Bengaluru: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Saturday called on the international community to take note and put pressure on Bangladesh to help stop the “inhumane treatment” of religious minorities in the troubled south Asian nation.
In a resolution passed at its Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) in Bengaluru, the Sangh said that “it is incumbent on the International organizations like UN and global community to take serious note of the inhumane treatment meted out to Hindus and other minority communities in Bangladesh and pressurize Bangladesh government to put a halt to these violent activities”.
It also raised concerns over the persistent anti-India rhetoric not just in Bangladesh but by other “international forces”, adding to the “mistrust and distrust” in the region surrounding India.
“There is a concerted effort on the part of some international forces to foment instability in the entire region surrounding Bharat by creating an atmosphere of distrust and confrontation, pitting one country against another,” the RSS said in the resolution.
It added that all people who are “vigilant” should make efforts towards strengthening this shared legacy of “Bharat” and neighbouring countries.
The 2024 anti-quota protests in Bangladesh morphed into a wider movement against Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League government, leading to a political crisis after Hasina fled to India in August last year.
Since then, there have been reports of attacks on minorities in the country, particularly Hindus. India has urged the interim government, led by former Nobel prize winner Mohammed Yunus, to ensure the safety of all minorities. Bangladeshi authorities have downplayed the attacks and said the reports are an “exaggeration”.
The political unrest in Bangladesh has added to the challenges faced by India over the 4,000 km of shared borders.
“During the recent regime change in Bangladesh, several incidents of attacks on mutts, temples, Durga Puja pandals and educational institutions, desecration of deities, barbaric killings, looting of properties, abduction and molestation of women and forcible conversions are being continuously reported,” RSS resolution said.
“To deny the religious angle of these incidents by claiming them to be only political is negation of truth as scores of victims of such incidents belong to Hindu and other minority communities only.”
‘Persecution not just political’
Arun Kumar, the joint general secretary of the RSS, said that India and Bangladesh have a shared culture and history, and they should strive to protect the minority Hindu communities that are under attack.
Kumar said that Hindus were facing an “existential crisis” in Bangladesh and said the community’s numbers had dropped from 22 percent in 1951 to just 7.5 percent today.
He added that, in 1947, only the land was partitioned and not the population and India had to take it upon itself to protect the Hindus on the other side of the border.
Kumar said that Pakistan and Bangladesh had given assurances that they would protect religious minorities but both did not honour this.
“The Hindus there (in Bangladesh) are our responsibility. We cannot hide from this,” Kumar said.
He added that the persecution of religious minorities was not just political.
“We shouldn’t see this only through the political prism that there was a regime change and all this (targeting religious minorities) is happening because of this. There is a religious angle behind this too. Because of the regular and continuous targets, they belong to Hindu and other minority communities,” Kumar said.
The resolution urged the Indian government to make all possible efforts to ensure the protection, dignity, and well-being of the Hindu community in Bangladesh, along with engaging the Bangladesh government in continuous and meaningful dialogue.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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