Voices are being raised in America against the attack on Hindus in Bangladesh. A large number of people demonstrated outside the White House in Washington DC against the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. At the same time, two prominent US lawmakers of Indian origin have demanded direct US intervention to stop the attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh. They have also mentioned that instability in that region “driven by religious intolerance and violence” is not in the interest of America or its allies.
According to two Hindu organizations – Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and Bangladesh Puja Udyapan Parishad – members of minority communities in Bangladesh have faced at least 205 incidents of attacks in 52 districts since the Sheikh Hasina-led government resigned and left the country on August 5. Thousands of Bangladeshi Hindus are trying to flee to neighboring India to escape the violence.
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MP Shri Thanedar wrote a letter to Antony Blinken
In a letter to Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, US MP Shri Thanedar said that his stand against the ongoing atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh is not his only stand. He said that many people in the international community have condemned the ongoing violence against minority groups in Bangladesh, including some people from his own district. Mr. Thanedar, a Michigan MP, wrote to Blinken, “With Mohammad Yunus taking over as the interim Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the US has an obligation to assist this new government in ending violence and unrest. He said, “I urge the Biden administration to grant temporary protected status as refugees to persecuted Bangladeshi Hindus and other religious minorities.”
Nobel laureate Yunus (84) was sworn in as the head of the interim government in Bangladesh on Thursday. According to Hindu community leaders based in Dhaka, several Hindu temples, homes and businesses were vandalised, women were attacked and at least two Hindu leaders associated with Hasina’s Awami League party were killed in the violence that broke out in Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and left the country.
MP Raja Krishnamurthy also demanded intervention
Member of Parliament Raja Krishnamurthy of Indian origin said that credible eyewitness reports of anti-Hindu attacks in various media reports demonstrate the scale of the attacks. Krishnamurthy wrote in his letter, “I am writing this letter to you regarding the unstable situation in Bangladesh and the rise of anti-Hindu coordinated violence after the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Now that Mohammad Yunus has been sworn in as the chief advisor of the interim government, it is extremely important that the US works closely with her government to end the violence and bring the perpetrators to justice.” He said, “Sadly, this is not the first time that anti-government protests in Bangladesh have taken the form of anti-Hindu violence. In October 2021, nine people were killed amid the destruction of hundreds of homes, businesses and temples in anti-Hindu riots. In 2017, more than 107 Hindus were killed and 37 ‘disappeared’. Krishnamurthy said that “instability driven by religious intolerance and violence in the region is clearly not in the interest of the US or our allies.”
