Press Trust of India
Dhaka, June 13: Bangladesh Monday said it did not need any foreign help to provide security to its religious minorities despite a recent wave of deadly attacks by Islamists targeting Hindus and other communities along with liberal activists in the Muslim-majority country. “The followers of minority religious faiths are being attacked along with other ordinary citizens as part of an orchestrated plot to embarrass the government but these incidents could in no way affect the inter-faith harmony in Bangladesh,” Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said.
He added, “We don’t need to seek assistance of any foreign country or government for the security of our minority communities the (Bangladesh) government by principle is secular and it is awake 24 hours”. Inu heads the left-leaning party which is a partner of ruling Awami League-led coalition government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The minister’s comments came in response to a recent media report that said the Hindu community in Bangladesh had sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention for their protection in the wake of the attacks.
“The Hindu community, which is the biggest minority community in Bangladesh, is vulnerable in Bangladesh. Fundamentalist and Jamaat forces are trying to wipe out Hindus from Bangladesh,” general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and noted human rights activist Rana Dasgupta had said. Meanwhile, over 8,500 people, including 119 suspected militants, have been arrested in Bangladesh, police said Monday as they intensified their nationwide crackdown on extremists to halt a spate of deadly attacks on minorities and secular writers in the Muslim-majority nation.