Dhaka: Former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina has issued her first statement after she was forced to leave her motherland on August 5.
B’desh Interim Govt Chief Yunus Reaches Out To Hindus
Bangladesh’s
Dhaka: Former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina has issued her first statement after she was forced to leave her motherland on August 5.
B’desh Interim Govt Chief Yunus Reaches Out To Hindus
Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday reached out to the distressed Hindu community as he visited a centuries-old temple, where he urged them to “exercise patience” and assured them that his government would punish those who attacked the minority members.
The 84-year-old economist, who took charge as the Chief Advisor of the interim government on August 8 amid ongoing violence and vandalism, visited the Dhakeshwari temple – one of the prominent Shakti peethas – in Dhaka and said each one’s rights should be ensured and blamed “institutional decay” for the predicament that his country has fallen into.
His visit comes on a day when the Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance said that the minority community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5 and termed it as an “assault on the Hindu religion.”
“Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge — what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us,” Yunus was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.
“In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements. That is why such issues arise. Institutional arrangements need to be fixed,” said Yunus, who was accompanied by Law Adviser Asif Nazrul and Religious Affairs Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain.
On Monday, Hossain’s ministry set up a hotline asking people to provide information about attacks on temples, churches or any other religious institutions.
“If a temple, church, pagoda or any other religious institution is attacked or attacked by miscreants, it is requested to report its information by calling this mobile number 01766-843809 or by sending a small message,” Bengali language daily Prothom Alo reported, citing a notification issued by the ministry on Monday.
Meanwhile, deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six others, including two senior ministers of her cabinet and the sacked police chief, would face trial on murder charges, court officials said on Tuesday. The murder case filed against 76-year-old Hasina is the first so far against her since she resigned.
“In line with a case filed by a resident of (Dhaka’s) Mohammadpur area, Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury has asked police to register it as an FIR,” a court official said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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