Bangladesh Hindus taking part in a rally to demand that an interim authorities withdraw all circumstances in opposition to their leaders and shield them from assaults and harassment, argue with the safety personnel in Chattogram, Bangladesh, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.
| Picture Credit score: AP

Tens of hundreds of minority Hindus rallied on Friday (November 1, 2024) to demand that the interim authorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh shield them from a wave of assaults and harassment and drop sedition circumstances in opposition to Hindu group leaders.

About 30,000 Hindus demonstrated at a serious intersection within the southeastern metropolis of Chattogram chanting slogans demanding their rights whereas police and troopers guarded the world. Different protests have been reported elsewhere within the nation.

Hindu teams say thousands of attacks against Hindus have occurred since early August when the secular authorities of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown and Ms. Hasina fled the nation following a student-led rebellion. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel peace laureate named to guide an interim authorities after Ms. Hasina’s downfall, says these figures have been exaggerated.

Hindus make up about 8% of the nation’s practically 170 million folks, whereas Muslims are about 91%.

Additionally Learn: Tension grips Bangladesh as protesters demand removal of President over comments on Hasina’s resignation

The nation’s influential minority group Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has stated that there have been greater than 2,000 assaults on Hindus since Aug. 4, because the interim authorities has struggled to revive order.

U.N. Human Rights officers and different rights teams have expressed concern over human rights within the nation beneath Mr. Yunus.

Hindus and different minority communities say the interim authorities hasn’t adequately protected them and that hardline Islamists have gotten more and more influential since Hasina’s ouster.

The problem has reached past Bangladesh, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi voicing concern over studies of assaults.

Whereas the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has stated it’s monitoring Bangladesh’s human rights points since Ms. Hasina’s ouster, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump has condemned what he described as “barbaric” violence in opposition to Hindus, Christians, and different minorities in Bangladesh.

In a submit on X, he stated: “I strongly condemn the barbaric violence in opposition to Hindus, Christians, and different minorities who’re getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which stays in a complete state of chaos.”

Hindu activists have been staging protest rallies within the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere since August to press a set of eight calls for together with a legislation to guard minorities, a ministry for minorities and a tribunal to prosecute acts of oppression in opposition to minorities. In addition they search a five-day vacation for his or her largest competition, the Durga Puja.

Friday’s protest in Chattogram was swiftly organized after sedition prices have been filed Wednesday in opposition to 19 Hindu leaders, together with distinguished priest Chandan Kumar Dhar, over an October 25 rally in that metropolis. Police arrested two of the leaders, angering Hindus.

The fees stem from an incident when a gaggle of rally-goers allegedly positioned a saffron flag above the Bangladesh flag on a pillar, which was thought-about disrespecting the nationwide flag.

Hindu group leaders say the circumstances are politically motivated and on Thursday demanded that they be withdrawn inside 72 hours. One other Hindu rally has been deliberate for Saturday in Dhaka.

Individually, supporters of Hasina’s Awami League social gathering and its allied Jatiya Occasion have stated additionally they have been focused since Hasina’s ouster. Jatiya’s headquarters was vandalized and set on fireplace late Thursday.

On Friday, Jatiya Occasion Chairman G.M. Quader stated his supporters would proceed to carry rallies to demand their rights regardless of risking their lives. He stated they might maintain a rally Saturday on the social gathering headquarters in Dhaka to protest worth hikes of commodities, and what they name false prices in opposition to their leaders and activists.

Later Friday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police introduced it was banning any rallies close to the Jatiya headquarters. There was no quick response from the social gathering about whether or not it press forward with its makes an attempt to carry the rally, or change the venue.

The police resolution got here after a scholar group strongly criticized the police administration for initially granting permission for the rally, and threatened to dam it.