Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV.
There was massive violence against Hindus in Bangladesh on Friday after Friday prayers. Islamic fundamentalists created a ruckus in Chittagong, the second largest city of Bangladesh. After the Friday prayers, workers of Hizbut Tahrir, Hifazete Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami entered the Hindu-dominated Thakurgaon, Kotwali and Tiger Pass localities of Chittagong. The fundamentalists first raised slogans against ISKCON, after which the workers of Islamic organizations started targeting the shops and houses of Hindus. Started fighting with Hindus. Vandalized three big temples. Police was present on the spot but the police did not do anything. The police kept watching the show. After this, when the situation became out of control, the army was deployed in Chittagong.
There were demonstrations against ISKCON in the capital Dhaka. After Friday prayers at Dhaka’s Baitul Mukarram Mosque, thousands of activists of the Hefaazte Islam organization marched against ISKCON. Demanded ban on ISKCON. The protesters said that ISKCON is a terrorist Hindu organization, it should be banned and ISKCON workers should be put in jail. Bangladesh government has frozen the bank accounts of 17 ISKCON members for 30 days. Among these, ISKCON’s arrested Chinmay Das also has a bank account. Radharaman Das, vice president of ISKCON in Kolkata, said that freezing of accounts would lead to ISKCON members dying of hunger.
There were demonstrations in Kolkata against the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. Indian Secular Front workers protested outside the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh. Indian Secular Front is the party of Maulana Abbas Siddiqui of Furfura Sharif. Members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad also demonstrated in Bengal. Conservative Party MP in the British Parliament, Bob Blackman, demanded the government’s intervention in this matter. Bob Blackman said that by branding a peace-loving organization like ISKCON as a terrorist organization, people are being killed, Hindus are being tortured, their property is being looted.
In the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar told in a written reply that the Government of India has talked to the Government of Bangladesh on the situation of Hindus and has asked to provide complete security to the Hindus. Jaishankar said that the responsibility of protecting the life and property of minority Hindus in Bangladesh lies with the interim government there and the government hopes that the Bangladesh government will fulfill its responsibility. On Saturday, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale in a statement appealed to the Indian government to start building world opinion to stop the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. Hosabale demanded immediate release of arrested ISKCON sadhu Chinmoy Das from jail.
It is true that the Indian government is concerned about the situation of Hindus in Bangladesh. On Thursday, a meeting was held between Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. But the matter is of the neighboring country. Therefore, only diplomatic channels can be resorted to. Only pressure can be put on the government of Bangladesh. The problem is that the interim government of Mohammad Yunus in Bangladesh is under pressure from fundamentalists and is afraid of them. After the way the violent mob removed Sheikh Hasina, everyone is afraid of the mob. Now after taking control of the government, organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami and Hifazat-e-Islam are bent on violence. They neither fear the police, nor the army, nor do they care about the image of Bangladesh. Therefore, it will take time to stop the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. (Rajat Sharma)
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