BJHM: 107 Hindus killed, 31 forcibly disappeared in 2017

At least 107 people of the Hindu community were killed and 31 fell victims to enforced disappearance in 2017, which are higher than previous year's figures, claimed Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajote (BJHM) on Saturday. Polash Kanti Dey, general secretary of BJHM, a grand alliance of national Hindu organizations, came up with the statistics while revealing a report titled “Atrocities on Religious Minorities in Bangladesh from January 1 to December 31 of 2017” at a press conference in Dhaka Reporters' Unity (DRU). According to the report, 782 Hindus were either forced to leave the country or threatened to leave. Besides, 23 were forced to get converted into other religions. Polash said at least 25 Hindu women and children were raped, while 235 temples and statues vandalized during the year. The total number of atrocities happened with the Hindu community in 2017 is 6474, according to the BJHM report, which was 11,335 in 2016. Making some pointed references, Polash said communal question paper was provided during Rajshahi University admission test, a family of Mymensingh was forced to leave by influential people of the district after vandalizing Hindu houses in Rangpur. BJHM President Prabhas Chandra Ray told the press that though the total number of atrocities has declined because of the joint efforts of the government, BJHM and Hindu society, the incidents of killing and forced disappearance are still alarming. He also claimed that the administration's negligence and the influence of powerful people are the main reasons behind the atrocities which have created a huge threat to the safety of the country's Hindu community. Claiming that no other country in the world experiences minority killings during the election as much as Bangladesh, Prabhas expressed his concern over the increased killing risk of Hindus during the upcoming national election. Prabhas, however, expressed the hope that the number of atrocities on the minority community will come down to zero level soon with government’s efforts.