Amnesty International today urged the interim government to take immediate action to protect Hindu and other minority communities in Bangladesh.
The call for ensuring human rights and freedom of expression for all is a welcome first step by the interim government in Bangladesh. Still, it must be urgently followed up by concrete actions to ensure justice, reparations, and guarantee of non-recurrence, it said in a statement.
Babu Ram Pant, deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International, made the statement in response to the Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s statement addressing the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh on Tuesday.
Babu Ram Pant said, “Amnesty International urges the Bangladeshi authorities to conduct a swift, thorough, impartial and independent investigation into the crimes against Hindu, Ahmadi and other minority communities and associated incidents of mob violence and ensure that those responsible are prosecuted in fair and transparent trials, without resorting to the death penalty.”
“The new interim government must ensure the rights to equality, non-discrimination, and bodily integrity of everyone and bring an end to the revenge culture of attacking political opponents that Bangladesh has witnessed in the past. Time and again, incidents of mob violence, disinformation, and the failure of the state to protect the minorities and provide access to justice to survivors have continued to destroy the lives of minority communities living in Bangladesh,” he added.
Earlier on August 13, Prof Yunus addressed the Hindu community. This came on the heels of reports of attacks on houses, places of worship, and business establishments of religious minorities such as Hindus and Ahmadis after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5.
Amnesty International has documented repeated attacks against minorities in Bangladesh over the years.
