‘Persecution of religious minorities’ in Bangladesh a central area of concern for the US: Tulsi Gabbard

The United States is deeply concerned about the situation in Bangladesh, US Intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard told Indian media outlet NDTV World Monday, speaking about the “persecution of religious minorities”.

The US Intelligence chief is currently in India to attend the Raisina Dialogue, a multilateral conference.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV World, United States’ Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, said, “The longtime unfortunate persecution, killing, and abuse of religious minorities like Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others has been a major area of concern for the US government and President Trump and his administration.”

She further said that the Trump administration is focused and committed to defeat “Islamist terrorism” globally, the NDTV World report added.

She went on to say that the new Cabinet under Donald Trump has begun talks with the interim government in Bangladesh. “The talks are just beginning between President Trump’s new cabinet coming in and the Government of Bangladesh, but this continues to remain a central focus area of concern.”

Tulsi Gabbard also spoke about the ideology of an “Islamic Caliphate”. “The threat of Islamist terrorists and the global effort of different terror groups are routed in the same ideology and objective - which is to rule or govern with an Islamist Caliphate,” she said, adding that “This obviously affects people of any other religion, other than the one that they find acceptable, and they chose to carry this out with terror and very violent ways and means.”

“President Trump remains committed to identifying the ideology that drives Islamist terrorism, and working to defeat this ideology and their ability exact that terror on people,” Gabbard said.