N J Thakuria
Guwahati, October 29
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at its Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal Baithak, held in Dharwad (Karnataka), expresses its deep anguish over the recent outburst of violence on Hindu families in Bangladesh and strongly condemns the continuing brutality on the Hindu minority community in the neighboring country.
It reassures that RSS along with the entire Hindu society stands firmly by persecuted Hindu and Buddhist minorities there in this challenging time. In a resolution, adopted in the three-day meeting (28 to 30 October 2021), the RSS (literary meaning National Volunteer Organisation and functions as a Hindu nationalist umbrella organisation) terms the attacks on temple and Sanatan families as a ‘part of larger conspiracy by Jihadi groups to further Islamisation’ of the south Asian nation.
“The recent slew of communal violence that erupted (in Bangladesh) during the sacred festival of Durga Puja left many innocent Hindus killed, hundreds of others injured and rendered thousands of families homeless. Several girls and women belonging to the Hindu community were assaulted, temples and Durga Puja pandals were vandalised in a span of two weeks,” said the resolution.
It added that the arrest of some of the accused individuals, who spread fake news to incite communal frenzy in society, brought to light that the attacks were a well-orchestrated conspiracy of the radical Islamists. The frequent and targeted attacks are clearly a systematic effort to exterminate and uproot Hindu minorities whose population has witnessed a steep decline ever since the partition of Bharat, it added.
It may be mentioned that around twenty eight per cent of the population of East Bengal was Hindu at the time of partition, which dwindled to about eight per cent now. The atrocities by radical Islamist groups like Jamaat-e-Islami (Bangladesh) resulted in large scale migration of Hindus into Bharat since partition and specially during the 1971 War. Those outfits continue to vitiate the communal harmony in Bangladesh creating insecurity to the minorities there.
The meeting in presence of Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat and Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosbale opines that the Bangla government in Dhaka should take stringent measures to prevent the mounting incidents of violence against the minorities in the country. Dhaka should also ensure that the perpetrators of anti-Hindu violence be handed severe punishment so that the Hindus will be assured about their secured dignified life availing their rights in Bangladesh.
In another aspect, the meeting decried the deafening silence of so-called human rights watchdogs and UN affiliated bodies calling upon the international community to come forward in raising their voices for the safety and security of the Bangladeshi Hindu, Buddhist and other minorities. It also cautioned that the rise of radical Islamist forces, whether in Bangladesh or in any other parts of the globe, would be a grave threat to democracy and human rights in all peace-loving nations.
The meet, where over 350 Karyakartas from all over the country including Pranth Sanghchalak, Karyavah, Pracharak, Akhil Bharatiya Karyakarini members, etc also appealed to the Union government in New Delhi to use all available diplomatic channels to communicate the concerns of the global Hindu community to Dhaka over the human rights violation there. It acknowledged various Hindu organizations and institutions like ISKCON, RK Mission, Bharat Sevashram Sangha, VHP, etc for standing by the victims of violence.
