Global Hindu Temple Network-America
Shared information, Shared awareness, Shared consciousness, Collective action
Honorable Jean-Pierre Lacroix
Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations
United Nations
1 UN Plaza, New York, USA 10017
Dear Under-Secretary-General Lacroix
Re: Atrocities against Hindus, Christians and Buddhists in Bangladesh
We write as a diverse coalition of non-governmental organizations and individuals who are scholars, religious leaders, human rights advocates, and civil rights leaders to express our strong concerns regarding human rights violations and atrocities against religious minorities in Bangladesh, particularly since July 2024. We respectfully urge you to require Bangladesh to honor the United Nations Human Rights Declaration and comply with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) signed and ratified by it.
We are thankful to His Excellency the Secretary General Guterres for sending an OHCHR fact-finding mission to Bangladesh. The mandate of the Mission is limited to reviewing incidents of violence between 1st July to 15th August 2024 which should be expanded to cover the violence until the end of October 2024.
The attached report highlights the violence, rapes, murders, destruction of homes and businesses, destruction of temples, and stopping religious minorities from observance of their religious rites. Since 5th August 2024 when the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was deposed, more than 50 Hindus have been murdered in cold blood, 12 minor girls from minorities were gang-raped, several women have reported being brutalized, homes burnt down, temples destroyed, and religious minorities forced to flee. Bangladesh army and police have remained mute spectators allowing rampaging mobs to target religious minorities with impunity. A young man was lynched inside a police station in the presence of Bangladesh army who were complicit in persecution of religious minorities.
Religious minorities face systematic persecution and violence, and their religious freedom is severely restricted by the government through discriminatory laws, inaction and often complicity by the State and its institutions. The government’s apathy toward large-scale anti-minority violence by radical militant organizations has allowed such groups to operate with impunity. Persecution of Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, has been going for over five decades since independence of Bangladesh in 1971 and their population has seen a genocidal proportion of decline from more than 20% in 1971 to less than 8% in 2020.
On 4th November Bangladesh army and police instigated attacks against Hindus in Chittagong and tried to destroy evidence by destroying CCTV cameras. A question for your consideration is: Should the UN Department of Peace Operations deploy Bangladesh army as peacekeepers when it is complicit in violence against religious minorities in its own country. It is incumbent on the Department of Peace Operations headed by you to do its due diligence of the Bangladesh armed forces and not deploy them as Peacekeepers. We urge you to launch a transparent public enquiry into its conduct during the recent genocide of religious minorities in Bangladesh. We will appreciate if you can designate a senior official from your office for follow up by us.
Having worked as the first Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All from 2013 to 2015, I have seen firsthand the impact of the moral imprimatur of the United Nations. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and to protecting human rights of vulnerable minorities in Bangladesh. Should you need additional information or other materials on this subject please do not hesitate to contact me (mgulatiwb@gmail.com).
Respectfully,
Mohinder Gulati
President
Global Hindu Temple Network America
+1-202-875-1253
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Attachment: REPORT
Bangladesh
Religious Minorities in Bangladesh: Killed, Converted, Forced to Flee.
A factual ground report prepared by a multidisciplinary research team on the unabated violence and atrocities against religious minorities since the regime change in August 2024.
We Urge Immediate Intervention to Stop the Ongoing Genocide of Religious Minorities in Bangladesh
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
___________________________________________________________________
This report, compiled by a multidisciplinary team and based inter-alia on reports from the field, documents the alarming escalation of violence and discrimination against religious minorities in Bangladesh following the regime change in August 2024. The findings reveal a disturbing pattern of genocide, perpetuated by extremist groups and facilitated by systemic impunity.
The persecution of religious minorities has continued unabated, with some intermittent cessation, since the birth of Bangladesh leading to a precipitous, genocidal proportion of decline in population of minorities.
Key Highlights
Targeted Violence: Religious minorities face widespread persecution, including attacks on temples, forced conversions to Islam, and land grabbing.
Impunity: Perpetrators operate with near-total immunity, with little to no legal action by the authorities.
Government Complicity: The interim government, which came into power through a military-Islamist coalition, has failed to address, or has actively supported, these atrocities.
Displacement and Economic Exploitation: Thousands have been displaced, and minorities face economic ruin through extortion and property destruction.
