In Muslim-majority Bangladesh, tens of thousands of Hindu minority members demonstrated on Friday to call on the interim administration to dismiss sedition charges against Hindu community leaders and shield them from a barrage of harassment and attacks. While police and troops patrolled the area, about 30,000 Hindus staged a protest at a busy intersection in Chattogram, a city in southeast India, chanting slogans calling for their rights. There were reports of other protests across the nation.
Hindu organisations claim that since early August, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s secular administration was ousted and Hasina left the country after a student-led rebellion, there have been thousands of attacks against Hindus. The Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who was appointed to head an interim administration following Hasina’s overthrow, claims those numbers are inflated.
Approximately 91% of the nation’s over 170 million residents are Muslims, and 8% are Hindus. As the interim administration has battled to restore peace, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a powerful minority group in the nation, has reported that over 2,000 attacks on Hindus have occurred since August 4.
Concerns about human rights in the nation under Yunus have been voiced by other rights organisations and United Nations human rights authorities. Hindus and other minority groups claim that hard-line Islamists are gaining more clout since Hasina’s overthrow and that they have not received enough protection from the interim government. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed worry about allegations of attacks, demonstrating that the problem has spread beyond Bangladesh.
U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has denounced what he called “barbaric” violence against Christians, Hindus, and other minorities in Bangladesh, while U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has stated that it is keeping an eye on the country’s human rights problems since Hasina’s overthrow. In a post on X, he said: “I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos.”
Since August, Hindu activists have been holding demonstrations in the capital, Dhaka, and other locations to push for a set of eight demands, which include a ministry for minorities, a law protecting minorities, and a tribunal to prosecute oppressive crimes against minorities. Additionally, they are looking for a five-day break for Durga Puja, their biggest celebration.
Following the filing of sedition charges against 19 Hindu leaders, including well-known priest Chandan Kumar Dhar, on Wednesday for an Oct. 25 gathering in Chattogram, the protest on Friday was hurriedly planned. Police arrested two of the leaders, angering Hindus.
The allegations are related to an incident where a group of protest attendees reportedly disrespected the national flag by placing a saffron flag on a pillar above the Bangladeshi flag. Leaders of the Hindu community said Thursday that the cases were politically motivated and called for their withdrawal within 72 hours. Dhaka set to host another Hindu rally on Saturday.
Since Hasina’s overthrow, supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party and its affiliate Jatiya Party have also claimed to have been singled out. Late Thursday saw vandalism and a fire at Jatiya’s offices. G.M. Quader, the chair of the Jatiya Party, declared on Friday that his followers would sacrifice their lives to continue holding rallies to demand their rights. He announced that they would demonstrate against commodity price increases and what they claim are unfounded accusations against their leaders and activists on Saturday at the party headquarters in Dhaka.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police declared later on Friday that it would not permit any protests in the vicinity of the Jatiya Party headquarters. The party declared hours after the police ruling that it had postponed the rally in observance of the law and would shortly announce a new date.
After a student organisation threatened to stop the march and harshly criticised the police administration for first authorising it, the police made their decision.
