Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I would like to express my concern about the situation of Hindus in Bangladesh at present.
“The Hindu population in Bangladesh is on a steady wane. Over the past 50 years, the total population of the country has more than doubled, but not in the case of Hindus.” On November 14, 2021, these words were written on the digital page of a first-class newspaper in Bangladesh. It should be remembered that the words are being written by a Bangladeshi newspaper, so I hope those who find communal politics in discussions about the rights of Hindus and the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh will not be able to deny this reporting now.
The existence of Hindus is in danger in Bangladesh, where Dhaka is still the capital, named after the Dhakeshwari temple. For the past few months, there has been continuous persecution of the minority Hindu community in the country. We have seen how people have been forced to quit government jobs just because their identity is Hindu. A news article published by Hindustan Times Bangla on September 27 is shocking. According to that report, in a government school in Muradnagar, Comilla district, Bangladesh, a female assistant teacher was pressured to leave her job by the higher authorities of the school. When she did not accept that, the pregnant Hindu female teacher was brutally tortured by her authorities because she was a Hindu.
Looking at the current situation in Bangladesh, I am reminded of a few lines of Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore, “There are two religions in earth, which have distinct enmity against all other religions. These two are Christianity and Islam. They are not just satisfied with observing their own religions, but are determined to destroy all other religions. That’s why the only way to make peace with them is to embrace their religions.” (Ref: – Original works of Rabindranath Vol. 24 page 375, Vishwa Bharti; 1982.)
The line Dr. B.R. Ambedkar wrote in the book ‘Pakistan or the Partition of India’ is proven true again: “The brotherhood of Islam is not the universal brotherhood of man. It is a brotherhood of Muslims for Muslims only. There is a fraternity, but its benefit is confined to those within that corporation. For those outside the corporation, there is nothing but contempt and hostility.”
During Yunus’s tenure as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Bangladesh’s unrest worsened. Living as a Hindu Bengali in present-day Bangladesh has become a challenging experience. No, this is not a fabricated story; watching the international press news makes it possible to realize how real this situation is. “Many families in Khagrachari and Rangamati have fled, leaving behind burning houses and businesses,” writes a report from Reuters on September 21. It is very clear from this report what the condition of the minority community in Bangladesh, namely Hindu Buddhists, is. Most recently, the Yunus government arrested Chinmoy Krishna Das, the face of Hindu protest in Bangladesh, on charges of sedition. Notably, since the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, Chinmoy Krishna Das has repeatedly spoken out against the persecution of the minority Hindu community in the country.
Hindus are being persecuted in Bangladesh, Hindu temples are being attacked, and Hindu saints are being arrested illegally. Perhaps a particular class in India still chooses to keep their mouths shut—those who chanted, “Afzal hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hai,” after the hanging of Afzal Guru, the notorious terrorist who attacked the Indian Parliament in 2001. When Afzal Guru was hanged, these so-called liberals took to the streets. Still, when innocent Hindus were killed indiscriminately in Bangladesh, they avoided responsibility by calling it an internal matter of the concerned country. On the day of the inauguration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya last January 22, those who posted on social media the line from the poet Rabindranath Tagore’s poem ‘Dharmamoha’, “Obsessed by religion, He is blind; / He only kills and gets killed”; Those who were finding Hindu extremism around the inauguration of the Ram Mandir will not post those lines after seeing the situation in Bangladesh today. This duplicitous stance of theirs makes it clear that behind the mask of secularism, they are anti-Hindu, and their motive is to mislead the common people.
However, the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh and the unjust detention of Chinmay Krishna Das has been condemned around the world. Bob Blackman, a Conservative Member of Parliament for Harrow East in the United Kingdom, condemned the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. Addressing the parliament on December 5, Blackman showed his concern about the attempt of a High Court in Bangladesh to ban ISKCON from the country. He said, “The International Society of Krishna Consciousness, who run Bhaktivedanta Manor in Elstree, the largest Hindu temple in this country, in Bangladesh, their spiritual leader is under arrest. Hindus across Bangladesh are being subject literally to death by their houses, and their temples are being burnt. And there was an attempt today in the Bangladesh High Court to rule that ISKCON should be banned from the country. This is a direct attack on Hindus.
Now, this is a threat from India to take action. We have a responsibility because we enabled Bangladesh to be free and independent.” Donald Trump has already condemned the attacks on Hindus. This time, the famous American singer Mary Milben spoke about the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das on social media. She wrote on her ‘X’ handle on November 27, “The imprisonment of Chinmoy Krishna Das and the continued attacks against Hindus and other minorities by extremists in Bangladesh must be addressed now by world leaders. We must preserve religious freedom and the safety of all people of faith globally.”
Shri Dattatreya Hosbal, the Sarkaryabah (All India General Secretary) of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has also strongly condemned the incident. A statement from the RSS said, “The Bangladesh government arresting the ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das, who was leading one of such peaceful protests of Hindus, is unfair.” The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also expressed concern over the arrest and denial of bail to Chinmoy Krishna Das.
It is true that famous personalities and organisations around the world are speaking out against the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh. Still, only they know the harsh situation that the Hindus of Bangladesh are actually in. The situation of Hindus in Chandidas and Ramprasad’s Bengal is depressing. The decline in the population of Hindus in Bangladesh at least proves that Hindus must take responsibility for their protection. At this time, unity is the only way to escape this situation.
