric violence
against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting
attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total
state of chaos.”
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Bangladesh Hindus participate in a rally demanding that an interim
government withdraw all cases against their leaders and protect them
from attacks and harassment, in Chattogram, Bangladesh, Friday, Nov.
1, 2024. (AP Photo)
Hindu activists have been staging protest rallies in the capital,
Dhaka, and elsewhere since August to press a set of eight demands
including a law to protect minorities, a ministry for minorities and
a tribunal to prosecute acts of oppression against minorities. They
also seek a five-day holiday for their largest festival, the Durga
Puja.
Friday's protest in Chattogram was hastily organized after sedition
charges were filed Wednesday against 19 Hindu leaders, including
prominent priest Chandan Kumar Dhar, over an Oct. 25 rally in that
city. Police arrested two of the leaders, angering Hindus.
The charges stem from an event in which a group of rally-goers
allegedly placed a saffron flag above the Bangladesh flag on a
pillar, which was considered disrespecting the national flag.
Hindu community leaders say the cases are politically motivated and
demanded Thursday that they be withdrawn within 72 hours. Another
Hindu rally was planned for Saturday in Dhaka.
Separately, supporters of Hasina's Awami League party and its allied
Jatiya Party have said they also have been targeted since Hasina's
ouster. Jatiya's headquarters was vandalized and set on fire late
Thursday.
On Friday, Jatiya Party Chair G.M. Quader said his supporters would
continue to hold rallies to demand their rights despite risking
their lives. He said they would hold a rally Saturday at the party
headquarters in Dhaka to protest price hikes of commodities, and
what they call false charges against their leaders and activists.
Later Friday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police announced it was banning
any rallies near the Jatiya Party's headquarters. Hours after the
police decision, the party said it postponed their rally to show
respect to the law and a new date for the rally would be announced
soon.
The police decision came after a student group strongly criticized
the police administration for initially granting permission for the
rally, and threatened to block it.
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