Bangladesh Hindu leaders raise grabbing of property, temple lands with Yunus

Leaders of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority raised the issue of grabbing of properties of Hindus, including the land of temples, at a meeting with interim government head Muhammad Yunus on Monday on the occasion of Janmashtami.

This was the second meeting between leaders of minority communities and Yunus, who earlier visited Dhaka’s Dhakeswari Mandir on August 13 to address the concerns of Hindus and other minorities. There were reports of attacks on Hindus and Christians in parts of Muslim-majority Bangladesh in the wake of the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5.

The Hindu leaders praised Yunus’s comments at Dhakeswari Mandir, one of the country’s oldest temples, and said this will “help build a non-communal society in the country and ensure religious harmony in the society”, an official statement said. “They raised the issue of Hindu property grabbing, including the land of Hindu temples,” the statement said without giving details.

Yunus said Bangladesh is “a large family where the responsibility of the government is to protect the rights of every citizen”. He said he wants to build a Bangladesh where everyone can practice their faith without any fear and where no temple needs to be guarded.

“Our responsibility is to establish the rights of every citizen. Our job is to ensure justice for every citizen,” he told the group of Hindu leaders during the meeting held at the state guesthouse Jamuna. “There can’t be any divisions among people in our country. We are equal citizens. The interim government is determined to protect the rights of every citizen of the country.”

Yunus exchanged greetings with the Hindu leaders on the occasion of Janmashtami, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna. The Hindu leaders said they had sought the blessings of Lord Krishna for the harmony and prosperity of Bangladesh and the interim government.

The Hindu leaders said they had suspended Janmashtami celebrations in flood-stricken regions of the country. They said they had sent food and relief to flooded regions. Devastating floods in eastern Bangladesh have displaced millions of people and killed about 20.

The Hindu leaders who met Yunus included Kajal Debnath and Monindra Kumar Nath of the Hindu Buddha Christian Oikya Parishad, Charu Charan Brahmachari of ISKCON, Basudeb Dhar and Santosh Sharma of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad, and Priti Chakraborty of the Universal Medical College and Hospital.

Hindus make up about 8% of Bangladesh’s population of nearly 170 million. The Indian government has taken up attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh with the interim government. Yunus has said his administration is determined to protect the rights of all people, including minorities, and described reports of attacks on Hindus, especially in the Indian media, as exaggerated.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.