NEW DELHI: A US lawmaker on Tuesday said that Bangladesh’s interim government must uphold its responsibility to protect its Hindu minority population after the departure of Sheikh Hasina’s democratically-elected government earlier this year.
“Bangladesh’s interim government has an absolute obligation to protect its Hindu minority and meaningfully address the protests of thousands of minority Hindus in outcry over the recent wave of attacks and harassment,” US Congressman Brad Sherman said in a statement, according to news agency PTI.
“With the calls for an investigation from the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk for killings and other rights violations during the violent unrest leading up to and after the fall of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the current administration must demonstrate leadership in eliminating acts of violence against the Hindu community,” Sherman added.
“The Bangladesh government has a duty to protect all citizens, particularly the minority Hindu community, against violence. I am outraged by recent attacks against Bangladesh’s Hindu community and urge Bangladesh’s government to take serious action to end anti-Hindu violence,” Sherman wrote in a post on X.
During the weekend, Bangladesh’s Hindu community gathered near the White House to protest, demanding Chinmaya Das’s freedom and security measures for Bangladeshi Hindus.
The HinduACTion’s executive director, Utsav Chakrabarti also urged the departing Biden-Harris administration to implement all possible measures to prevent radical Islamists from escalating violence against Bangladeshi Hindus.
“Based on the feedback we are getting from Bangladesh, Hindu monk and civil rights defender Chinmoy Krishna Brahmachari, who has been incarcerated by the interim government, faces a serious threat to his life, in custody,” he said.
