Washington: A Hindu advocacy group has warned that the condition of religious minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh has sharply deteriorated in recent months, urging the US Congress and administration to respond more forcefully to what it described as escalating violence and persecution.
Speaking on the sidelines of an exhibition at the US Capitol, Utsav Chakrabarty of HinduAction said the organisation was working to “sensitise the members of Congress and the staffers” about the situation of Hindus in South Asia, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, through immersive exhibits, films, and direct engagement with lawmakers.
Chakrabarty said Hindus in Pakistan, who make up “barely one and a half per cent of the population,” are “the natives of the land, the indigenous community for thousands of years,” yet today face abductions, forced conversions, and trafficking. He said HinduAction was highlighting these issues while also documenting the experiences of Hindu refugees from Pakistan who have fled to India.
“We have people here who are working with the refugees in India, as well as with the Hindus in Pakistan, trying to rescue underage Hindu girls who are often kidnapped and forcibly converted and trafficked,” he said, describing the Capitol event as a “comprehensive experience” designed to brief policymakers.
Turning to Bangladesh, Chakrabarty recalled that the country emerged from Pakistan in 1971 and said that “about 2.8 million Hindus were murdered in Bangladesh in just a span of 10 months by the Pakistani army and the allied radical Islamist from Jamat Islami.” He warned that the situation had again worsened over the past year and a half, following political changes in the country.
“Over the last one and a half years, we have seen that Jamat Islami in Bangladesh has gained a lot of power,” he said, adding that the group was “in a good position to probably win the elections in a couple of weeks in February.” According to Chakrabarty, after the recent regime change, “the plight of Hindus has deteriorated significantly, almost on a daily basis”
He alleged that Hindus in Bangladesh were being “beaten publicly, humiliated, murdered, and then burnt, in a public display of grossness and violence,” saying these incidents had triggered “a tremendous amount of anger and sadness amongst the communities around the world.” HinduAction plans to address these concerns in a future congressional briefing, which Chakrabarty said was expected around February 10.
Asked whether US lawmakers showed sufficient sensitivity toward the issue of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Chakrabarty said bluntly, “No, I don’t think so.” He argued that Congress “needs to rise to the occasion” and speak “more aggressively, more factually” about abuses against Hindu minorities in both countries.
“One of the reasons why the US Congress has not paid enough attention is because part of their weakness is their ignorance,” he said, adding that HinduAction’s outreach was aimed at addressing that gap. “We believe that as Hindus in America, we have a role to play in ensuring that our lawmakers, our White House, our State Department, are aware of what’s going on, and we make every effort possible to ensure that they act in order to protect these communities”.
