Anguished Hindus of ’Desh seek India’s intervention

Nagpur: Bringing to light the ever-growing atrocities being committed on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh, two Bangladeshi citizens are seeking support from India for amendment to their laws. They were speaking at a lecture series organized by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Vidarbha, at its Dhantoli office on Friday.

Ravindra Ghosh, senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Bhante Rocky, general secretary of Krupa Sharan Buddhist Mission, also from Bangladesh, spoke about the growing onslaught on minorities in their country. "After Bangladesh was liberated in 1971, a secular constitution was enacted. However, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) amended it a few years later in an attempt to 'Islamize' the laws. As a result, since 2001, hundreds of minority individuals have perished," said Ghosh.

According to Ghosh, the fundamentalist Muslims in Bangladesh justify atrocities on 25 Hindus by pointing out atrocities committed on Muslims in India. He said, "It's as if the fundamentalists are taking revenge on Hindu minorities."

Ghosh said that since 2001, 336 Hindus have been killed, thousands of women and children abducted and raped or forcibly converted to Islam. "The police and government of Bangladesh have been orchestrating such acts of depravity to suppress voices of minorities. The law is being used against us at every step," Ghosh claimed.

He gave an example of a Hindu man who was falsely implicated in his mother's murder in 2013 when, in fact, a group of fundamentalists had killed her. Ghosh said, "The local police beat that man up before registering an FIR against him. We had evidence confirming that the fundamentalists had committed the murder. The case is still pending in a local court."

Bhante Rocky described similar accounts of atrocities on Buddhists and Christians too. He said, "A group of members of parliament there have also been known to forcibly take possession of lands of the minorities. Despite pointing it out to the home ministry of Bangladesh, the issues haven't yet been addressed."

Rocky also said that the government of India too paid little attention to the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh despite making several representations.