Bengaluru: Anirban Ganguly, Chairman of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, New Delhi, has questioned why Nobel laureates from West Bengal aren’t speaking a word about attacks on Hindus and minorities in Bangladesh.
Addressing ‘A Talk and Discussion on Hindus in Bangladesh, Current Status, Challenges, Way Ahead’ on Wednesday in Bengaluru, organised by Mantahana Karnataka Organisation, he said, “Now, I want to ask if you can hear any voices? I can’t. There are no voices. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who writes a letter to the New York Times about the depreciation of democracy in India and says the Constitution is in danger etc; but, in the last hundred days, I have not heard him say a word.”
“Neither Amartya Sen, Amitav Ghosh, Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee and others have spoken out against what is happening in Bangladesh. No. I have tried to listen to them. No Nobel laureate, none of the illustrious Bengalis, one of them Bharat Ratna also tried to advise the advisor, who is also a Nobel laureate,” he stated referring to Mohammad Yunus, Chief Advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh.
“No one has raised a voice against what is happening in Bangladesh. But ordinary Bengalis, the Bengali diaspora and Indian diaspora have raised a banner of revolt. Major capitals across Europe, US and India in the last 72 hours the banner of revolt is raised,” he stated.
“When Hindus in Bangladesh are resisting, the global Indian diaspora is protesting more. In the way ahead, it is our duty to keep that alive and keep the pressure. It doesn’t matter if a certain sold-out Nobel laureate is not speaking up,” he charged.
The worst pogrom was started against Hindus in 1950, he noted.
“About 74 per cent of West Pakistan’s exports were from materials they extracted from East Pakistan. In October 1970, Bangladesh suffered a frightening cyclone in which 5 lakh people were killed. West Pakistan did not bother to organise relief.
In 1971, the Pakistan army undertook the biggest genocide by a commissioned army. They slaughtered intellectuals and students, raped thousands of women and completely destroyed East Pakistan’s educational infrastructure and societal composition and it also saw the largest number of Hindus migrate to India,” he stated.
“Friends, the greatest irony is that despite all this, the present rulers of Bangladesh feel that Pakistan is their greatest friend. All memorials showing the Indian army liberating Bangladesh were destroyed in the last three months and this had never happened in history. Radicalism is taking place in universities, Jamaat is in control. The advisor has kept it deliberately vague about happenings in Bangladesh,” Anirban stated.
“The rules in Bangladesh are anti-India, they want disintegration of the northeast from India. Except for Kailash Satyarthi, no other Nobel laureate is speaking on attacks on Hindus. Sufi Dargahs have been vandalised and destroyed this time. This has also never happened. One by one, dreaded terrorists have been released,” Anirban noted.
“This is unprecedented. This has never happened. There is an entire ideological conglomerate in the country, that wants us to forget what is happening in Bangladesh today — like they wanted us to forget the Partition of West Bengal, how Bengali Hindus became refugees and yet could not live a life of dignity. Nobody spoke about the disappearing population,” Anirnan stated.
“In 1947-48, then East Pakistan had roughly 30 per cent of the population of Hindus. That has come down to 7.95 per cent as per the 2022 census. Where has the population gone? Nobody wanted to discuss,” he stated.
Demand for banning ISKCON in Bangladesh and branding it as a terrorist organisation is a planned move. The reason for branding ISKCON as a terrorist organisation is to break the back of Hindu minorities as they are the centres of congregations for Hindus, he underlined.
“The Communists and Congress do not want to discuss all this. They want to believe that it is routine what is happening in Bangladesh and it will be over after a while. No. Because, today, on one hand, we see Hindu resistance in Bangladesh and on the other hand, Bangladesh is facing its gravest crisis since the assassination of Sheik Mujib in 1975,” he pointed out.
However, for the first time in 70 years, in spite of the onslaught, about 70 to 72 per cent of Hindus are organised and resisting in Bangladesh as Hindu and Buddhist crematoriums are occupied, Ganguly said.
“The forces are working for a minority-free Bangladesh and it has been challenged by the minorities. As we stand today, the situation is evolving, what the army will do remains to be seen,” he underlined.
Bangladesh also has a sizable Buddhist population. It has a Buddhist legacy and heritage. Buddhist monks in Bangladesh have refused to take solemn and significant rituals, signifying the resumption of activities after the Monsoon break. It is a sacred activity and they could not do it, he stated.
“For knowledgeable people who say the conditions of minorities in Bangladesh and India are the same, they don’t realise Buddhists are hunted and hounded in Bangladesh as we speak today,” he added.
Meanwhile in India, Pali is accorded the official language status and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Asian century can not be envisaged without Buddha. He takes a preeminent role in not only preserving Buddha’s legacy but in reviving and launching the Nalanda University which was destroyed by Islamic invaders in the 12th century, Anirban highlighted.
“As we speak, I will start with a few figures. When we speak about minorities in Bangladesh, the largest minority is Hindu. There are Buddhists and Christians too. There are 64 districts in Bangladesh; between August 5 and 20, when the problem started, between 48 and 52 districts saw minorities being attacked. There were more than 2,010 incidents of attacks on minorities, vandalisation, killing as well as injuries on minorities,” he stated.
The Bangladesh Christian Association came out with a report of churches being vandalised and attacked in various districts. The Christian associations were attacked and Christians in general were terrorised. Buddhist villages were attacked between August 5 and 20, he highlighted.
“Hindu, and Buddhist crematoriums were occupied and in Buddhist majority regions like Chittagong district, Buddhists were attacked and killed, 16 Buddhist youths died in the last few days. Tribals were also attacked — while we in India have a designated day to celebrate the contributions of tribal leaders in the Indian freedom movement,” he pointed out.
There are thousands of reported and recorded cases of extortion there. The disturbing phenomenon is taking place after the resignation of Hindu teachers and academics across institutions. They put Indian flags under their feet and started walking over it, he stated.
The Vice Chancellors of three top universities were made to resign at gunpoint and they were all minorities. They were all Hindus and established academics. 15,000 teachers at school and college levels have been forced to resign. Many of them have been forced to convert, Anirban stated.
Hindu officers in the police have been summarily dismissed. The Bangladesh police force had a predominant presence of Hindu officers. They were forced to resign. There has been a reduction in the number of Durga pujas. In 2021, when Awami League was in power, there were attacks on Durga puja pandals and action was followed. I had travelled around and one could see Islamic radicalists gathering, he stated.
Bangladesh saw fewer pujas than the previous year and incidents of vandalisation of pandals in various places. Islamists were forced into the Durga Puja pandals and started singing songs related to Islam even though singing is haram for them, he maintained.
59 per cent of the attacks that took place against Hindus were to do with worship and property — grabbing property, and desecration of worshipping places. 19 Durga puja pandals across 14 districts were vandalised and in a number of places Hindus were prohibited from playing music when the Azaan took place, he pointed out.
Hindu goddesses were subjected to obscene words and gestures. When the protests took place, the protestors were arrested not those who desecrated Hindu gods, he said.
–IANS