Why Hindus always under assault?
Syed Badrul Ahsan
Bangladesh's Hindu community once again is under grievous assault.
In the aftermath of the recent general elections, hundreds of Hindus have fled their homes in such regions as Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bogra, Lalmonirhat, Rajshahi, Jessore and Chittagong.
Once again, there is an eerie reminder of the trauma the Bangalee nation, especially its Hindu segment, faced in the course of the War of Liberation when the occupation Pakistan army and its local collaborators went after the proponents of Bangalee nationalism.
A very large-scale exodus of Hindus took place at the time of the partition of India in August 1947, when for understandable reasons it became a question of the survival of the community in a country fashioned out of a so-called two-nation theory.
Three years later, in 1950, communal riots led to a newer group of Hindus leaving what was then East Pakistan and making their way to neighbouring West Bengal in India.
In 1964, through the instigation of the Ayub-Monem clique in Pakistan, more Hindus left East Pakistan. The crisis was contained only when a secular Bangalee political leadership, among whom was the future Bangabandhu, put up a determined resistance against communalism and succeeded in containing what might have become a conflagration.
In 1971, the Pakistan army went with a vengeance after Bangladesh's Hindus, an outrage that was to go on for nine long months. In the process, the soldiers not only killed such revered Hindu figures as Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta, Govinda Chandra Dev, Dhirendranath Dutta and others but also mowed down hundreds of Hindu students who resided at Jagannath Hall of Dhaka University.
Things ought to have been different in independent Bangladesh. And yet, in post-1975 circumstances, the country's Hindu community once again became a target of assault, in many instances through the subtle and not-so-subtle encouragement of the ruling classes. Over these past four decades, many more Hindus have left Bangladesh, with most trekking off to India. The more fortunate ones, in terms of academic excellence or economic strength, have made their homes in the developed world.
Today, the country's Hindu population, which in 1971 numbered as high as 25 per cent of the total population, has declined appallingly to below 10 per cent. Hindu homes have been vandalised for close to four decades; Hindu temples have been destroyed; Hindu-owned property has been looted systematically; Hindus have been looked upon as Indian agents.
Today, it is with a huge degree of shame that one must recount the havoc wreaked on Hindus following the electoral triumph of the BNP-Jamaat alliance in October 2001. Supporters of the alliance went on a rampage, beating and raping and killing Hindus in no fewer than 2,500 villages in the country. No action was taken against the marauders.
Our grievance is that even today, with the conclusion of the general election of January 5, Hindus all over the country cower in fear of elements which have been threatening them since before the voting. As our news reports over the past few days have made it clear, there were patent threats held out against the community in various regions of the country.
Why were these threats not taken seriously by the administration? Where were the measures that should have ensured their security as citizens of Bangladesh? In the aftermath of the elections, once they came under attack from the BNP-Jamaat-Shibir cadres, frantic appeals went out to the police for help.
No response came. Neither was there any move on the part of the Awami League or its alliance partners to go to the rescue of the endangered Hindus.
We bow our heads in deep shame at what has systematically been done to our fellow citizens only because they pursue a faith different from that of the majority religious denomination. Our sense of shame sinks deeper in the knowledge that hardly any individual of repute or any organisation professing its belief in secular democracy, has come forward to condemn this brutalisation of the Hindu community and to resist the menace of communalism in the country.
It is now for the state of Bangladesh to reassure its Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and its indigenous people that this country is a secular geographical entity, that it is home to all its people, that an attack on one community is an attack on every community, that those who from now on attempt to humiliate any community will be dealt with summarily and with an iron hand.
The state must not fail again. If it does, this country will stand guilty of indulging in ethnic cleansing.
Published: 12:00 am Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Last modified: 12:08 am Wednesday, January 08, 2014
News Analysis | Why Hindus always under assault?
Attackers of Hindus won't be spared
Says PM, discusses with Hamid formation of new govt
Staff Correspondent
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said massive drives would be conducted to arrest all those involved in the recent attacks on the Hindus.
Warning the culprits of stern action, she said, “None will be spared. A drive has been underway in Jessore since Monday night, and some culprits have been arrested.”
The PM was speaking at a meeting with the leaders of the Awami League-led alliance at the Gono Bhaban last night.
Earlier, she had met President Abdul Hamid at the Bangabhaban, and apprised him of the current political situation and the government measures for checking post-polls violence.
Hasina also discussed with the president the formation of a new government, as her party won an absolute majority in the election, said sources in the ruling party.
Hasina, also president of the AL, said she had directed the authorities concerned to compensate and rehabilitate the affected minority families.
She urged BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to “stop attacks on the minority community”, and said the government, otherwise, would take appropriate measures.
In an oblique reference to the international community's call for initiating dialogue to resolve the political crisis, Hasina said the option of holding talks was still open.
“If you [Khaleda] want to talk after severing relations with the Jamaat and war criminals, we could then see how to move forward. But they [the BNP] must cut ties with the Jamaat, and this is the reality.”
Hasina also called upon the BNP chief to shun hartal and agitation for the sake of O and A-level exams. Children had been the worst victims of hartals, as they could neither attend schools nor concentrate on studies.
The PM said nothing could be gained by enforcing hartal. The BNP and the Jamaat wanted to thwart the polls to destroy democracy by creating a constitutional crisis, but they failed.
She said people had given the AL a mandate through the January 5 polls, and her government's prime objectives were to serve people and build the nation in light of the spirit of the Liberation War.
The PM criticised the role of a section of civil society members, and said many newspapers published reports to make the polls controversial.
The media people have a responsible role to play in the society and they must not encourage terrorists and militants, she said.
Hasina reiterated her government's resolve to continue the war crimes trial and execute the verdicts in the trial.
The leaders of the AL-led 14-party combine congratulated Hasina on her re-election.
Earlier in the afternoon, Hasina told the president that her government was firm to protect people's life and property, and it was doing everything possible to ensure that.
"The prime minister apprised the president of the polls and post-election situation," President's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters after the meeting between the president and the PM.
The president congratulated the people, the Election Commission and the candidates on the holding of “a peaceful election”, said Ihsanul.
Asked whether the two leaders discussed the formation of a new government, Ihsanul said the process of forming a new government starts after the election results are published through a gazette notification.
AL Organising Secretary Bahauddin Nasim told this correspondent last night that the Election Commission had already been working on the publication of election results.
Ruling party sources quoted Hasina as telling the 14-party alliance leaders that the new government would take oath in three to four days.
The AL secured an absolute majority in parliament by winning 232 seats in the January 5 polls that was boycotted by the main opposition BNP.
AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and PM's Adviser Shafique Ahmed were present at the one-and-a-half hour meeting that ended at 5:45pm.
Attackers of Hindus won't be spared | Says PM, discusses with Hamid formation of new govt
