As the world witnesses the blatant genocide against minority communities in Bangladesh, speaking with Sonakshi Datta of GoaChronicle in a detailed conversation, the Founder-President of the Secular Bangladesh Movement UK, Pushpita Gupta, unravelled hidden layers of the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Delving deep into the everyday persecution faced by minorities in Bangladesh, especially the Hindus, Pushpita answered the questions posed, and she urged organisations and people across the globe to come out and show their solidarity with the victims in Bangladesh.
Secular Bangladesh Movement UK Founder-President Pushpita Gupta
Could you provide an overview of the challenges being faced by Hindu and Christian minorities in Bangladesh during the Mohammad Yunus caretaker government? What forms of atrocities or discrimination are most prevalent?
When Sheikh Haseena fled the country on August 5, 2024, we had anticipated that the Hindus in Bangladesh would be attacked. The Hindus who were involved in Awami League politics are being attacked, and even those Hindus who have nothing to do with politics are being targeted as well. Even Hindu families who struggle to earn two square meals a day are being persecuted, along with those who have young girls within them.
The condition is such that Hindus are afraid to tell their names, and girls are not going to schools and universities. Along with this, minorities are also being attacked on a psychological level, and emotional attacks become more serious than the physical ones. People are being killed from within. For instance, the Hindus who had cleared tough civil service examinations and were just about to join office, are not being allowed to move ahead with their careers, and their names have been stricken off from the lists of those selected. The very dreams of Hindus are being shattered.
Could you shed light on specific incidents or patterns of violence and persecution against minority communities during this period? Were these acts of targeted violence or systemic discrimination?
The attacks are both acts of targeted violence and systematic discrimination. As I told you, Hindus not being allowed to take up the jobs they rightfully deserve is an example of systematic discrimination. Even Hindus already on senior level posts like DIG Police have been forced to resign or to retire early.
And in an instance of targeted violence, a 15-year-old Hindu boy, Utsav Mandal, was arrested and taken to the police station because he had replied to an insulting post against Hindus and Hinduism, after which he was dragged out of the police station by a group of Muslims, who beat him black and blue, right outside the police station, in front of the policemen and army officers, that too in broad daylight. After Mandal was beaten and the Muslims thought that he had been killed, an Islamist, on camera, declared that ‘the job had been done’.
Luckily, Utsav survived, but such atrocities were faced by him just because he made a comment against an inflammatory post. Torturing Hindus, vandalizing Hindu Mandirs and deities, arson, killings, loot, and rapes are all an everyday affair for the Hindus in Bangladesh. But not a single arrest is made in such cases.
Whole villages where Hindus lived have been attacked and destroyed, and the families who lived there are now in hiding because they are scared to go back to their own homes.
Similarly, in another incident, back from when the Awami League was in power, a fake Facebook profile was created in the name of a man who could not even write his name, and a controversial post was uploaded. After this, it was publicly declared on loudspeakers that the whole village in which the man lived had to be destroyed, and the village was attacked. But the said man did not even live in the village that was attacked, he lived somewhere far away. Hence, a fake pretext was created and used to attack the particular village, because it had a high Hindu population, and more 70 percent of the people left their homes and never returned.
Islamists in Bangladesh do not want Hindus to live in the country and want it to officially become a Muslim country. Every time, Hindus are linked with India and are asked to go there, even though they might have no links to India whatsoever. Muslims in the country do not even let Hindus pray at peace in their own homes.
How would you assess the caretaker government’s response to these incidents? Did they take adequate measures to ensure the safety and rights of minorities?
Dr Muhammad Yunus, in an interview, clearly said that the reports of attacks on minorities in Bangladesh were ‘India’s propaganda’, so with one statement, we could understand that if the chief advisor of the country is not acknowledging what is happening with the minorities, high expectations should not be kept.
Rather than being supported and helped by the caretaker government, the Hindus of Bangladesh are being harassed with fake police cases and blackmail. People are being implicated in even murder cases, based on false allegations. Even ISKCON’s Chinmoy Krishna Prabhu is facing fake cases against him.
There is absolutely no justice for Hindus or other minority communities in Bangladesh, and they are being persecuted every single day.
Are there gaps in the legal and institutional frameworks that allow such atrocities to occur? How effective are the judicial and law enforcement systems in addressing these issues?
There is of course a massive gap and this has become the culture of Bangladesh. What is happening is if Hindus become the victims of wrongdoing and go to the police station to make a complaint, they are not listened to and no report is filed. No institution or organization is cooperating with the Hindus.
There is no law and order in the country, and justice is a far cry. Hence, people are living in fear each day.
What role is the Secular Bangladesh Movement and other civil society organizations playing during this time? Are there efforts to document atrocities, provide relief, or advocate for justice?
We at Secular Bangladesh Movement UK are being fighting for the rights of minorities since 2003, and I try to spread awareness through advocating for their rights, speaking with governments in power, and attending seminars in the House of Parliament, and reaching out to the United Nations.
This time though, after August 5, 2024, I have witnessed a lot of organisations coming forward to speak about minorities in Bangladesh, which has never happened before. Similarly, while Bangladeshi media is not reporting on these atrocities, others, like the Indian media, are covering a lot of these issues. Therefore, at least some relief is felt by the victims that they are being talked about.
And because my organization is based in the UK, we are in a safe place. If we raise our voice about something, we are not going to be arrested the next day, or I am not going to be killed the following day. Hence, we are trying to raise awareness so that the world knows what actually is happening in Bangladesh.
But in terms of aid, I do not think they are getting the required support, there are innumerable families who cannot even go out to work. Many activists, who are the sole earning members of their families, who had come out on the streets to demand the rights of the Hindus though peaceful protests, are now either in jail or are facing false allegations. Who is going to provide for their families now?
This is where international organisations should come forward in order to support such victims financially and legally.
Is the international community acknowledging or responding to these issues during the caretaker government’s rule?
This is the first time I have seen things like a debate taking place in the Parliament of the UK revolving around this matter, or the Indian media reporting the issues at such a large scale, including other countries talking about the atrocities. A lot of positive steps are hence being taken by organisations and communities outside Bangladesh. But this is clearly not enough.
On the other hand, what I am totally against of is organisations and activists going to Bangladesh and becoming complacent what the government and authorities pose as the reality. Yes, going to Dhaka and speaking with Dr Muhammad Yunus is necessary, but what about the remote villages of the country and the atrocities faced by the poor and innocent? Who is going to cover that and bring that to light?
Apart from just doing their job, what is required of organisations, journalists, and others going to Bangladesh, is to cover the issues in an unbiased and complete manner, so that the ground reality comes out through genuinely created reports.
What measures would you recommend to ensure the safety, dignity, and rights of Hindu and Christian minorities in Bangladesh moving forward? How could NGOs, governments, and international organizations collaborate to prevent such atrocities in the future?
First things first, a democratic election, under the presence of international organisations like the UN, should take place in Bangladesh, because historically, what has always happened there is no matter which party wins the election, violence ensues.
Before the election, we need a set of efficient intellectuals to form a caretaker government in Bangladesh. And after a proper government comes to power, it should bring together the minority communities, sit with them, and ensure their rights and freedom. Intervention from international communities and organisations would be needed for the same as well.
