Bangladeshi Hindus collaborating in a rally to demand that an interim authorities drop all instances towards their leaders and defend them from assaults and harassment, argue with safety personnel in Chattogram, Bangladesh, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. | Picture credit score: AP
Tens of 1000’s of Hindu minorities demonstrated on Friday (Nov 1, 2024) to demand that Muslim-majority Bangladesh’s interim authorities defend them from a wave of assaults and harassment and drop sedition instances towards neighborhood leaders Hindu.
Some 30,000 Hindus demonstrated at a serious intersection within the southeastern metropolis of Chattogram, chanting slogans demanding their rights whereas police and troopers guarded the world. Different protests had been reported in different components of the nation.
Hindu teams say 1000’s of assaults towards Hindus have occurred since early August, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s secular authorities was overthrown and Ms. Hasina fled the nation following a student-led rebellion. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate appointed to move an interim authorities after Hasina’s fall, says these figures have been exaggerated.
Hindus make up about 8% of the nation’s almost 170 million individuals, whereas Muslims make up about 91%.
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The nation’s influential minority group, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, has stated there have been greater than 2,000 assaults on Hindus since August 4, because the interim authorities has struggled to revive order.
UN human rights officers and different rights teams have expressed concern about human rights within the nation beneath Yunus’ authorities.
Hindus and different minority communities say the interim authorities has not adequately protected them and that hardline Islamists have gotten more and more influential since Hasina’s ouster.
The problem has reached past Bangladesh, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern over stories of assaults.
Whereas US President Joe Biden’s administration has stated it’s monitoring human rights points in Bangladesh since Hasina’s ouster, US presidential candidate Donald Trump has condemned what he described as “barbaric” violence towards Hindus, Christians and different minorities. in Bangladesh.
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Hindu activists have been staging protest rallies within the capital Dhaka and elsewhere since August to press for a collection of eight calls for, together with a legislation to guard minorities, a ministry for minorities and a court docket to prosecute acts. of oppression towards minorities. They’re additionally looking for a five-day vacation for his or her largest pageant, Durga Puja.
Friday’s protest in Chattogram was swiftly organized after sedition fees had been filed on Wednesday towards 19 Hindu leaders, together with outstanding priest Chandan Kumar Dhar, over an Oct. 25 rally in that metropolis. Police arrested two of the leaders, angering Hindus.
The costs come up from an incident wherein a bunch of rally-goers allegedly positioned a saffron flag on prime of the Bangladesh flag on a pillar, which was seen as disrespectful to the nationwide flag.
Hindu neighborhood leaders say the instances are politically motivated and on Thursday demanded they be withdrawn inside 72 hours. One other Hindu rally is deliberate for Saturday in Dhaka.
Individually, supporters of Hasina’s Awami League occasion and its ally Jatiya Occasion have stated they’ve additionally been attacked since Hasina’s ouster. The Jatiya headquarters was vandalized and set on fireplace on Thursday evening.
On Friday, Jatiya Occasion president GM Quader stated his followers would proceed to carry protests to demand their rights regardless of risking their lives. He stated they’d maintain a rally on Saturday on the occasion headquarters in Dhaka to protest commodity value will increase and what they name false allegations towards their leaders and activists.
Afterward Friday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police introduced that it might ban any demonstrations close to the Jatiya headquarters. There was no quick response from the occasion on whether or not it might go forward with its makes an attempt to carry the rally or change the placement.
The police choice got here after a bunch of scholars harshly criticized the police administration for initially granting permission for the demonstration and threatened to dam it.
Revealed – Nov 01, 2024 10:55 pm IST