Atrocities
Over 200 Hindu temples have been vandalized, numerous homes destroyed, and forced conversions of Christians and Hindus have occurred.
The report details sexual violence, murders, and rapes across several districts, with over 266 serious cases of violence reported by early October 2024.
Historical Context
The report also traces a long history of oppression of minorities in Bangladesh, exacerbated since the country’s independence in 1971. Since the regime change, violence has intensified, continuing the pattern of persecution seen over the last five decades.
Recommendations
International Intervention: The United Nations, United States, and European Union must demand Bangladesh to protect minorities. We urge:
United Nations to (i) expand the scope of fact-finding mission to expand the period of enquiry until mid-October and make the report public within one month of conclusion of the mission, (ii) Investigate the role of Bangladesh army and its security agencies for their complicity in atrocities against religious minorities before they are commissioned for peacekeeping operations
United States Congress to demand aid from USAID and State Department be conditional on monitorable indicators of protection of religious minorities
Accountability: Bangladesh should be required to ensure timely investigations and prompt prosecution of those responsible for these crimes.
Protection Mechanisms: United Nations should ask Bangladesh to establish safe zones and security measures for vulnerable communities. Provide aid to displaced minorities and support economic empowerment.
International Financial Support: International Financial Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank (IFIs), before extending any financial support, including budgetary support, for education, healthcare, financial sector, infrastructure, should include monitorable metrics for inclusion of minorities, particularly girls and women of religious minorities. The local offices of IFIs should dedicate a staff from minorities to monitor and report compliance with requirements of inclusion, social justice, and gender justice as it relates to minorities.
Socially Conscious Private Corporate Sector: We appeal to the good conscience of international brand names (H&M, Zara, Walmart, Gap, Target, Tommy Hilfiger & Calvin Klein, Levis, North Face & Timberland, Albercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren, L L Beans) importing ready-made garments from Bangladesh to demand their vendors and suppliers to demonstrate inclusion of religious minorities in their operations and treated with equality and dignity.
The genocide of minorities in Bangladesh demands urgent attention, immediate intervention and swift action. The international community must hold the Government of Bangladesh wholly accountable for protecting its citizens and preventing further atrocities and demand compliance with its obligations under United Nations Human Rights Declaration, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[1] (ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights[2] (ICESCR), United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child[3] , and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women[4] (CEDAW) signed and ratified by it.
The International Financial Institutions must comply with their own gender and social justice policies before lending to Bangladesh. We also appeal to the socially conscious corporations importing from Bangladesh that they require the Bangladesh government to certify that it is in compliance with its international obligations of protecting the women, children and religious minorities.
1. Purpose of the Report
We Urge the International Community to Review, Reflect, and Act Immediately to Save the Lives of Religious Minorities in Bangladesh.
1. The purpose of this report is to bring to your attention, and urge action, to address the unending atrocities on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. These atrocities have been going on since the tumultuous birth of Bangladesh in 1971, with intermittent cessation whenever the country had a strong democratically elected government that focused on economic growth, poverty alleviation, and securing the gains of development through control of communal conflicts. Unfortunately, on 5th August 2024 a democratically elected government led by Prime Minister Ms. Sheikh Hasina was unseated through street violence, student agitations, supported by vested interests, political opposition, Islamist organizations such as Jamaait-e-Islami, and the Bangladesh military.
2. A Military-Islamist government fronted by an interim arrangement led by Prof Mohammed Yunus, a micro-finance expert and Nobel Laureate, has taken over with lingering question marks on the authorizing environment and accountability of its “civilian” leadership. The regime-change unleashed targeted violence against political opponents and provided cover for launching atrocities against Hindus, their places of worship, their properties and also to other minorities, fitting into the undesired pattern of most agitations and protests in volatile Bangladesh.
3. The severity of violent atrocities is more pronounced in the rural areas where Hindu population has dwindled, in the last five decades, to a very small minority. This report provides a succinct overview of the most recent developments, documented atrocities and slow-motion genocide ongoing for over five decades, and suggestions for immediate action by the responsible international community and other stakeholders in peace, justice and human rights.
