by Nava Thakuria

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led  Union government in New Delhi may be silent over the recent violence against the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, but its ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has come out with a strong statement against the continuing brutality on the minority community in the neighboring country. The RSS that functions as a Hindu nationalist umbrella organization reassures that the entire Hindu society stands firmly by persecuted minorities there in this challenging time.

In its Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal Baithak, presently going on at Dharwad (Karnataka), the RSS expresses its deep anguish over the recent outburst of violence on Hindu families in the south Asian country. A resolution, adopted in the three-day meeting (28 to 30 October 2021), terms the attacks on the temple and Sanatan families as a ‘part of larger conspiracy by Jihadi groups to further Islamisation’ of the populous country, which was born in 1971 with active supports from Indian armed forces.

The recent slew of communal violence that erupted (in Bangladesh) during the sacred festival of Durga Puja left many innocent Hindus killed, hundreds of others injured and rendered thousands of families homeless. Several girls and women belonging to the Hindu community were assaulted, temples and Durga Puja pandals were vandalised in a span of two weeks,” said the resolution.

It added that the arrest of some of the accused individuals, who spread fake news to incite communal frenzy in society, brought to light that the attacks were a well-orchestrated conspiracy of the radical Islamists. The frequent and targeted attacks are clearly a systematic effort to exterminate and uproot Hindu minorities whose population has witnessed a steep decline ever since the partition of Bharat, it added.

It may be mentioned that around twenty eight percent of the population of East Bengal was Hindu at the time of partition, which dwindled to about eight per cent now. The atrocities by radical Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami (Bangladesh) resulted in large scale migration of Hindus into Bharat since partition and specially during the 1971 freedom war. Those outfits continue to vitiate the communal harmony in Bangladesh creating insecurity to the minorities there.

The meeting in presence of Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat and Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosbale opines that the Bangla government in Dhaka should take stringent measures to prevent the mounting incidents of violence against the Hindu and Buddhist minorities in the country. Dhaka should also ensure that the perpetrators of anti-Hindu violence be handed severe punishment so that the Hindus will be assured about their secured dignified life availing their rights in Bangladesh.

In another aspect, the meeting decried the deafening silence of so-called human rights watchdogs and UN affiliated bodies calling upon the international community to come forward in raising their voices for the safety & security of the Bangladeshi Hindu, Buddhist and other minorities. It also cautioned that the rise of radical Islamist forces, whether in Bangladesh or in any other parts of the globe, would be a grave threat to democracy and human rights in all peace-loving nations.

The meet, where over 350 Karyakartas including Pranth Sanghchalak, Karyavah, Pracharak, Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini members, etc have participated, fervently appealed to the Centre to use all available diplomatic channels to communicate the concerns of the global Hindu community to Dhaka over the human rights violation there. It also acknowledged various Hindu organizations and institutions like ISKCON, RK Mission, Bharat Sevashram Sangha, VHP, etc for standing by the victims of Bangla violence and also supporting them.