The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) said on Tuesday that hundreds of Hindu homes, businesses and temples have been destroyed since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from office by protesters over the weekend.
Hasina Ended On Monday, she resigned and fled the country, ending her 15-year term as prime minister, as protesters stormed her residence in the capital, Dhaka. She is taking refuge in Hindu-majority India.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina interacts with reporters in Dhaka, Dec. 31, 2018. Protesters stormed Hasina’s official residence on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Indian intelligence officials Said They believe the protests on Tuesday, ostensibly to protest against Bangladesh’s quota system for government employees, were orchestrated by China and Pakistan to accommodate Chinese ambitions and install a government more hostile to India.
The Indian officials accused Pakistan’s notorious ISI intelligence agency of working with Islamist groups in Bangladesh, where about 90 percent of the population is Muslim. Islam is the official religion of Bangladesh, which separated from Pakistan in a 1971 revolutionary war.
Hasina comes from a prominent Muslim family but has friendly ties to India and lived there in the 1970s, after her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the “father” and first president of independent Bangladesh in 1975, was assassinated along with most of his family in India for years.
Unfortunately, the BBC Explained Hasina has been described as “a symbol of democracy that became a dictator.” Bangladesh has prospered economically under her rule, in large part due to its good relationship with India. Shortly after coming to power in a popular uprising against the military junta, Hasina signed a major water-sharing agreement with India, which undoubtedly benefited Bangladesh, but over time her critics have accused her of giving India too much influence over government policy.
People take part in a protest against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 3, 2024, demanding justice for victims killed in recent deadly clashes across the country. (AP Photo/Rajiv Dar)
There is no doubt that Prime Minister Hasina has become more ruthless towards her opponents in recent years, and they have been ruthless.
She fought a fierce battle with her rival, Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and the pair were nicknamed the “fighting begums”. Begum is a term used to refer to a high-ranking Muslim woman. Khaleda was in fact the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. Got an office It was carried out in 1991 with the support of Islamic organizations.
The two prime ministers took turns imprisoning each other for many years, and in 2006 the military junta jailed both of them after Khaleda’s second term ended in a coup. They accuse each other of corruption and tyranny.
Khaleda’s associates were accused of throwing a grenade at a political rally, killing more than 20 people, and plotting to assassinate President Hasina in 2004. Khaleda’s son was tried in absentia and given a life sentence for planning the attack.
The BHBCUC said on Tuesday that Hasina’s ouster appeared to have exploded long-simmering anger among Muslims against Hindu minorities affiliated with Hasina’s party, the Awami League.
“Hours before she resigned, sectarian atrocities erupted. No killings but injuries. Homes, shops and temples of minorities, particularly Hindus, were targeted, looted and destroyed,” said BHBCUC general secretary Rana Dasgupta.
Dasgupta said he was directly assaulted on Monday by unidentified persons who hurled bricks at his car.
“I am against the brutality of my community and I will not stop. I will fight for them till I die. I may not be able to protect them physically but I can give them courage. I may not be able to resist attacks but I can protest,” he said.
People take part in a protest against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 3, 2024, demanding justice for victims killed in recent deadly clashes across the country. (AP Photo/Rajiv Dar)
“The situation is frightening,” added Manindra Kumar Nath, a Hindu community leader. “Even today, we are getting calls asking for help to save our lives but we are not getting any help from anywhere.”
A Hindu named Avirap Sarkar Said On Tuesday, the BBC reported that his cousin, who lives in Bangladesh, had been threatened by a mob that “raided” and “robbed” his home.
“You are the descendants of the Awami League! You are the reason this country is in such a bad state. You should leave!” the mob shouted at Sarkar’s cousin and other Hindus, Sarkar said.
Sarkar said some of his family’s properties were spared, possibly because they were not on a retaliation list drawn up by nearby Muslim groups, but dozens of other homes were attacked and Hindu shops looted.
“Bangladeshi Hindus are an easy target. They are attacked whenever the Awami League loses power,” he said.
Sarkar thanked Bangladeshi Muslims for “protecting Hindu property” from the mobs.
Bangladeshi folk singer Rahul Ananda Said He narrowly escaped injury along with his wife and son when a mob ransacked and set fire to their Dhaka home on Wednesday. A family source said the mob “carried away everything from furniture and mirrors to valuables” before “setting fire to the famous singer’s house” and musical instruments.
People shout slogans during a protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government, demanding justice for victims killed in recent deadly clashes across the country, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on August 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajiv Dar)
Friends and fellow musicians of Ananda’s said his home, which was also his studio, is a Hindu landmark and a major cultural centre in Bangladesh, and that the instruments burned by the mob belonged to “all the young musicians” in Bangladesh.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar Said He said it was “particularly worrying” that “ethnic minorities, their shops and temples were also attacked in several locations” on Tuesday.
Jaishankar said most of the 9,000 Indian students studying in Bangladesh had returned home because of the protests. Currently, about 19,000 Indian nationals live in Bangladesh.
Indian Print on tuesday Said Though she cultivated an image as a champion of progressivism against Islamic fundamentalism, Hasina sealed her own fate by giving in to the Islamists and granting them “vast tracts of land and huge amounts of wealth so they can build more madrassas.”
Print He accused Hasina of “allowing hundreds of anti-women, anti-Hindu Islamic preachers to indoctrinate the youth”, allowing Hindu authors to “be erased from school textbooks” and silencing “free thinkers who critically scrutinise Islam”.
In essence, the argument is that Hasina has made too many concessions to Muslims, which could ultimately create a social and academic environment that is rebellious against her and shift Bangladesh’s orientation away from India and towards Pakistan and its ally China.
