Yunus govt should introspect, investigate acts of violence against minorities in Bangladesh: MEA

New Delhi, Oct 3 India on Friday slammed the recent remarks made by Bangladesh's Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, highlighting that the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government has a habit of routinely shifting the blame and diverting attention from internal failures.

Addressing a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Yunus government should investigate the actions of local extremists committing atrocities against the minorities in the country.

“We categorically reject these false and baseless allegations. The interim government of Bangladesh is unable to maintain the law and order situation in the country, and has a habit of routinely trying to shift the blame elsewhere. It would do well to introspect and conduct serious investigations into the actions of local extremists committing violence, arson, and land grabs against the minority communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts”, said Jaiswal.

The MEA spokesperson was reacting to a question on the recent statement made by Chowdhury where he had alleged that New Delhi was behind the unrest in Khagrachari district of Chittagong Hill Tracts.

The violence against the indigenous people in Chittagong Hill Tracts has sparked concerns among world leaders about the condition of the backward and religious minorities in Bangladesh.

Several human rights bodies have urged the interim government to take strict action against the perpetrators after multiple indigenous people were killed and injured in Khagrachari following widespread arson, looting, and indiscriminate firing carried out by the Bangladeshi security forces.

The violence erupted on September 28, when people were demanding justice for a Marma schoolgirl who was brutally gang-raped.

On Wednesday, an exhibition was also showcased outside the United Nations in Geneva by the International Forum for Secular Bangladesh, turning the global spotlight on the worsening human rights record of the South Asian nation.

The two-day poster display ran alongside the 60th session of the Human Rights Council.

Through 30 panels, it highlighted the rise of radical fundamentalism, communal violence and minority oppression, suppression of press freedom, mob terrorism and sexual abuse.

Earlier this week, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a human rights organisation against religious discrimination, expressed deep sorrow and anger over Yunus' comments dismissing the persecution of Hindu minorities across Bangladesh as "baseless".

Yunus made the remarks in an interview with the Global Thinkers Organisation (GTO) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York rejecting the allegations of persecution of Hindu minorities during the interim government's tenure.

Condemning the Chief Advisor's remarks, the Council stated that it "constituted a denial of the truth."

Bangladesh has witnessed escalating violence against minorities including Hindus under the Yunus led interim government, sparking outrage among people and several human organisations across the globe.

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