Can the cycle of violence, atrocities and long running pogroms against Hindus be stopped ? Is an another genocide in the making?
What started as a student agitation in Bangladesh against a quota system and public policy progressed into a series of violent street protests. The situation rapidly escalated to large scale organized violence making it dangerous for everyone. On August 6th, 2024 a violent military coup forced the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country. The political turmoil and the collapse of governance, led to a complete breakdown of law and order. Empowered by hate and political turmoil, Islamists and fundamental groups openly attacked religious minorities. Disturbing reports of violence against Hindus had engulfed scores of Hindu houses, businesses and Hindu temples across the country. In a Reuters report, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said that 45 of the 64 districts of the country have been impacted by the organized violence.
Tragically, these incidents are not isolated or sporadic. Throughout the years, Hindus in Bangladesh have faced repeated violence and atrocities by fundamentalist forces at times of unrest.
Trigger and Template
The ordeal began from the ‘Noakhali Riots of Oct 1946’ (then East Bengal, undivided India). The riots were different from the previous ones. According to Tathagat Roy in his book A Suppressed Chapter in History says “…In Noakhali, the objective seemed to kill selectively, but mainly to rape and convert forcibly and to desecrate Hindu places of worship.” Within eight days the Islamists mob looted, burnt and massacred 5000 Hindus. Scores of women were raped, and forced to convert. And then on, selectively killing, raping and forcibly converting became the template for the future riots.
Bloody History
1971: ‘Bangladesh Liberation War’ Pakistani military and its collaborators killed an estimated three million Bengalis and raped around four hundred thousand Bengali women (Factsheet – Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs). An estimated 10 million of Bengalis fled to India as refugees (US Congress Res 1430).
1990s: In a series of attacks thousands of Hindu homes and businesses and hundreds of temples were destroyed. (UNHRC)
2013: The vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islam (Islamist Political Party) was sentenced to death for the war crimes of 1971. Fifteen hundred homes of Hindus, fifty Hindu Temples were destroyed across twenty districts in riots that followed the sentencing.
2021: Wave of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh following a social media post. Ten Hindu temples and more than eighty special shrines setup for the Durga puja festival were attacked.
3600 attacks since 2013
Reports indicate that there have been over 3600 attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh since 2013.
Decline of Hindu population
After such a bloody history, these recent incidents of violence and atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh cannot be treated as an aberration. Tragically, there has been an ongoing and targeted pogrom against Hindus. This has resulted in a drastic decline in the Hindu population of Bangladesh from 28% in the 1940s(East Pakistan) to 8.5% by 2011.
1. Census of India (1941), 2. Census of East Pakistan (1951, 1961), 3. Bangladesh Government Census (1974 – 2011)
If this cycle of violence, atrocities and the long running pogroms are not stopped, it would lead to another genocide of Hindus in Bangladesh.
US Congress: Recognizing 1971 genocide
The violence against Hindus in Bangladesh did not receive adequate attention by the United Nations or any other International forums or the world powers. Sadly the Human rights groups, United Nations stood by as millions of lives were lost in the past five decades. US Congress recognized the 1971 Bangladesh genocide (Res. 1430) only in 2022, 51 years after it happened.
False Narrative
While such gory and heart wrenching details were coming out, there were outright denials by many of the apologists and those involved in false narratives. NYT was no exception in mischievously engaging in propaganda. Its article with the original headline suggests that Hindus were the initiators of the attacks and the attacks were justified. Most of the mainstream media continues to downplay.
With the overwhelming evidence, thanks to X social media policy the false narratives were totally busted.
New York Times quietly drops “revenge” out of the headline
Diaspora role
This time, many Hindu groups, advocacy and grassroots organizations have swung into action, – conducting protests, press releases, social media campaigns and outreach (CoHNA, HAF, Hindu ACTion, HinduPACT, HSS, FIIDS, APNADB) to elected officials. It is heartening to see an outpouring of support from Hindus across the diaspora. Statements from a few American politicians (Sri Thanedar, Raja Krishnamurthy, Ro Khanna) are encouraging as well.
Yet it is still a huge challenge to bring back normalcy and put the systems in place to safeguard the lives of Hindus of Bangladesh. It is crucial that Hindu Diaspora continues its efforts and need to:
Demonstrate that they haven’t forgotten or given up on the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.
Ensure that the message of anguish and solidarity reaches Hindus in Bangladesh
Build public opinion to push governments, international forums and media to take notice and pressurize the Bangladesh govt and law enforcement authorities to safeguard the lives and interests of all minorities.
Persuade the Indian government to address the refugee crisis at the India-Bangladesh borders. If the condition remains the same or deteriorates make India a safe refuge for all minority Hindu refugees.
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