Eminent citizens of Bangladesh have called for the immediate formation of a national commission to ensure the safety and rights of the minority community.
They made the call at a meeting organized in Dhaka in the wake of the recent communal attack on Hindu community.
Citizen’s Platform for SDGs Bangladesh organized the event at the Brac Centre Inn on Sunday.
During the event, barrister Sara Hossain said: “So far, we have not heard any news where there has been any prosecution about communal violence against minorities or punishment of the real culprits. If we review the recent incident of torture in the Saha community of Narail, we will see that, even after appealing to the court, the court has not constituted any commission to investigate the incident.”
Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, president of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), said: “These incidents of violence are happening continuously because they are not being prosecuted. The state is not taking any initiative for the purpose of safety and dignity of minorities. We demand to form a commission to deal with such incidents of violence in this country.”
Meanwhile, Manusher Jonno Foundation Executive Director Shaheen Anam said that despite the government’s commitment to form a minority commission in its 2018 election manifesto, they are yet to implement it.
“Criminals are getting bail and hundreds of people are being criminalized as unidentified but the culprits are not being caught. There is a need for a commission with a strong position of the administration to look into these,” he added.
Educationist Serajul Islam Chowdhury said: “The practice of progressivism has now declined in villages. As a result, the new generation of young people are adopting extremist attitudes. So, I think the libraries should be developed as a center for cultural practice. Humanity has only one religion to convey this doctrine.”
Speakers alleged that currently religious sentiment in the country is tied to only one religion and the concept does not apply to other religions.
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) chief Syeda Rizawana Hassan is of the view that even though laws for hurting religious sentiments and Digital Security Act are in place, fair investigation should be carried out so that the weak are not victimized.
Shaheen Anam said that social media platforms such as Facebook go on to show how minorities are being harassed by the DSA and the law is just being used against them.
According to Bangladesh Mahila Parishad General Secretary Maleka Banu, the government providing compensation and repairing temples is not the solution.
She said that what is needed is a permanent solution and for the minorities to be assured of their worth as a citizen.
Centre for Policy Dialogue Distinguished Fellow Dr Mustafizur Rahman says that the issue lies in the constitution where the state religion is Islam.
According to him, between 2013 to 2021, 3,658 incidents of violence against minorities were reported and 1,678 places of worship were vandalized.
Speakers said that without the minorities, the country might go under a powerful religious regime and diversity would be lost.
They complained that local leaders are also not assisting in fair trials due to political agendas and favour criminals for the sake of votes.
The administration and law enforcement is also not carrying out proper investigation due to the patronage of political parties, they added.