Hundreds of people from the Hindu community took to the streets in the capital's Shabagh area on Friday afternoon to protest against the attacks on them that had occurred across Bangladesh since August 5, following the fall of Sheikh Hasina.
Blocking the Shahbagh intersection at about 4:30pm, protesters chanted slogans and held placards that read, 鈥榃hy is my life so cheap? Not their knives, but your silence cuts deep,鈥� 鈥業s this the way to treat minorities!鈥�, 鈥楽ave Bangladeshi Hindus,鈥� and 鈥榃e want minority rights to be implemented.鈥櫬犅�
Aniruddha Das, a coordinator of the protest, said that Bangladesh Sachetan Sanatani Nagarik organised the rally in protest at the murders, attacks, vandalism and looting of temples, houses and establishments of Hindu community and the rape of Hindu women that occurred after Hasina had resigned and fled the country.聽
They demanded fair investigations into all the incidents and that the culprits be brought to justice.
Their other demands included, enacting and enforcing strict laws to prevent all kinds of attacks on minorities, establishing a ministry for minorities, creating a minority safeguards commission, and reservation of 10 per cent of parliamentary seats for minorities. 聽聽聽
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, meanwhile, held a press conference on Friday morning at Dhaka Reporters Unity, demanding an immediate end to the violence against all minority communities.
Nirmal Rozario, one of the presidents of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, who read an open letter addressed to the chief adviser of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, said that thousands of Hindu families had come under attack in at least 52 districts across the country.
鈥楳any Hindu temples were set on fire following the attacks, and Hindus were murdered in several areas, with other minority communities also being attacked. Such violence is ongoing, and we demand an immediate end to it,鈥� he said.
The speakers called for a thorough investigation of every incident, demanding trial of all those involved in the violence.聽
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad president Basudeb Dhar, and Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council鈥檚 presidium members Kajal Debnath and Subrata Chowdhury also spoke at the event, among others.
