'Are We Afraid of Bangladesh?': Indian Nationalists Slam Modi's 'Inaction' Over Attacks on Hindus

A claim posted on Facebook about the holy Quran being desecrated during the celebration of the Hindu festival of Durga Puja on 13 October sparked massive violence across several districts in Bangladesh. At least 10 Hindus have been killed, around 1,000 have sustained injuries, and women have been raped by Islamist mobs, according to reports.

Prominent Hindu organisations as well as politicians have slammed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over its “lack of action” in firmly protesting the targeted attacks on members of the Hindu community in Bangladesh.

Leading Hindu organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an ally of Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), held a massive demonstration at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Wednesday.

"Our brothers are being killed in Bangladesh," says @VHPDigital, as it held a massive demonstration at the @bdhc_delhi to protest the recent killings of Hindus in #Bangladesh

The VHP has called for a fact-finding team of Indian MPs to be sent to Dhaka to probe the violence. pic.twitter.com/51AkDbXWN2

— Dhairya Maheshwari (@dhairyam14) October 20, 2021

“The Government of Bharat [India] should act tough and exert all appropriate pulls and pressures on the government of [Bangladesh] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, so that her government would proactively disallow any sort of persecution and discrimination of the indigenous minority Hindus in her country”, VHP Joint General Secretary Dr Surinder Jain said in his address at the Bangladesh High Commission.

Jain said that the Indian government must also send a “fact-finding delegation” of parliamentarians to Bangladesh to investigate the anti-Hindu violence in the country.

Jain, a key VHP representative, also handed over a memorandum at the Bangladesh High Commission, calling upon Prime Minister Hasina to put an end to attacks against Hindus.

Hindus comprised around nine percent of Bangladesh's population in 2011, according to the latest federal census. Bangladeshi Hindus share a strong cultural affinity with their counterparts in India.

In recent years, major concerns have been expressed in India over the persecution of minority Hindus under the Hasina government in Bangladesh.

In fact, the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by PM Modi's government in 2019 called for fast-tracking citizenship applications from persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, among others.

Virat Hindustan Sangam (VHS), a Hindu nationalist organisation, also held a demonstration at Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commission in Mumbai over the recent spate of attacks in the country.

VHS Maharashtra Team today held peaceful demonstration outside the Dy High Commission of Bangla Desh in Mumbai at World Trade Centre Police arrested VHS Volunteers & have taken them to Cuffe Parade Police Station
Protest was against the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh@Swamy39 pic.twitter.com/sbfj4IbliV

— Virat Hindustan Sangam (@vhsindia) October 20, 2021

Subramanian Swamy, a federal lawmaker from the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Wednesday questioned the federal government on Twitter.

He wondered if the prime minister was “afraid of Bangladesh”, as he questioned the lack of protests by the Modi government on the matter.

Why is BJP govt not protesting on the issue of the developing genocide of Hindus in Bangla Desh? Are we afraid of BD? After the fear of Chinese aggression in Ladakh, we are cowed by Taliban take over of Afghanistan and want to talk with them. Will we be next afraid of Maldives?

— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) October 20, 2021

Suvendu Adhikari, a politician from Modi’s BJP and the opposition leader in the West Bengal state assembly, has asked that the Hindu community in Bangladesh be granted “immediate relief”.

Describing the “escalating communal violence” in Bangladesh as “extremely worrying”, senior Congress politician and former federal Minister Milind Deora has called for the resettlement of minority Hindus from Bangladesh.

Despite rising domestic pressure to take up the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh with Dhaka, New Delhi has so far refused to publicly condemn its eastern neighbour.

“We note that the government of Bangladesh has reacted promptly to ensure control of the situation, including the deployment of the law-enforcement machinery”, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on 14 October.

The Indian official also added that New Delhi's diplomats in Dhaka are in close touch with the Bangladeshi authorities.

UN Demands Action, PM Hasina Urges Restraint

The United Nations (UN) has asked the Bangladeshi government to probe the attacks.

"Recent attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh fuelled by hate speech on social media, are against the values of the Constitution and need to stop", said Mia Seppo, the UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh.

On Wednesday, the US State Department also “condemned” the attacks on minorities in the country and asked for them to be “investigated fully”.

We condemn the recent violent attacks on Hindu temples and businesses in Bangladesh during the Durga Puja celebrations. Our thoughts are with the Hindu community as we urge authorities to investigate fully. Freedom of religion or belief is a human right.

— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) October 19, 2021

Prime Minister Hasina, meanwhile, held a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, asking for strict action against those involved in the anti-Hindu violence in the predominantly Muslim country.

“We must urge people not to react. If someone dishonours the holy Quran, the Quran does not give us the authority to go and vandalise something that belongs to their religion. Even if it is not right, and may be a crime, we must remember that Islam does not give such authority to any Muslim”, Hasina told her Cabinet colleagues, as per a report on the local website Bdnews24.com.

The Bangladeshi authorities have reportedly arrested at least 450 people and lodged around 71 cases in connection with the attacks.