Thousands of Hindus in Bangladesh staged a massive protest on Friday in Chittagong against the atrocities the community faced following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.
The leaders of the community claimed that they will not stop the protest until their eight demands are met by the country’s interim government. The protest by the Hindu community was the biggest in the last few months.
The people gathered under the banner of Bangladesh Sanatan Jagran Manch (Unified Platform for Realising the Rights of Sanatans) and said that they would march towards Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, if their demands weren’t met, the Times of India reported.
The demands of the Hindu community included the formation of a tribunal to speedily probe the cases of crimes against minorities., appropriate compensation to victims and their rehabilitation, enacting a minority protection law immediately, formation of a ministry of minority affairs, Building of prayer rooms or places of worship for minorities in educational institutions and hostels, Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian welfare trusts should be elevated to foundations, and the ‘Property Recovery and Preservation Act and Transfer of Entrusted Property Act’ should be properly implemented.
The community has also demanded that the Sanskrit and Pali education board must be modernised and a 5-day holiday for Durga Puja, reported The Times of India. Earlier, environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said that the government had heard the demands from the Hindu community, and a 2-day holiday was declared for Durga Puja for the first time. Muhammad Yunus, chief advisor of the interim government in Bangladesh, had assured the Indian government of a probe into the cases of atrocities against the minorities following the ouster of Hasina. However, the Indian government again expressed its displeasure as many of the temples were attacked during Durga Puja and a crown gifted by PM Modi was stolen from a temple. The Bangladesh government assured action against the people involved in these acts.
