Bangladesh Hindu-Baudhha-Christian Kalyan Front has said that the statements of the US congressmen about the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh are accurate and the extent of persecution is even more alarming.
The leaders of the organization made the comments while reading out a written statement at a press conference held at the National Press Club on Friday.
Bijan Kanti Dey, the chairman of the organization, said that recently, six congressmen from the United States sent a letter to US President Joe Biden addressing the persecution of religious minorities, the state of democracy, elections, and the deteriorating human rights situation in Bangladesh.
The letter partially addressed the escalating persecution of religious minorities and their vulnerability, along with the government's flawed election process, the decline of democracy, and increasing human rights violations, he said.
However, the situation, in the past 15 years under the current government in Bangladesh, has become much more severe than portrayed in the letter, he remarked.
Bijan Kanti Dey mentioned that they have observed some individuals, claiming them as religious minorities, have denied and claimed falsehood regarding the incidents of minority persecution and oppression mentioned in the US congressmen's letter and making spurious comments to the media.
“We think they were approached by the Awami League government to make such comments for political gain,” said the chairman.
“Despite several incidents of attacks on religious minorities, proper investigations and justice have not been carried out. Instead, the ruling party has politically exploited these coordinated attacks for its own benefit,” he added.
Bijan Kanti further said that according to a report by the Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights organization, from 2013 to September 2021, there have been 3,679 incidents of attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh within a span of nine years.
“Among them, 1,551 incidents involved house vandalism and arson attacks. There have been 442 incidents of attacks, vandalism, and arson at business establishments owned by Hindus. Additionally, 1,678 incidents involved the destruction and arson of idols, places of worship, and prayer halls,” he said.
Bijan Kanti emphasized that none of these incidents have been properly investigated, proving that the Awami League is directly or indirectly complicit in every act of violence against religious minorities.
“They consistently exploit religion for their own political interests, causing violence, hatred, and instability in society. Therefore, we strongly condemn and protest against those spreading falsehoods to discredit the accurate statements made by the American congressmen regarding the persecution of religious minorities,” he concluded.
