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Mumbai: Religious minorities who had very little role to play in Bangladeshi politics or in the recent agitations against the Sheikh Hasina government are being attacked, said the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) which has asked the central government to provide shelter to members of religious minorities who may want to escape violence in that country.
“Hindu homes, businesses, temples, and idols are being targeted. Even Hindu crematoriums are not being spared and there are attempts to grab Hindu properties as part of ‘land jihad’,” said Mohan Salekar, Konkan Prant Mantri of the VHP at a press conference held in Mumbai on Thursday.
Salekar said that Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and other religious minorities in the country should be allowed to enter India. While the government should give shelter to Hindus who want refuge here, security on the 4,096-kilometer-long India-Bangladeshi border should be strengthened so that criminals do not sneak in.
“We want a democratic government in Bangladesh which can protect human rights. We are with the Bangladeshi people, but there are groups taking advantage of the situation in that country to attack Hindus. We appeal to the Hindus to have patience,” said Salekar.
Salekar questioned the silence of the opposition and human rights groups to the violence against Bangladeshi Hindus. “Contrast this to the hue and cry they raised in incidents like the one in Hathras. Not one so-called secular group has condemned the violence against Hindus in that country,” said Salekar.
VHP spokesperson Shriraj Nair said that the Hindu population in Bangladesh has fallen from 32% at the time of its independence in 1971 to 8% now. “A protest by students against the government has turned into an attack against Hindus. They are taxpayers and have a low representation in crime, but whenever there is an event like this Hindus are targeted. ISKCON temples, the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre have been attacked. There has been violence against Hindu women, but human rights groups and feminist organisations in India have been quiet,” said Nair.
Replying to questions from representatives of media groups about statements from Indian politicians about the possibility of something similar happening in India, Salekar said, “We have seen situations like this being created in India, like the Shaheen Baug protests and farmer’s agitation, but a situation like Bangladesh will not happen in India. This is because Hindus are a majority in this country.
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