DHAKA: Thousands of minority Hindu community members staged massive protest rallies in Bangladesh’s capital and the north-eastern port city of Chattagram on Saturday, the second consecutive day, demanding protection amid nationwide vandalism that saw attacks on temples and their households and businesses.
Demanding special tribunals to expedite trials of those who persecute the minorities, allocation of 10 per cent parliamentary seats for the minorities, and enactment of a minority protection law among others, the Hindu demonstrators’ rally blocked traffic for over three hours at Shahbagh in the central part of Dhaka.
Thousands of Muslim protestors, including students, also joined them here expressing solidarity for the cause of minorities, who have faced the brunt of the violence and devastation after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India on Monday.
Several Hindu temples, households and businesses have been vandalised, and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party have been killed in the violence since then.
Media reports have flagged more and more cases of violence against minorities, including the massive vandalism and destruction at popular folk band Joler Gaan’s frontman Rahul Ananda’s residence on Monday, prompting the singer and his family to go into hiding.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, a prominent organisation advocating for minority rights, issued an open letter to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, detailing 205 incidents of persecution across 52 districts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, according to The Dhaka Tribune newspaper.
On Saturday, the protestors put out an eight-point charter of demands, which includes establishing special tribunals to expedite trials for those who have persecuted minorities, compensation of victims and immediate enactment of a minority protection law.