4. The report is in five sections: Section 1 explains the purpose of the report, Section 2 provides the context of recent political developments in Bangladesh resulting in the current turmoil; Section 3 documents the atrocities since the regime change on 5th August 2024; Section 4 demonstrates the systematic pattern of atrocities since the birth of Bangladesh, particularly after its declaration as Islamic Republic; and Section 5 is an appeal to the international community to act urgently to stop this ongoing genocide being committed by Bangladesh.
2. Recent Violent Political Developments in Bangladesh
5. Bangladesh went through national elections in January 2024 which was boycotted by the main opposition party (BNP) that had been already stymied by the ruling party (Awami League) through a series of coercive actions. A few smaller parties participated as well and about 30% of the seats were won by independent candidates against Awami League, the ruling party. BNP-led protests in the run-up to elections turned violent[5] and partly affected the voter turnout. Ms. Sheikh Hasina, leader of Awami League, won the election to become the Prime Minister for the fourth time. However, absence of meaningful political opposition put a legitimate question mark on the fairness and transparency of the whole electoral process. A high voltage student protest, ostensibly against job reservation for families of freedom fighters (those who fought for creation of Bangladesh in 1971), quickly morphed into a broader protest in which political opposition and banned fundamentalist organization Jamaait-e-Islami joined to exacerbate it further. The post-Covid decline in Bangladesh's economy only added further fuel to the discontent.
6. In June, students took to the streets of Bangladesh, demanding an end to a policy that allocated up to 30% of government jobs to the descendants of veterans from the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan. Protesters argued that this policy disproportionately benefited supporters of Prime Minister Hasina’s Awami League, the party that played a pivotal role in the liberation struggle, and that these individuals were already part of the country's elite. As a result of this quota system and similar reservations for marginalized groups, only 44% of civil service positions were awarded based on merit. Although the government had already taken steps to reduce the job reservations, a High Court ruling deemed the government's decision unconstitutional, reinstating the quota system. This led to further unrest among students, fuelling their calls for reform[6]. Gradually the youth led agitation grew violent, and the police and authorities handled it in a heavy-handed manner resulting in several student deaths in police firings. Job quota protests paused after Bangladesh Supreme Court scrapped the job quota on 21st July. However, the protestors were back on the street within a week with added demands to force the resignation of PM Sheikh Hasina from office.
7. On 5th August, Chief of Armed Forces of Bangladesh formally intervened and urged PM Sheikh Hasina to resign, and she was allowed to leave for India immediately. As soon as Sheikh Hasina left the country, law and order in Bangladesh broke down, violent mobs were everywhere, police and armed forces pulled back and did not stop the outraging mobs that went on a rampage, rioting and unleashing violence against minorities that peaked in almost all rural areas.
3. Documented Atrocities Against Minorities Upon Regime Change since August 2024.
8. Bangladesh has had a disappointing track record of turning any protest into an opportunity for committing atrocities against minorities, particularly Hindus. Unhindered street mobs unleashed after the fall of Sheikh Hasina government on 5th August were no different. Most of the murders, plundering, rapes, burning of homes, destruction of temples, happened in the rural areas or small towns where Hindu population has been dwindling for the last fifty years and they are now in a highly miniscule minority. Between 5th August and 1st October over 266 serious cases of atrocities against Hindus have been reported. Of the several murders, most heinous was that of an innocent four-year old boy whose throat was slit. Hindu homes and temples were targeted for looting, destruction and setting on fire. Girls and women have been threatened and forced to convert. Hindu teachers, University Professors, and government officials were forced to resign by the unruly mobs threatening violence.
9. Two civil society organizations CaresGlobal and World Hindu Federation report[7] “Sexual Violence and Atrocities were committed against Hindu women in 53 districts in Bangladesh since exit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024. Over 50 Hindus have been murdered in cold blood, Of these 15 Hindus were identified [Haradhan Roy, Councillor of Rangpur, Pradeep Kumar Bhowmick (Communist Leader), Santosh Saha (ASI Police), Kamal Roy(Driver in Rangpur), Sanat Kumar, Pranob Ghosh, Biswajit Sadhu, Ashim Kumar, Utpal Mandal(all 5 men in Satkhira) Moloi Mandal, Rajeshwar Das, Mrinal Kanti Chatterjee, Basudev Das, Sumon Gharami, Santosh Kumar Several brutalized rapes of Hindu women have been recorded. From Pirojpur district, we received testimonials from women who were gang raped and brutally tortured by Islamists, 12 Hindu girls were kidnapped and raped as recorded by our team between 5th and 13th August. In several districts, more than 61 Hindu temples were vandalized, looted and burnt; more than 295 Hindu houses vandalized, looted and burnt; more than 183 Hindu business shops vandalized, looted and burnt. Hindu Political leaders are running for their lives as Islamic terrorists are hunting them. Many Hindu professors and government officials have been forced to resign by the radical anarchists, thus publicly discriminating against Hindus and Buddhists only for their religion. A web portal called HinduVoice.in has recorded more detailed incidents from authentic sources.
