THE ATTACKS ON Hindu houses, businesses and temples after the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5 have left the members of the community devastated and traumatised. Many of them still wonder what their fault was, as they were targeted despite being the sons and daughters of the soil. Many members of the community, especially university students, were actively involved in the July uprising that forced Hasina to step down. Is it because Hindus in general have a soft corner for Hasina’s Awami League? Or is it because they belong to a different community? Hindus account for a little more than 8 per cent of the Muslim-majority country’s 170 million people.
After the attacks, Dhaka’s two mass circulation dailies, the Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, published separate reports detailing the incidents of the violence on the basis of the findings of their reporters. According to the Prothom Alo, attacks on Hindus happened in 49 districts. Its reporters saw 546 damaged houses and business establishments, and found evidence of at least 1,068 damaged houses and business establishments. In addition, 22 places of worship came under attack.
Most of the attacks took place in the country’s southwestern division of Khulna. There were many attacks in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Mymensingh divisions, but fewer incidents in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions. At least two members of the minority community were killed―Mrinal Kanti Chatterjee, a retired schoolteacher, in Bagerhat Sadar, and Swapan Kumar Biswas in Khulna.
Though the violence has subsided, a debate has gripped the country―whether it was triggered by political reasons or communal ones. Was it just a byproduct of the uprising or a broader part of a systematic attack?
Bangladeshis differ on this. Rana Das Gupta, general secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, insists that the minority community was targeted.
Tough mission: Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri (third from right) during talks with his Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Jashim Uddin (second from left) and other delegates in Dhaka | AFP
But Muhammad Yunus, leader of the interim government, disagrees. “These attacks are more political than communal, arising from the perception that most Hindus supported the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina,” he said in an interview with the PTI. Local media reports say out of the 1,068 Hindu houses and shops that were attacked, 506 belonged to Awami League members.
Yunus visited the Dhakeswari National Temple in old Dhaka and assured the devotees that the constitution of the country guaranteed equal rights to followers of all religions. “This country belongs to all of us,” he said in his message to mark the Durga Puja, the biggest festival of Bengali Hindus, in October.
Not long after the peaceful celebration of the puja, tension gripped the southern city of Chattogram where followers of the saffron-clad Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu monk, made headlines after rallies and clashes with security forces. Chinmoy, a former member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), rose to prominence after he launched a campaign for the rights of Hindus and trial of the perpetrators of the anti-Hindu attackers. His arrest on November 25 on sedition charges led to clashes between his diehard followers and security forces.
Bangladeshis take pride in being a nation of communal harmony and many of them see the recent attacks on the minorities as a transient phenomenon rather than a pattern of persecution. They would remind the critics that Hindus were attacked even during Hasina’s regime. As many as 3,679 attacks on the Hindu community took place between January 2013 and September 2021, according to the data compiled by the rights group Ain o Salish Kendra.
Many Bangladeshis also question the motive behind India’s concern over the treatment of Hindus. “Where was their reaction when the Hindu community was regularly attacked during Sheikh Hasina’s regime? Did they attack the High Commission of Bangladesh in India then as they recently did in Agartala?” asked writer Kollol Mustafa in an article in The Daily Star newspaper.
The relation between Dhaka and New Delhi, trumpeted as a role model for neighbours during Hasina’s 15-year rule, nosedived after her fall. The public anger against Hasina is now being channelled against India for New Delhi’s support to her even after her downfall.
With a history of political upheavals, including many years of military rule, Bangladesh once again stands at the crossroads. The interim government has promised to hold general election after completing some vital reforms in the electoral process, constitution, police and the administration. There is no definite word about when the election will take place, but at a meeting with the 17 European envoys, Yunus hinted at an announcement regarding polls and reforms this month. The BNP, eager to return to power after 18 long years, is making cautious steps balancing the anti-India passion and insisting on maintaining good relations with India. The party, long persecuted under the Hasina regime, has opposed the idea of banning the Awami League.
Meanwhile, from her safe house in Delhi, Hasina is trying to create a political space with occasional social media posts and online meetings with party activists in the US and the UK. But her party remains in disarray.
Currently, Bangladesh is a country with many uncertainties. What is certain is that the treatment of minorities will continue to stir its politics and shape its future ties with India.
Farid Hossain is a senior journalist in Bangladesh.