Hindu groups protest at Bangladesh mission over atrocities on minorities

Thousands of pro-Hindu activists, led by BJP's Suvendu Adhikari, protested outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata. They demanded an end to atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh and warned of intensified protests.

Thousands of saffron-clad activists, associated with pro-Hindu organisations, gathered in Kolkata on Friday and sat outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission to protest the atrocities being committed against minorities in the neighbouring country. The pro-Hindu activists held a rally, which was accompanied by West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari. They entered the premises of the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh to speak to the authorities regarding atrocities against Hindus.

BJP Leaders Demand End to Atrocities

Adhikari demanded that atrocities against Bangladeshi Hindus be stopped and warned of an intensified protest if demands were not met. "1,000 sadhus have gathered here against what happened with Dipu Das and the atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh. I, along with five saints, will go inside the Deputy High Commission of Bangladesh to speak to the authorities in a peaceful manner. We demand that the atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh should stop. If our demand is not met, all saints who come to Ganga Sagar Mela will come and sit in protest here," the BJP leader told ANI.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain alleged that the neighbouring country's government had an "anti-Hindu mentality" and was targeting minority communities. Speaking to ANI, he said that the entire Hindu community in Bangladesh was living in fear. "There is an anti-Hindu mentality government in Bangladesh. Hindus are being targeted. After Deepu Chandra Das, another Hindu, was lynched. The entire Hindu community is living in fear. The actions Bangladesh is taking are unforgivable. Bangladesh should not forget that its actions will damage its own image," Hussain said.

Recent Attacks on Minorities in Bangladesh

On Wednesday, The Daily Star reported that a Hindu youth identified as Amrit Mondal was lynched at Hosendanga village of Kalimohor union in Rajbari's Pangsha sub-district over an extortion allegation. Police rushed to the spot upon receiving information last night and rescued Samrat in a critical condition.

The murder of Mondal took place days after the mob lynching and burning of the Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, in Bangladesh's Mymensingh district. A worker in a garment factory, Dipu Chandra Das, was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy charges and had his body hanged and set on fire on December 18.

The Daily Star, citing Mymensingh's Additional Superintendent of Police, Abdullah Al Mamun, stated that a factory official had informed Bhaluka police that a group of workers attacked Dipu inside the factory, accusing him of making "derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad" in a Facebook post. However, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-14 Company Commander in Mymensingh, Md Samsuzzaman, told The Daily Star that investigators found no evidence suggesting the deceased had posted or written anything on Facebook that could have hurt religious sentiments, adding that neither residents nor fellow garment factory workers could point to any such activity by the victim.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)