 "Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu leader associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), who faces several charges, is escorted by the police at the Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate Court, in Chattogram, Bangladesh on November 26, 2024. Reuters")
The recent arrest of the Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das for his leadership role in demanding minority rights in Bangladesh illustrates the entrenched Hinduphobia of the interim government under Muhammad Yunus. What do the Hindus of Bangladesh demand?
It is an eight-point demand and nothing else in a peaceful manner: (1) a special tribunal for swift trial, rehabilitation and compensation for the atrocities done against the minority, which includes all minorities, Hindu, Buddhist, Christians and others; (2) minority protection law for the security and rights of minorities; (3) a ministry of minority affairs to effectively represent and address their issues; (4) upgradation of the Hindu Welfare Trust to a Hindu Foundation and similar upgradation for Buddhists and Christians; (5) legal protection of temple properties; (6) minority religious practices in educational institutions; (7) modernising Pali and Sanskrit education boards; and, (8) five-day Durga Puja holidays. Is it too much of a vulnerable minority to demand from a government? For a Muslim-majority Bangladesh, it is. Therefore, this is nothing short of a Hinduphobia. This is the time to call a spade a spade.
Since Sheikh Hasina’s ouster from Bangladesh under a political impasse, the makeshift government under Muhammad Yunus has intensified radicalism and fundamentalism. Minorities, including Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, have felt more insecure. The Hindus have been reduced to a vulnerable minority. The arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, the spokesperson of Bangladesh’s Sanatan Jagaran Manch and the head of Pundarik Dham in Chittagong, has resurfaced the plight of the Hindus. He led the movement, which foregrounded an eight-point demand for minorities, as mentioned above.
He was detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka and subsequently arrested. A sedition charge was slapped on him for hoisting a saffron flag. He was sent to jail, and the entire course of events that followed also witnessed the reactions and protests from the Hindus in Chittagong. The Hindus demand his immediate release. Yunus’ government throws sedition charges against him, concealing the ulterior motive of suppressing Hindu agitation for atrocities against minorities.
For Yunus’ government, the desecration of Mujibur Rahman’s statues, which symbolise Bangladesh’s Liberation, is not sedition. How many arrests have been made for the destruction and disrespect done to the father of the nation in broad daylight with a howling mob demanding the grounding of Rahman’s statues? The leaders of the so-called revolution were showered adulation in the US for carrying out the regime change unconstitutionally in Bangladesh. The street veto and mob justice dethroned Hasina. Constitutional procedures were not followed, and the apex court was not reached out for the removal of an elected leader.
The US, which wears democracy and human rights on its sleeves and tutors the global south of democracy and its importance, received the anarchists and fundamentalists, who despise democracy, with great enthusiasm and laudatory words on Yunus’ maiden visit after becoming the advisor of the interim government. The death of democracy was celebrated in that land, which always brags about its greatness in developing democratic culture and polity. The paragon of democracy ensured its end in Bangladesh.
Hindus pin their hope on Donald Trump for the difference from the vicious status quo the Democrats have done in Bangladesh under the leadership of Joe Biden. They eagerly wait for January 2025, when Trump officially comes to the helm. The mess needs to be cleaned up. The stench is unbearable.
The suffocation of Hindus under majoritarian weight in Bangladesh is unendurable. Falsehood and concocted narratives were slapped on the Hindus for speaking out about their tragedy and anguish. They were deliberately misconstrued as sympathisers of Hasina. Peaceful protests were portrayed as seditious. The Indian government has expressed its concern for the plight of the Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. The Hindus in West Bengal have also expressed their solidarity and support for their co-religionists from the other side of the border.
For Nobel laureate Yunus, who flaunts the ideas of liberalism, social justice and equality, vandalism of public offices and vulgarity against a democratically elected woman Prime Minister were not sedition. Hoisting a saffron flag and demanding rights for minorities is sedition. The octogenarian’s love for power and political relevance undergirds the suspension of all liberal values and democratic principles. Today, in Bangladesh, Hindu hatred is no longer an undercurrent. It is open and abrasive.
The fanatics, under the leadership of a pseudo-liberal who weaponises Nobel laureateship to support anti-minority jibes and aggressions, hit the street and suspend all sanity or refinement to unleash violence against the minority. The objective is to make the minorities rudderless through fear and coercion. The state mechanism is seemingly hand in glove with the fundamentalists. It is reported that media censorship in Bangladesh is rigorous. Any slippage is taken note of and punished. Surveillance is equally intense. The government allegedly regulates their content.
Social media looks scary. Systematic atrocities against the Hindus coupled with anti-India animus have increased the communal temperature. The Western liberal media has supposedly feigned ignorance or brushed them as insignificant or sporadic, covered them in the margins or sidelines, or obscured them in fine lines. It never recognises the pattern, its consistency and continuity. Silence is paradoxically deafening.
Hindu suffering has no weight or global impact to raise a few eyebrows and restrict Bangladesh from rekindling the communal flame. However, it is difficult to determine which form or scale the current protest by the Hindus in Chittagong, Dhaka, and other areas will take. The protest for the monk Chinmoy Krishna Das’ release is gaining strength. Repressive measures, both overt and covert, may follow soon. If this cannot be called Hinduphobia, what else can it be?
Hindus in Bangladesh need attention now or never. Before they thin down to mere microscopic or invisible minorities, something must be done to protect them. Before it becomes irreparable, urgent repair is required today to keep the Hindu heritage alive in Bangladesh.
Dr. Jajati K Pattnaik teaches at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Dr. Chandan K Panda teaches at Rajiv Gandhi University (A Central University), Itanagar. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.