10. Unlike in the past, Global media covered the stories of atrocities against minorities in conjunction with the coverage of regime change in Bangladesh. BBC South Asia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eguaYBIieuo provided evidence from the field and Amnesty International issued an appeal to the interim government to protect the minorities[8]. Many mainstream media journalists[9] and independent analysts have provided robust evidence of mobs going on a rampage, unchecked by police and army, and robbing, plundering, killing at will. The violence was mainly targeted at minorities, and some political workers of the deposed Awami League party[10].
i. A 15-year-old boy Utshob Mondal was lynched by Islamist mobs in Khulna on 4th September 2024 in a police station in the presence of the army[11].
ii. A schoolteacher murdered and his wife and daughter assaulted in Indurkhani Upzilla, Pirozpur District on 6th August 2024, wife and daughter were later killed on 7th August.
iii. A four-year old killed by slitting his throat in Fukhra Union, Gajrajya Saflidanga, Kashiani Upzilla, Gopalganj on 15th August 2024
iv. On 15th and 16th August several houses of Hindus set on fire in Thakurgaon.
11. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP), a prominent organisation advocating for minority rights, issued an open letter to Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, detailing 205 incidents of persecution across 52 districts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, according to The Dhaka Tribune newspaper[12]. In a Press Conference on 19th September 2024 at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity’s Nasrum Hamid auditorium, BHBCOP presented details of 2010 incidents of communal violence between 4th August and 20th August in 68 out of 76 districts in Bangladesh. Nirmal Rozario, Vice President of BHBCOP said that Khulna Division was the worst affected where four women are reported to have been raped[13]. What has been most disheartening is the whitewashing of violence against minorities by the Head of the Interim Government Prof Mohd. Yunus by calling it exaggerated and making promises he cannot keep of providing security to the minorities[14]. The situation was obviously so dire that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) sent a delegation to Dhaka for a month-long fact-finding mission[15]. United States Congressmen denounced the atrocities against religious minorities and urged the Government of Bangladesh to take urgent action to stop this violence.
12. There has been a systematic effort, often ignored or clandestinely supported by the local politicians, administration, and police, by the fundamentalist Islamists to force Hindus to leave and sell their homes and assets at throwaway prices. More often than not, Hindus’ lands and assets are simply grabbed by the local musclemen and Islamists. In October 2021, riots were engineered by Islamists by mischievously placing a Quran in a Durga Puja celebration and making it viral on social media.
13. The Vatican News published on 10th July 2024 an annual report by the Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) for the period July 2023 to June 2024 detailing 1,045 cases of violence against minorities that included 25 gangrapes, 45 deaths, 10 attempted murders, 36 death threats[16]. The reports states A total of 479 people were attacked, physically abused or injured, and 11 were victims of extortion. The violence included 25 gang rapes, while 12 people were abducted, went missing or forced to convert. Eight were arrested on false charges of blasphemy. The report further states 70-75 percent of the violence is centred on land grabbing, often under the influence of political parties and with the complicity of government agencies. The findings reported 47 incidents of land and homestead encroachment and 45 cases of land occupation, eviction activities, and threats, as well as 11 threats or attempts of expulsion.
14. Rana Dasgupta, Secretary of BHBCUC noted that the influence of extremist groups is growing in all areas, including the government administration, politics, and society, making minority communities more insecure and distrustful, forcing many of their members to leave the country. Before the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence against Pakistan, the minority population was about 19 percent. “Now it has come down to 8.6 percent,” Dasgupta said, cited by Asianews agency.
