Bangladeshis living in the UK have strongly protested the attacks on the Hindu minority in the country following the January 5 general election and demanded compensation to restore the livelihood of the affected people.
Under the banner of the Campaign for the Protection of Religious Minorities in Bangladesh (CPRMB), they voiced their condemnation through a press conference at East London’s Montefiore Centre on Tuesday.
Pushpita Gupta, coordinator of the campaign, said, “We are stunned by the barbaric severity of the attacks carried out by Jamaat-Shibir particularly in Jessore where women and children had to cross the river to save their lives. Some of the women lost their clothing while crossing the river.”
In a written statement, she continued, “We did not expect this to happen in an independent Bangladesh. We had bitter experience of communal violence in East Pakistan.
“In 1971 Hindus suffered disproportionately during the liberation struggle of Bangladesh. Even in independent Bangladesh during every social and political upheaval the anger of the certain sections of the communities are always directed towards innocent minorities.
“The atrocities committed on minorities following the election in 2001 are well documented but not a single person has been punished…Those criminals who are committing these barbaric acts know very well that they will never be punished.”
The campaigners demanded an independent investigation of all the atrocities committed on minorities since February 28, 2013 to put the criminals on speedy trial, and instituting a minority commission through passage of the “Minority Act”.
