New Delhi: Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu community leader, has died after he was allegedly abducted and assaulted in Bangladesh’s Dinajpur district earlier this week, with Indian authorities saying Saturday that his “killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities”.
“We have noted with distress the abduction and brutal killing of Shri Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh. This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in a statement.
He added: “We condemn this incident and once again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions.”
Roy, a resident of Basudebpur village, was vice president of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and a prominent Hindu community leader, according to the Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star.
Roy’s wife said he was abducted by four motorcycle-borne men around 5 PM Thursday afternoon, and taken to Narabari village where he was mercilessly beaten. He was then sent back home unconscious in a van.
Family members rushed him to the Biral Upazila Health Complex and he was later transferred to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, reported The Daily Star.
Earlier in the week, India and Bangladesh had a terse back and forth over violence which broke out in West Bengal during protests over amendments to the Waqf Act. The violence in Murshidabad has left at least three dead and over 200 injured.
Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal alleged miscreants from Bangladesh were a part of the violent protests, which led to a strong rebuke from Dhaka. Press secretary to Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Shafiqul Alam strongly condemned the attempts to link the violence to Bangladeshi nationals, and urged India to protect its own minorities.
This led to a stinging admonishment from New Delhi, calling on Dhaka to stop “virtue signalling” and act against those perpetrating violence against minorities in Bangladesh. India has consistently urged the interim government in Bangladesh to protect the welfare of minorities in the country, since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last August.
Dhaka has rejected New Delhi’s comments, labelling the attacks as political and not communal. However, in February this year, Bangladeshi authorities said they were investigating at least 2,000 reported incidents of violence against minorities in the country since Hasina’s ouster.
Ties between the two neighbours have remained strained, with the interim government in Dhaka blaming Indian media for promoting misinformation in an attempt to destabilise the country. Furthermore, Hasina remains in New Delhi, which is another flashpoint in ties.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief adviser to the interim government Muhammad Yunus met on the margins of the BIMSTEC Summit in the Thai capital of Bangkok earlier this month, which was seen as a positive step in ties between the two governments. Modi raised the issue of welfare of minorities in Bangladesh during the meeting.
But since then there has been an unravelling of ties, with India halting the transshipment of Bangladeshi goods via its land ports, ports and airports.
The move followed a slew of actions by Dhaka, including its ban on the import of Indian yarn via land ports in March, which was publicly announced earlier this month. Last month, a committee set up by Bangladesh also recommended closure of three land ports with India–Chilahati, Daulatganj and Tegamukh, while indicating suspension of operations at Balla land port.
In January, the Benapole Customs House formed an Investigation, Research and Management (IRM) unit to conduct more physical verification of goods imported from India, in another step considered restrictive by Indian authorities, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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