Asserting that the assaults on Hindu temples and spiritual websites are a part of a “troubling sample”, he stated it mirrored an “anti-minority sentiment more and more intertwined with extremist rhetoric, jeopardizing each secular rules and the security of spiritual minorities”.
In the meantime, no less than 30 suspects had been detained in Bangladesh’s Chattogram metropolis for his or her alleged involvement within the killing of an assistant public prosecutor on Tuesday throughout clashes between safety personnel and followers of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, who can be the spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote.
Das was arrested from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal Worldwide Airport on Monday as he was about to fly to Chattogram to affix a rally. He’s charged with sedition.
On Tuesday, the Exterior Affairs Ministry in a press release expressed “deep concern” over the “arrest and denial of bail” to Das. “This incident follows the a number of assaults on Hindus and different minorities by extremist components in Bangladesh,” it stated.
There are “a number of documented instances” of arson and looting of minorities’ houses and enterprise institutions, in addition to theft and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples, the MEA flagged. “It’s unlucky that whereas the perpetrators of those incidents stay at giant, costs ought to be pressed in opposition to a non secular chief presenting authentic calls for via peaceable gatherings,” the assertion stated. Mahmud, who was one of many senior-most members of Sheikh Hasina’s ministry until it was ousted on August 5 following a scholar rebellion, expressed hope that the brand new Trump administration within the US would push for “free and truthful elections in Bangladesh and stage taking part in discipline for all events on the earliest”, stressing {that a} democratic Bangladesh would contribute to regional peace and safety.
The previous Overseas Minister additionally raised issues concerning the resurgence of extremist factions within the political vacuum left by Hasina’s administration, pointing to the “heightened actions” of the Pakistan Embassy in Dhaka as proof of international involvement in stoking unrest, claiming that, “Pakistan is carefully aligned with a few of these extremist teams.”
“The anti-India rhetoric by the interim authorities and the rise of fundamentalist forces are utterly associated and interlinked. Those that are a part of this interim authorities, main it and supporting it, when you verify their background you’re going to get to know the reality. These are all correlated,” he claimed.
Mahmud painted a grim image of the scenario dealing with non secular minorities in Bangladesh, with assaults on Hindu and Buddhist temples turning into alarmingly frequent.
“Each nook of the nation has seen some type of aggression in opposition to minorities, particularly the Hindus,” the 61-year-old politician stated in a telephonic interview.
He accused the interim authorities, led by economist-turned-politician Yunus, of failing to offer safety to those communities, which he attributed to an increase in fundamentalist sentiment and focused violence in opposition to non-Muslim teams.
“Previously three months, the nation has witnessed a number of horrific assaults on temples and minorities. Not a single efficient measure has been taken by the federal government to stop these occurrences,” he claimed.
Mahmud underscored that the rise in violence in opposition to Hindus and assaults on temples seems strongly correlated with the uptick in anti-India rhetoric.
“Those that stand in opposition to secular politics are actually performing with impunity,” he stated.
In an interview with PTI in September, Muhammad Yunus claimed that the problem of assaults on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh is “overhyped,” stating that these assaults are extra political than communal, arising from the notion that the majority Hindus supported the now-deposed Awami League regime.
Mahmud strongly refuted Muhammad Yunus’ declare, saying:”The difficulty just isn’t a matter of political notion, however an actual and rising menace to the security and safety of spiritual minorities,” including that such feedback downplay the gravity of the scenario and ignore the rising violence in opposition to Hindus.
He known as out the “fundamentalist forces” that he believes are being given free rein beneath Yunus’s administration.
“Strengthening of those forces is harmful for Bangladesh’s secular cloth,” he asserted, warning that anti-India sentiments have traditionally gained traction at any time when extremist teams have gained floor in Bangladesh.
Traditionally, Hindus made up about 22 % of Bangladesh’s inhabitants through the 1971 Liberation Warfare. In the present day, they symbolize roughly 8 per cent because of socio-political marginalization and sporadic violence.
Expressing issues concerning the risks of unchecked fundamentalism, Mahmud stated, “Some persons are making an attempt to show Bangladesh right into a ‘second Afghanistan’ by exploiting the present instability.”