4. A History of Unending Atrocities Against Minorities since Tumultuous Birth of Bangladesh
15. The oppression of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh has been a constant feature in its history, both when it was still East Pakistan and since independence in 1971. According to the official 1951 census for East Bengal (East Pakistan) Hindus consisted of 22 percent of the total population of the province, a number that had been depleted to 15 percent by 1991 and in the 2011 census were numbered at just 8.5 percent[17]. Starting as a secular nation under its Constitution of 1971, it gradually turned fundamentalist Islamic State. A 1988 amendment (Eighth Amendment) of its Constitution made Bangladesh an Islamic State.
Figure 1: Genocidal proportion of the decline in the population of religious minorities
16. The most explicit and officially tolerated means of depriving Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians of their lands and properties has been the use of the Vested Property Act of 1965. Hindus’ hopes that on gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971 the law would be repealed, were dashed when the law was instead further strengthened in 1974. A legacy of the Vested Property Act is the migration of millions of Hindus to India in the face of land grabbing and displacement from their homes. On average more than 600 Hindus have been leaving Bangladesh every day. Scapegoating and targeting of Hindus has occurred with every protest and after almost every national election in Bangladesh. Framing their persecution as primarily political overlooks the horrors of communal discrimination at play.
17. The violence against Hindus by Muslim majority in Bangladesh has been going on since the pre-partition period. In October 1946, Noakhali district of the then Bengal erupted into a communal frenzy against Hindus. On November 4, 1946, the House of Commons of British Parliament was told that the dead people in Noakhali and contiguous Tipperah districts had not yet been counted. Thousands of Hindu women were abducted and married to Muslims against their will.. Hindu men were compelled to grow beard and recite Quran Hindu temples desecrated. (Louis Fischer in The Life of Mahatma Gandhi).
18. As Spring ended in March 1971, the Pakistan army turned East Pakistan into a massive killing field for Hindus. The Pakistan army launched a barbaric pogrom for complete cleansing of the Bengali and Hindu identity of East Pakistan and called it Operation Searchlight. Since the days of Holocaust, this genocide orchestrated by Pakistan army was the most diabolic ethnic cleansing. Three million civilians were killed, 200,000 to 300,000 women were raped[18]. Anthony Mascrenhas, then Pakistan correspondent of Sunday Times, London was given a chance to be embedded with
19. the 9th Division of Pakistan army. He wrote “For six days I travelled with the officers of the 9th Division headquartered at Comilla. I witnessed at close quarters the extent of the killing. I saw Hindus, hunted from village to village and door to door, shot off-hand after a cursory “short-arm inspection” showed they were uncircumcised”.
20. Since the birth of Bangladesh in 1971, Hindus have seen only fleeting moments of peace in the last five decades. The promise of religious co-existence started falling apart in 1978 after assassination of its founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Violence against Hindus has been more severe and persistent in rural areas compared to big towns of Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, and Khulna. Bangladesh was declared an Islamic State in 1988. A government order in 1992 directed commercial banks to control large withdrawal of funds by Hindus from their deposit accounts and restrict business loans to them[19]. In 2013, anti-Hindu riots erupted after Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Sayeedi was convicted of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal, the 2016 Black Diwali and the 2021 Durga Puja both saw violence triggered by social media blasphemy allegations. 1971 has not yet ended for Hindus of Bangladesh. If anything, it has gotten worse in August 2024.
5. What Can the International Community Do to Save Hindus in Bangladesh from Immediate Danger.
No circumstances can or should normalize genocide, even when it manifests as a protracted, slow-motion slaughter, as witnessed in Bangladesh over the past five decades. This follows the horrific religious cleansing that occurred during the 1971 war, resulting in the deaths of three million people and over two hundred thousand rapes. When we begin to rationalize such atrocities as some Western media outlets and Professor Mohammed Yunus, the leader of the interim government, have shamefully done, we risk losing the very battle for human rights and gender justice. Focusing solely on the current regime change while neglecting the daily violence faced by minorities over the last fifty years only exacerbates their suffering and emboldens extremist factions. We urge the international community to leverage its influence to compel Bangladesh to safeguard the rights and dignity of its nearly extinct minority communities, ensuring their security and access to justice. More specifically:
The Key Role of The United Nations, United States of America, and the European Union
1. We are grateful to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for sending a delegation to Bangladesh to investigate violation of human rights between 1st July and 15th August 2024. Its scope of enquiry should cover the period until the end of September and the report should be made public within one month. This report should form the basis of discussion in the UN Security Council on the security situation in the region._____________________________________________________________
2. Any financial support to the government should include monitorable metrics on protection and inclusion of minorities, repeal and amendment of highly discriminatory laws such as the Vested Property Law, special tribunals for investigation and trial of crimes against minorities.
