Violence against Hindus in Bangladesh: Boost to Islamophobia in India
By Ram Puniyani for
New Age Islam
16 August
2024
The Responsibility Of
Those Striving For Pluralism And Democracy Is Immense At The Moment. The Hate
Mongers Have Erected Huge Machineries To Do Their Divisive Job. More Believers
In Peace And Amity Will Have To Come Forward To Combat This Hate By Widening
Their Net And Intensifying The Process Of Fact Check.
------
The upsurge
in Bangladesh has been a major phenomenon, which not only shook that country to
the core but also saw a lot of fake news and Islamophobia getting intensified
in India. Shaikh Hasina has been ruling Bangladesh with iron hand for the last
fifteen years, totally suppressing the opposition to the extent of imprisoning
or imposing house arrest on the major opposition leaders. The student protest
which erupted in the country on the issue of “reservations for freedom
fighters’ children” continued nearly 50 years after the country was formed, when
it struggled to get release from the clutches of Pakistan. The issue has been
agitating the Bangladesh youth and they met with suppression from the Hasina
Government, leading to the massive upsurge.
With
Hasina’s leaving the country, the whole hell broke loose. There were attacks on
Awami League (Hasina’s Party) supporters, burning of Awami League offices in
the main. According to the “Hindu
Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad”,
minority communities in Bangladesh faced 205 incidents of attacks in 52
districts since the fall of the Hasina government on August 5. Prof. Yunus was
the choice of students to lead the interim Government. There was a massive
rally of minorities calling for their protection. Prof. Yunus immediately
issued an appeal he, “…urged the student protesters to protect all minority
communities, including Hindu, Christian and Buddhists, from being targeted.
“Are they not the people of this country? You have been able to save the
country. Can't you save some families?" he asked the student protesters.
This was a
powerful appeal and as per Mahfouz Anam, editor of Bangladesh’s the Daily Star,
the violence against Hindus stopped, to the extent that the right wing
Jamat-E-Islami formed teams to protect the temples. The learned Editor, in an
interview given to Wire’s Karan Thapar also pointed out that rightists in
Bangladesh and India feed each other. As per him after fifth day the attack on
minorities came to a total halt. He and many other you tubers have pointed out
the in India many of the rumors and fake news has been circulated without any
fact check.
One major
example is the news and visual that cricketer Leepan Das’s House was put to
fire. The BBC fact check revealed that it was the house of another cricketer,
who is close to Awami League and had been MP for two terms. Similarly, another
visual shows burning of a temple in Chittagong. The fact checks showed that
what was put to fire was Awami League office, which was near the temple. Such
examples abound, showing the burning of Hindu temples and killing of Hindus.
There are other visuals which have not been shown and those are the Students
forming teams to protect Hindu temples. “Both, Hindus and Muslims are victims.
But they cherry-pick and highlight the politically motivated attacks as
communal. When the victim is Hindu, all incidents are widely propagated as
communal persecution, which will increase anti-Muslim hatred in India.”
(Shohanur Rahman, a Fact Checker, to The Quint)
Now the two
major powers in Bangladesh are Prof Yunus and the students who led the
protests. Both these are taking the line of inclusive character of Bangladesh,
and strong position about protection of Hindus and other minorities.
Undoubtedly Jamaat-e-Islami dreams of an Islamic state, there is Khaleda Zia of
BNP, which is also pro Right, pro-Islamic state, while the major scale is
tilted towards the attitudes which Yunus and Students are displaying. Prof.
Yunus, true to his pluralism visited Dhakeshri temple (13th August 2023) and met
Hindu leaders to assuage their pain and reassure their safety. That is so
reassuring.
Here in
India the hate mongers and votaries of Hindu Nationalism are spreading Hate and
sending inciting messages with gay abandon. BJP’s MP, Kangana Ranaut, tweeted,
““Peace is not air or sunlight that you think is your birthrights and will come
to you for free. Mahabharata ho ya
Ramayana biggest battles in the history of the world have been fought for
peace. Pick your swords and keep them sharp, practice some combat form
daily." Many others are deliberately calling People’s Republic of
Bangladesh as ‘Islamic Republic of Bangladesh’ with motives which are very
retrograde.
On similar
lines many trolls and leaders of BJP are spreading such things which incite the
people. What is needed at the moment? We must stand with the rights of
religious minorities in Bangladesh. As the interim Government is calling for
protection of minorities and as minorities could successfully stage a
demonstration for their rights, it seems there is some space for the democratic
secular values which need to be appreciated and supported. Violation of
minority rights cannot be selective. We need to stand for it at home to show an
ideal to the neighbouring countries.
South Asia
as such has been going through a phase of sectarian nationalism. Sri Lanka’s,
sectarianism was so much visible a year ago. Pakistan is the major violator of
these minority rights and Myanmar is also toeing similar lines. Those indulging
in ‘take out swords’ and other hateful messages; get away with such tweets
without facing the charges of Hate speech and they promote divisiveness.
The
responsibility of those striving for pluralism and democracy is immense at the
moment. The hate mongers have erected huge machineries to do their divisive
job. More believers in peace and amity will have to come forward to combat this
Hate by widening their net and intensifying the process of fact check.
Hasina had
a dual character. At one level she was very dictatorial and at another;
pluralism survived to some extent. What is needed is the implementation of
pluralism and democracy both. The Bangladesh Govt. faces the challenge of
bringing both the components into practice. Prof Yunus’s visit to temple gives
lots of hope for secularism in Bangladesh. We need to strive for promoting
intercommunity relations, affirmative action for minorities and standing for
upholding the human rights of all, while shunning the Hate mongering against
any community.
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism