Hindus attacked in post-poll violence in Bangladesh, BJP asks Centre to intervene

Dhaka: Members of Hindu community are being targeted in the post-poll violence in Bangladesh. Thousands of Hindu homes and shops were burnt down by Jamaat activists following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's re-election.

Back home in India, Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the Centre to intervene in the matter even as the government claims that it has been monitoring situation in the neighbouring country.

Districts like Jessore are the most affected as a thousand Hindu houses and shops have been burnt, thousands of people have fled their homes to find a safe haven in relief camps. The mobs have also vandalised dozens of temples across the country and brutalised the community.

An unidentified displaced woman said, "I have nothing left. They have looted my money and belongings."

"Hindu houses and temples have been burnt and our women are being raped and humiliated the way it was done in 1971. We cannot stay inside our homes," said Babul Krishna Hawaldar, a Hindu leader in Bangladesh.

For Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, just sworn in for the third time, the violence is a part of the attacks on her as Hindus were targetted after the sentencing of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders for war crimes committed in 1971.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reacted to the incident saying, "I will be taking strict actions to save the life and properties of the citizens in Bangladesh. By God's grace, I also promise to stop the violence in the country."

In the past week, several opposition leaders and Jamaat activists have been arrested for the attacks. But many fear that this will only fuel more communal tensions as the protests against the January 5th elections, where only about 25 per cent of the electoral voted.

In India, the Bharatiya Janata Party is demanding that New Delhi take up the issue with Hasina government.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said, "We certainly are voicing our concern about the minority community, which is being targeted of attack. They are the targets of attack, and therefore, we voice our concern, fully appreciating again, that it is a completely internal matter of Bangladesh."

Hindus constitute about 8 per cent of Bangladesh's population and have faced a frightening string of attacks in the past year.