Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus to meet Hindu leaders today amid attacks on temples

Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, has called for a meeting with Hindu Bengali leaders in the country on Tuesday.

This comes days after several Hindu temples, houses and businesses were vandalised in the country amid the political crisis. The interim government has vowed to punish vandals who desecrated temples belonging to minorities and carried out loot and arson attacks in the country.

Earlier, Muhammad Yunus had condemned the attacks, calling them “heinous”.

“Are they (minorities) not the people of this country? You (students) have been able to save this country; can’t you save some families? You must say, ‘No one can harm them. They are my brothers; we fought together, and we will stay together,” the Nobel Prize winner told students at the Begum Rokeya University in the Rangpur city on Saturday.

He further cautioned that the attacks on minorities in Bangladesh could be ‘sabotage’ by those seeking to ‘undermine their progress.’

“There are many standing by to make your efforts futile. Don’t fall this time,” he said.

According to two Hindu organisations, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, there have been at least 205 attacks on members of minority communities in 52 districts since the government of Sheikh Hasina fell. Apart from vandalisation, at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with the Awami League party headed by Hasina were killed in the violence in Bangladesh after she fled the country.

Hindu organisations demand Centre take action
On Sunday, several Hindu organisations demanded the Centre take action to protect Hindus living in Bangladesh. Members of organisations like Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, Manav Seva Pratisthan, Vajra Dal, Yog Vedant Samiti, Suyash Mitra Mandal, Shri Shivarajyabhishek Dinotsav Samiti, Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti Samiti made the demand, reported PTI.

A large group of members gathered in Mumbai and shouted slogans against the alleged atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh. They also signed a memorandum to be submitted to the government with their demands, reported PTI.