After the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the homes and businesses of Hindus are being targeted in Bangladesh amid unrest and violence, claimed a minority group.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) said that hundreds of homes, businesses and temples have been vandalised across the country over the last 24 hours, after Hasina fled Bangladesh.
The Hindu community consists of around 8 percent of the total population of Bangladesh, and was largely supported by Hasina’s Awami League government. However, the opposition bloc, expected to come into power, includes a hardlined Islamic party.
The BHBCUC claimed that around 200-300 Hindu homes and businesses have been vandalised since Monday, when Hasina fled to neighbouring India after resigning. Around 15-20 Hindu temples across Bangladesh have been damaged, and 40 people from the community have been injured, BHBCUC general secretary Rana Dasgupta told Reuters.
“The communal atrocities erupted hours before she resigned,” he said. “Although there is no killing, there is injury. Houses and businesses of minorities, especially Hindus, as well as temples, have been targeted, looted, damaged.”
The minority group chief also said that some unidentified men threw a brick at his car when he was out on Monday, in an act of communal violence.
“I stand against communal atrocities and will not stop,” he said. “Until my death, I shall fight for them. I may not be able to physically protect them, but I can give them courage. I may not be able to resist attacks, but I can protest.”
Manindra Kumar Nath, a Hindu community leader, described the situation in Bangladesh as “horrific”. He said, “Even today, we are getting calls from people asking us to save their lives, but we are not receiving any support from anywhere.”
Students who led the protests against Hasina that killed nearly 300 people since July, have repeatedly urged people not to target minority communities in the overwhelmingly Muslim country. But Hindu community leaders said they were feeling vulnerable because of the lack of a functioning government.
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh on Monday and landed at the Hindon Air Base in neighbouring India. Meanwhile, protestors stormed her official residence in Dhaka and ransacked important buildings and museums associated with the Awami League.
(With inputs from Reuters)
