According to reports, soon after Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country on Monday, hundreds of non-Muslim families and Awami League supporters in Dhaka, Patuakhali, Sylhet, Srimangal, Brahmanbaria, Comilla, Noakhali, Feni and Chittagong have been facing atrocities and attacks by miscreants.
The report claims that more than 17000 families in Bangladesh have lost their homes, property and belongings while about one lakh people have fled their areas to take refuge in safer places. Reportedly, the protesters openly threatened the minorities to leave Bangladesh as it is soon going to be declared an Islamic country.
A businessman from Brahmanbaria belonging to the majority community said that not only the minority community, but Muslims who support Hasina and believe in democracy have also been allegedly targeted by the protesters and are facing atrocities. He further said, “We have been identified as sympathisers of India.”
A similar situation had arisen during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, but in those days there was no fence between India and Bangladesh. As a result, about 16 lakh people from the then East Pakistan, mainly Hindus and Buddhists, took refuge in Tripura. A large number of people also came and settled in Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal, as the Indian government allowed refugees.
BSF sources said that in different areas in Kailashahar, Kamalpur, Khowai, Simna, Narsinghahar, Belabar, Kamalasagar, Sonamura and Sabroom, villagers gathered on the other side of the fence and demanded entry into Indian territory. Since India has now decided not to allow entry to anyone from Bangladesh, the BSF has taken a tough stand to stop them.
“At some places, we have spoken to Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB) and heard the horrific experience of the victims and requested them to take them back with assurance of safety and dignity of life. We are also trying to convince them not to leave the country and approach the local administration,” a BSF official said. Tripura border,
However, police sources said that despite strict surveillance and enforcement, there have been some reports of infiltration in South Tripura and West Tripura but they have not been identified yet. Police claimed that security machinery has been deployed at border villages, hotels, airports, railway stations and bus stands along with enforcement against illegal foreigners.
Movement against atrocities in Bangladesh
Human rights and religious bodies in Tripura separately demanded boycott of Bangladeshi goods and stopping of issuance of medical visas to Bangladeshi nationals except minorities of that country following a week of atrocities, looting, attacks, killings and murders of Hindus.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanded that India ensure the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and form a committee headed by the Additional Director General of BSF Eastern Command to secure the lives and livelihoods of minorities in that country.
“India stands firmly as a friend of Bangladeshi society in this hour of crisis, but the footage and information continuously coming from across the border is unprecedented and brutal and needs to be stopped immediately,” said Sourav Kanti Das of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
He said that in Bangladesh, religious places, businesses and houses of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians have been vandalised. In many places, even the cremation grounds of Hindus were destroyed. Temples and gurudwaras have also been attacked.
He reminded that at one time the Hindu population in Bangladesh was 32%, but today it is less than 8% and they are constantly persecuted by fundamentalists. Das said, “Human rights must be upheld and nothing should hinder the economic progress of Bangladesh.”
Every day at least one lakh Bangladeshi nationals come to India via Tripura, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Assam for treatment, shopping and tourism in various Indian cities. Bangladesh is completely dependent on India for medical care apart from sugar, onions and cosmetic items, but under the protection of the Bangladeshi army, the so-called protesters raised slogans against India and spread hatred, which is shocking and unacceptable, said Chandan Chakraborty, a member of the Sanatan Adhikar Sangh.
Chakraborty underlined, “Their protest was against Sheikh Hasina and from the very beginning the agitators abused India and there came a time when it came out as a movement against India. Many hospitals in Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai have opened separate desks to facilitate Bangladeshi patients. Indians across the country accepted lakhs of Bangladeshi tourists, patients and students as friends, but they treated us like enemies.”
He warned, “Unless the caretaker government of Bangladesh takes immediate action against communal forces and compensates the losses of minorities, we will have no choice but to resort to blockade against the majority community of Bangladesh. But we will go to the last frontier internationally to ensure the rights and privileges of minorities in Bangladesh and no one should leave their motherland.”
