Centre should ensure safety of Hindus being persecuted in Bangladesh: BJP MP- NSP NEWS

People gather at the entrance of the Parliament Building a day after the resignation of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh on August 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) said the government should ensure the safety of the Hindu community in Bangladesh, who are being persecuted after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, as was done by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1970-71.

Speaking with The Hindu, Mr. Sarkar said he had been receiving information about the houses and temples of the Hindu community being targeted by mobsters in Bangladesh. “ISKCON temple and a Kali Bari has been vandalised, lives of Hindus and their properties are not safe, women are being molested,…there is no sign of abatement,” he said.

“This time, it all started as a students’ movement but has become an anti-India campaign. Although there is now a military rule ostensibly, but Jamaat-e-Islami [Bangladesh] is running the show from behind the scene, and is causing all the destruction,” said Mr. Sarkar.

Stating that incidents of violence were taking place in 34 districts of Bangladesh, including Noakhali, Mr. Sarkar said he had received several calls desperately seeking help. When asked if he would urge the government to give shelter to the Hindus who cross over to India, he said the Narendra Modi government had already made a provision for extending citizenship to the persecuted members of minority communities under the Citizenship Amendment Act.

As violence continued in Bangladesh, a Border Security Force (BSF) official said no mass movement of people from across the border had been reported yet.

Reviews situation

BSF Director-General Daljit Singh Chawdhary visited the “highly sensitive” Ranaghat Border outpost in West Bengal where he reviewed the current situation in Bangladesh and discussed operational strategies to deal with illegal infiltration and smuggling, a statement by the BSF said. “The Director General emphasised the need to increase vigilance and take effective measures to deal with these challenges,” it said. He also visited the Integrated Check Post at Petrapole.

“The primary objective is to assess the tactical and operational preparedness and deployment strategies of BSF at these key locations in view of the recent developments in Bangladesh….He addressed the officers and jawans in Sainik Sammelan, in which the current situation in Bangladesh was discussed and clear instructions were given for preparedness to cope with any situation. He underlined the importance of border preparedness in view of challenging conditions in Bangladesh and urged the officers and jawans to remain alert and prepared for any emerging situation,” the BSF said.

India and Bangladesh share 4,096-km border along the States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura. A high alert has been sounded along the Bangladesh border and the BSF “has received strict instruction from the government to not allow anyone into the country without valid documents.”