Union Government should take steps to help persecuted Hindus in Bangladesh

• 57 Indian intellectuals write a letter to the Union Govt for this demand

• Indian Parliament should recognise the violence as ‘religious violence against Hindus’

New Delhi – 57 intellectuals have demanded through a letter to the Union Government to take steps to help persecuted Hindus in Bangladesh. They have also demanded that the violence in Bangladesh must be recognised in the Indian Parliament as ‘religious violence against Hindus’. To support their demand, they have given reference to video of burning ISKCON Temple in Meherpur, Bangladesh, and another video of Hindus being killed by a mob. They have said that these videos are extremely distressing. The letter is co-written by Vikram Sampath, Abhinav Agrawal, Arun Krishnan, Harsh Gupta, Madhusudan, Smita Barua, scientist Anand Ranganathan and engineer Yogini Deshpande.

The intellectuals, expressing concern over the oppression of Hindus, wrote,

1. This violence where Hindus are targeted, has drawn the world’s attention to a new method. It is not that the incidents of attacks on Hindus are happening all of a sudden. Attacks on Hindus, which have a long history in Bangladesh, tend to intensify during periods of political instability.

2. It reminds us how Pakistani army killed 25 lakh Hindus when Bangladesh was East Pakistan. Since 2013, more than 3,600 incidents of attacks on Hindus have taken place in Bangladesh.

3. Bangladesh should remember the suffering of Hindus and take steps for their safety. The elected representatives should raise this issue at their level and the Government of India should take steps to resolve it at the highest level. Also, the Indian Parliament should pass a resolution against it. For the safety of Hindus, steps should be taken in collaboration with international organisations and options ranging from helping the victims to sheltering should be considered.