New Delhi: Avijit Majumder Hridoy, 26, a Bangladeshi journalist from Pirojpur district in Barishal division, has no one to turn to ask for help. As reporting keeps him away from home and family, Hridoy is receiving disturbing news and images of attacks on Hindu temples in Bhandaria and Mathbaria upazillas near his home.
Hridoy doesn’t know who to call in case attackers reach his house. “The Bangladesh Army has put up helpline numbers for Hindu families, temples, and other places of worship to ensure their safety and security.There are some instances of ordinary citizens from the Muslim community coming out to protect Hindus. But the attacks are too many, and unless a new government is in place, the Bangladeshi Hindu is under grave danger,” Hridoy told ThePrint over phone.
He did not specify where he is currently. “I do not know who will read your article and track me. There are murderous mobs out to kill Hindus and burn down their houses and places of worship.”
Nilay Kumar Biswas, a former student of Dhaka University, said many police stations in the capital and across Bangladesh are unmanned. Mobs were out on the streets to loot houses and attack unarmed citizens, he added.
“Muslims have been killed and attacked also in the past few days. But the Hindus in Bangladesh are under attack from radicals who do not want us to remain in Bangladesh,” Biswas told ThePrint.
Biswas said he has the protection of his Muslim batchmates. But, he is worried about his family at home outside Dhaka.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader and lawyer Rumeen Farhana has been getting non-stop calls from the Hindus in distress. “I am doing all I can to help them. Me and my party members are trying to send help as soon as we are getting such calls,” she told ThePrint.
The former MP said she was confident the law and order situation would be brought under control very soon.
At a crowded press briefing at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Muhammad Yunus, who is set to be the head of the interim government, said, Thursday: “If you have faith in me and trust me, then ensure that there will be no attack anywhere in the country. This is our first responsibility,”
Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh have been making headlines globally. In an article headlined ‘Hindus in Bangladesh Face Attacks After Prime Minister’s Exit’, The New York Times wrote Thursday that Hindus in Bangladesh braced for violent reprisals “as the rudderless country awaited the formation of a new government”.
The NYT report said the minority Hindu population is perceived by many to be supporters of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in a popular uprising.
Farhana, however, told ThePrint that it was a myth that Hasina was pro-Hindu. “During her long reign, she allowed attacks on Hindus in the country. She dangled the safety of Hindus as a carrot for her political gains. In the new Bangladesh that will be formed now, the Bangladeshi Hindu is an equal citizen,” the BNP leader said.
In an open address to Bangladesh’s Hindu population, Farhana said: “If a Bangladeshi Hindu is under attack tonight, call me. Call my party members. We are all there for you.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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