Bangladesh sees 2,500 incidents of communal violence in 330 days

The Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad (Bangladesh Buddhist Christian Unity Council) has reported a total of 2,442 incidents of violence against religious and ethnic minorities across the country between 4 August 2024 and 30 June this year, a span of 330 days.

This was revealed by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council at a press conference held at the Abdus Salam Hall of the National Press Club in Dhaka today, Thursday.

The council stated, the acts of violence include murders, violence against women, rape and gang rape, attacks on places of worship, arrests over allegations of blasphemy, forced occupation of homes and businesses, assaults on indigenous communities, forced resignations, and so on.

The organisation highlighted that the highest number of incidents of violence against minority occurred between 4 August and 20 August last year, with a staggering 2,010 cases reported during this short period.

Apart from that, there have been 132 incidents of violence against minorities between 21 August and 31 December last year, with a further 258 incidents between 1 January and 30 June this year. Victims included men, women, and adolescents from minority communities.

The organisation criticised the government for allegedly politicising communal violence by assigning political tags to it and failing to prosecute the real offenders, thereby allowing criminals to go unpunished.

Nirmal Rozario, one of the presidents of the organisation, stated, “We are noticing that the interim government’s reform process is nearing completion without inclusion of the minorities. This is most frustrating for the minorities. We want to move forward together.”

Another president, Neem Chandra Bhowmik, said, “Division and discord benefit no one. This is an issue of the nation’s existence. Nobody can deny the human dignity and social justice promised in the Proclamation of Independence. So, we must uphold the values of the Liberation War and work to end discrimination, oppression, and persecution.”

Acting general secretary of the organisation, Monindra Kumar Nath, commented, “In reality, the government is ignoring incidents of oppression against religious minorities. We demand a fair and proper investigation into the incidents.”

Among others presidium members of the unity council Kajol Debnath and JL Bhowmik, organising secretary Dipankar Ghosh, and executive secretary general of Bangladesh Hindu Mahajote Palash Kanti Dey were present during the press conference.