3. Endorse and support the demands made by the minorities:
a) Bangladesh should set up a Minority Commission with statutory powers to subpoena, and order independent investigation and trial of crimes against minorities.
b) 10% of seats in Parliament to be reserved for minorities (and to be rotated across all constituencies).
c) Enactment of a Minority Protection Law that would also provide legal mandate for constitution of a Minority Commission.
d) Special Tribunals to be set up for speedy trial of crimes against minorities.
e) Restoration of land, houses, and assets of minorities illegally grabbed by forcing them to flee, and reparations for houses, businesses, and temples destroyed by mobs.
The United States Congress
a) Congressional Oversight: The United States Congress must urgently exercise its oversight authority to scrutinize the actions of the State Department and USAID in Bangladesh, ensuring that radical Islamist groups do not benefit from American economic and political support.
b) Protection of Minority Rights: Policies must be implemented to safeguard the rights of minorities in Bangladesh, with oversight from U.S.-based Hindu non-profits and aid organizations to ensure accountability.
c) De-radicalization of Educational Curriculum: A thorough de-radicalization of Bangladesh’s Islamic education curriculum should be established as a prerequisite for U.S. economic aid.
d) Timeline and Demographic Preservation: A clear timeline of goals should be set to prevent the demographic decline of Hindu and Buddhist minorities in Bangladesh. Should these efforts fail, the establishment of autonomous designated zones should be considered, similar to the recent precedents in Kosovo and the Native American reservations in the United States.
International Financial Institutions (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, IMF)
a) All financial support, including budgetary support, for education, healthcare, financial sector, infrastructure, should include monitorable metrics for inclusion of minorities, particularly girls and women of religious minorities. The local offices of IFIs should dedicate a staff from minorities to monitor and report compliance with requirements of inclusion, social justice, and gender justice as it relates to minorities. In the long term, the demographic health of the religious minorities must become a metric of measurement of their well-being.
The Socially Conscious Private Sector
a) Buyers of goods from Bangladesh: please require your vendors and suppliers to demonstrate inclusion of religious minorities and just and equitable treatment in wages and working conditions. Vendors and suppliers must be vetted for links to proscribed radical Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami, Tablighi Jamaat and their affiliates as defined by the Department of States of the United States.
Annex 1
Crisis in Bangladesh
Response across US between August 4 and October 20
In a powerful demonstration of bipartisan concern and responding to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Bangladesh, several lawmakers from both Democratic and Republican parties have condemned the violence against Hindus and other religious minorities. Six senators from Senate Foreign Relations Committee and some Congressmen have written to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for hearing on the situation.
Letter by the Senators from Senate Foreign Relations Committee to Secretary Blinken.
Letter by Congressman Shri Thanedar to Secretary Blinken
Condemnation by Congressman Rich McCormick at a Congressional briefing.
Letter by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi to Secretary Blinken
Congressman Krishnamoorthi wrote a second letter to the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging him for a Briefing before October 31st.
Statement by Congressman Pat Fallon
Congressman Ro. Khanna condemns violence targeting Hindus
Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) also voiced his concerns publicly on Twitter, emphasizing the need for the interim government to maintain law and order while protecting vulnerable communities.
Congressman Thomas Souzzi, wrote to Secretary Blinken requesting State Department to depute someone to brief his constituents.
Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke (D-NY) wrote to Secretary Blinken condemning violence in Bangladesh against religious minorities and asking its armed police Rapid Action Battalion to be held accountable.
Annex 2
(i) Elections. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/bangladeshs-election-widely-boycotted-or-widely-accepted/
(ii) BBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eguaYBIieuo attacks on Hindus and Christians
(iii) Historical context. https://minorityrights.org/communities/hindus/
(iv) Amnesty International Appeal. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/08/bangladesh-interim-government-must-take-immediate-actions-to-protect-hindu-and-other-minority-communities/
(v) Vatican News (report until June 2024). https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-07/1045-cases-of-violence-on-minorities-recorded-in-bangladesh.html
(vi) US State Department https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/bangladesh/
(vii) Al Jazeera 11 August 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/11/new-bangladesh-government-says-working-to-resolve-attacks-on-minorities
(viii) Devpolicy blog 21 Aug 2024. https://devpolicy.org/the-cycle-of-violence-against-minorities-in-bangladesh-20240821/#:~:text=The%20Bangladesh%20National%20Hindu%20Grand,killed%20and%2039%20women%20raped.
(ix) India Today 17 Sept 2024 on UN visit to Bangladesh. https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/bangladesh-hindus-minorities-in-united-nations-human-rights-probe-2600994-2024-09-17
(x) AP News 13 August 2024 https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-violence-hindu-sheikh-hasina-85fe6619c38e1b07e407441cb054a74e
(xi) Lowly Institute 2021 https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/minorities-under-attack-bangladesh
(xii) CNN 18 on lynching of Utshob Mondal in Khulna. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogFzogo12Fc
(xiii) Center for Integrated and Holistic Studies. Hindu Genocide Unfolding in Bangladesh. Hindu Genocide Unfolding in Bangladesh
(xv) “Being Hindu in Bangladesh: The Untold Story” Deep Halder and Avishek Biswas https://www.google.com/books/edition/Being_Hindu_In_Bangladesh/-MbbEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
(xvi) “The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide” Gary J Bass https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Blood_Telegram/9PnNZTp3BQYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
(xvii) “Bengal’s Hindu Holocaust” Prof Sachi Dastidar, Distinguished Professor, Department of Politics, Economics, and Law, State University of New York.
[1] Signed and ratified by Bangladesh on 6th September 2000.
[2] Signed and ratified by Bangladesh on 5th October 1998.
[3] Signed and ratified by Bangladesh on 26th January1990/3rd August 1990
[4] Signed and ratified by Bangladesh on 6th November 1984.
[5] Gautam Lahiri, Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/bangladeshs-election-widely-boycotted-or-widely-accepted/
[6] Aniruddh Ghosal https://apnews.com/article/sheikh-hasina-bangladesh-students-gen-z-protests-2723012c6177c2feafd1e81c20c68309
[7] A report prepared by the World Hindu Federation and CaresGlobal www.cares-global.org
[8] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/08/bangladesh-interim-government-must-take-immediate-actions-to-protect-hindu-and-other-minority-communities/
[9] AP News 13 August 2024 https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-violence-hindu-sheikh-hasina-85fe6619c38e1b07e407441cb054a74e
[10] Devpolicy blog 21 Aug 2024. https://devpolicy.org/the-cycle-of-violence-against-minorities-in-bangladesh20240821/#:~:text=The%20Bangladesh%20National%20Hindu%20Grand,killed%20and%2039%20women%20raped
[11] CNN 18 on lynching of Utsav Mondal in Khulna. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogFzogo12Fc
[12] https://indianexpress.com/article/world/bangladesh-hindus-stage-protest-demand-protection-amid-attacks-on-temples-9506989/
[13] https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/over-2000-communal-attacks-on-hindus-and-other-religious-minorities-in-bangladesh-between-4-and-20-august-minority-rights-group
[14] Al Jazeera 11 August 2024. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/11/new-bangladesh-government-says-working-to-resolve-attacks-on-minorities
[15] India Today 17 Sept 2024 on UN visit to Bangladesh. https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/bangladesh-hindus-minorities-in-united-nations-human-rights-probe-2600994-2024-09-17
[16] Vatican News (10th July 2024). https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-07/1045-cases-of-violence-on-minorities-recorded-in-bangladesh.html
[17] Minority Rights Group https://minorityrights.org/communities/hindus/
[18] Shahidul Hasan Khokhon “Bangladesh: from Bloodbath to Birth”.
[19] “Being Hindu in Bangladesh: The Untold Story” Deep Halder and Avishek Biswas, Harper Collins April 2023.
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