Photo courtesy OHCHR
By Nava Thakuria*
After five decades of independence, Bangladesh has turned into a country of intolerance towards minorities. Recently, Amnesty International urged the Bangladeshi authorities to conduct a ‘swift, thorough, impartial and independent investigation’ into the crimes against Hindus, Ahmadiyas and other minority communities and associated incidents of mob violence to ensure that those responsible are prosecuted in fair and transparent trials, without resorting to the death penalty.
Bangladesh has remained in the international media for many days now but for the wrong reasons. The interim government headed by Professor Muhammad Yunus must ensure the rights to equality, non-discrimination and bodily integrity of everyone and bring an end to the revenge culture of attacking political opponents that Bangladesh has witnessed in the past.
Also read: Yunus assures Modi of security to Hindus in Bangladesh
The United Nations Human Rights is also sending a fact-finding team to Bangladesh to investigate widespread human rights abuses in the populous country during the students’ agitation from July 1 to the first week of August 2024. This would be the first time that the UN would be sending a fact-finding mission to Bangladesh since its independence in 1971.
“Law enforcement agencies need to receive clear instructions and training on the use of force, in line with international human rights standards. They must protect populations at risk against any retaliatory or revenge violence, including minority communities,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk observed on August 16, 2024.
Along with the Muslim-majority nation with over 170 million population, the meagre Hindus are an oppressed community in Bangladesh.
Recently, when Bangladesh’s former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha came to the media and asserted that he was victimised by the Awami League-led government in Dhaka, it was clear that the first (and only till now) Hindu Chief Justice was targeted by the recently ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. After he was forced to resign as the sitting Chief Justice in 2017 and leave Bangladesh by her autocratic regime, Sinha was compelled to live in exile for all the years. But the changing political situation in Bangladesh, after Hasina had fled to India and Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus took charge of the interim government, Sinha now finds hope to return to his motherland.
Recently speaking to an Indian news channel, Justice Sinha firmly stood behind Dr Yunus and hoped that the banker turned global preacher for social business would be able to stabilize the country and ensure security for minority communities. Congratulating Dr Yunus for assuming the new responsibility, Sinha opined that the first responsibility of the interim government should be to restore the law and order situation. The second priority should be to establish the rule of law. The third was to reconstruct the financial institutions and recover billions of Taka misappropriated by some supporters of Hasina. Another priority should be total reform in the higher judiciary of Bangladesh.
Justice Sinha strongly believes that Bangladesh will never slip into the hands of Islamists if the rule of law is established on time. He recalled how several judges boycotted a sitting Chief Justice following the direction of Hasina. Sinha also argued that many judges and judicial officers in Bangladesh are discharging their duties with all professional integrity and commitment to the law and justice.
Professor Yunus has thanked the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for supporting the movement of Bangladeshi students for their legitimate rights. He firmly stated that the protection of every citizen remains a top priority for the caretaker government. A promise probably the octogenarian social thinker will not overlook!
Even though Bangladesh was born in 1971 with a strong commitment to the Bengali language and culture, it could not unite all the Bangladeshis for a longer period. Linguistic unity has its own limitations and the South Asian nation emerges as a classic example, where the same Bengali-speaking Muslims started pursuing the religious minority families to convert to Islam.
Taking advantage of the situation many Islamists vandalized Hindu temples, grabbed lands belonging to the minorities and even physically assaulted them on various occasions. But they forgot that Hindus and other minority Bengalis also fought against the brutal West Pakistani forces during their freedom movement. ‘Muktijoddhas’ achieved success with support from Indian armed forces and every Bangladeshi including Hindus dreamed of a new nation with equal rights and opportunities for them.
*Senior journalist
