Amid Hindu killings, India asks Bangladesh to act firmly
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal flags the country's endless violence and rejects attempts to attribute communal incidents to personal or political rivalries
In a fresh move towards Bangladesh, ties with which have plummeted in recent times, India on Friday (January 9) asked the eastern neighbour to deal with attacks on minorities on its soil “swiftly and firmly” and called the attempts to attribute the incidents to extraneous factors “troubling”.
The reaction from New Delhi came in the wake of the murder of several Hindu men in Bangladesh in the last few weeks.
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Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said, “We continue to witness a disturbing pattern of recurring attacks on minorities as well as their homes and businesses by extremists.”
He added that such communal incidents need to be handled swiftly and firmly.
'A troubling tendency'
“We have observed a troubling tendency to attribute such incidents to personal rivalries, political differences, or extraneous reasons,” Jaiswal said.
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“Such disregard only emboldens the perpetrators and deepens the sense of fear and insecurity among minorities,” the MEA official added.
Minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, have faced a series of attacks after the killing of radical youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi in December.
Over 51 cases of communal violence recorded
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council recorded 51 incidents of communal violence last month alone. These included 10 murders, 10 cases of theft and robbery, 23 incidents involving the occupation of homes, business establishments, temples, looting and arson.
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In addition, four more Hindu persons have been killed in January so far, taking the total number of casualties to 14 since December, it said.
Last month, India said the “unremitting hostilities” against minorities in Bangladesh are a matter of "grave concern" as it demanded punishment for the perpetrators involved in the lynching of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh, around when Hadi was shot by some unidentified men riding on a two-wheeler.
The relations between India and Bangladesh were strained after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus assumed charge following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024.
India has been expressing concerns over attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh.