India Slams B’desh Over Killing of Hindu Leader
India faulted Bangladesh for abduction and brutal killing of Hindu leader Bhabesh Chandra Roy
New Delhi: Condemning the abduction and brutal killing of Hindu leader Bhabesh Chandra Roy in Bangladesh, India on Saturday pointed to the “systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government (led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus) even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity” and reminded Dhaka of its “responsibility to protect all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses”.
Reacting to the brutal killing of Roy, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday said, “This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity. We condemn this incident and once again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions.”
According to reports, Roy was a resident of Basudebpur village in Dinajpur, which is about 330 km northwest of Dhaka. He was abducted from his house by bike-borne assailants and beaten to death. Roy was also reportedly a member of a local puja committee in the area where he lived.
The Yunus government has been in denial about the relentless attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, even going so far as to attribute them to propaganda and Indian media exaggeration.
India had on Friday as well hit out at Bangladesh and rejected its remarks after the neighbouring nation needled India on Thursday about the Murshidabad violence in West Bengal and had asked New Delhi to protect the Muslim minority. New Delhi termed it a “barely disguised and disingenuous attempt (on the part of Dhaka) to draw a parallel with India’s concerns over the ongoing persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, where the criminal perpetrators of such acts continue to roam free” and lambasted the neighbouring nation’s attempts at “virtue signalling”.
On Friday, the foreign ministry spokesperson had said, “We reject the remarks made by the Bangladesh side with regard to the incidents in West Bengal. This is a barely disguised and disingenuous attempt to draw a parallel with India’s concerns over the ongoing persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, where the criminal perpetrators of such acts continue to roam free. Instead of making unwarranted comments and indulging in virtue signalling, Bangladesh would do better to focus on protecting the rights of its own minorities.”
Amid a sharp deterioration in bilateral ties between New Delhi and Dhaka over the past eight-and-a-half months following the ouster of the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier this month told Mr Yunus on the sidelines of the Bimstec summit in Bangkok clearly that "any rhetoric (affecting bilateral ties) that vitiates the environment is best avoided". The advice seems to have been ignored by Dhaka, which has been actively courting both Beijing and Islamabad.
Mr Modi had also raised “upfront” India’s strong concerns on the attacks on minorities, including Hindus in Bangladesh, and conveyed India’s “expectation” that the culprits will be brought to book and that the interim government would fulfil its responsibility in this regard.
