India - Bangladesh:  Targeting Hindus

The port city of Chittagong in Bangladesh erupted in protests  Tuesday amid reports of attacks on Hindus by Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam cadres following the arrest of religious leader Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari. The case against him pertains to a group of Hindus who raised saffron flags, allegedly holding them higher than the Bangladesh national flag.

New Delhi has  issued a strong statement and the BJP’s Bengal unit announced protests.

About Das, the Hindu monk: Das, a leader of a fledgling Hindu group called Bangladesh ‘Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote’, has been holding huge rallies across Bangladesh since September to champion the rights of Hindu minorities in the Muslim-dominated country. The monk has connections with Iskcon.

Over 10,000 Hindus had gathered at the court premises where Das was produced. According to accounts shared by multiple eyewitnesses, the court premises became a battlefield after the police tried to remove Das’s supporters.

Prominent Hindu leaders in Bangladesh have  urged the Indian authorities to take up the matter with the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government amid reports that the attacks on minorities would not be limited to Chittagong city and its outskirts — home to over 25 lakh Hindus — and might spread to other minority-dominated areas such as Rangpur and Dhaka.

The Hindus overwhelmingly supported Hasina’s Awami League. Till now, India’s response has been restricted to a statement.

Opposition in India expresses concern: makes it a  political issue

Amid waves of sectarian clashes, Devadeep Purohit (Heads politics and policies bureau at The Telegraph) writes “diplomatic and political tensions between India and Bangladesh have spiked alarmingly. The Opposition joined the Indian government in voicing concern over multiple reports of attacks on the Hindu community in many parts of Bangladesh, but the new Dhaka regime helmed by Muhammed Yunus appeared to rubbish them.” In fact, insiders in the Yunus-led interim government “spewed venom against India before demanding a ban on Iskcon, to which the monk was connected till a few months ago.”

The Congress expressed deep concern over the 'atmosphere of insecurity’ being faced by religious minorities. The party’s media and publicity chairman, Pawan Khera, has urged India to prevail upon Bangladesh to ensure the security of the lives and properties of the Hindus.

The BJP unit of West Bengal has expressed serious concern. Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee left it to the Centre to deal with the issue before decrying the developments in Bangladesh.

The matter has drawn global attention and become a political issue in India, especially Bengal.

The anti-India brigade

Leading the anti-India brigade were Anti-discrimination Student Movement convener Hasnat Abdullah and July Shaheed Smriti Foundation general secretary Sarjis Alam who held India responsible for the protests by Hindu minorities in Chittagong over Das’s arrest.

‘It is becoming increasingly evident that radical elements within the interim government are trying to work behind the scenes to pursue an agenda that is detrimental to India... The environment is steadily deteriorating (in Bangladesh) and may deteriorate further,’ Harsh Vardhan Shringla, former Indian foreign secretary who was posted as the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, told The Telegraph.

According to him, the continued attacks on minorities since the fall of the Hasina government on August 5 captures a pattern of intolerance that is eroding secularism in Bangladesh.

'Not only the Jamaat-e-Islami, but also the Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and other elements that identify with al Qaida and the Islamic State, which want to establish an Islamic caliphate in Bangladesh, are taking control of the administration directly and indirectly,’ Shringla said.

Ground reports from Chittagong corroborated Shringla’s concerns as an aide of Das said at least five temples and 100 houses were vandalised and 10 houses were burnt by Islamists. Over 400 people were injured in attacks by the Islamists and about 100 of them are grievously hurt. About 30 youths were picked up for their alleged role in the clashes on the court premises.

Diplomatic fallout

The protests, by thousands of Hindus demand that the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government secures the safety of the country’s 20-million strong religious minorities — Hindus, Christians and Buddhists — who have been targeted by Islamist majoritarian mobs.  The demands  include speedy trials for cases of minority persecution; a minority protection law and a minority affairs ministry etc. In more than 2,000 documented acts of violence, The Hindu writes “at least nine minority members have been killed, ostensibly in protests targeting supporters of Ms. Hasina’s Awami League party; there is a visible communal angle too….”

New Delhi has been consistently vocal in asking Bangladesh to protect its minorities, and to refrain from such heavy-handed treatment of a revered figure. However, “due to the Modi’s government’s tense ties with the Yunus regime, these calls have not made much headway. In a stern pushback, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry expressed ‘dismay and hurt’ at India’s statements, accusing India of ‘misrepresenting’ the situation. The Bangladeshi government also defended the ‘specific charges’ against Mr. Das. If New Delhi wishes to ensure that minorities feel more secure in Bangladesh, The Hindu advises “it must attempt reopening bilateral channels of communication. India must recognise that its voice will only be respected if it is able to ensure protections and freedoms to all citizens in exactly the measure it advocates abroad, particularly in the immediate neighbourhood, where the risk of religious majoritarianism runs high.”

Convergence of political instability and economic fragility

Importantly, the unrest  is happening at a time when Bangladesh’s economic has been downgraded by credit rating agency Moody’s from B1 to B2 signalling a troubling convergence of political instability and economic fragility. With heightened political risks and lowered growth forecasts, the nation stands at a critical juncture where governance, economic resilience, and social cohesion must align to prevent deeper crises. The downgrade reflects more than just numbers; it is an indictment of the prevailing instability.

All Neighbours Article