Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, Jan. 11: A massive protest rally was held in Diglipur yesterday against the unabated and planned violence, injustice and oppression faced by the Hindu and other minority communities in Bangladesh.
As per report, thousands of people came out to street and held a mammoth protest rally against a series of incidents in Bangladesh, including reports of temple vandalism, idol desecration, and violent attacks, including the mob lynching of two Hindu men (Deepu Chandra Das and Amrit Mandal). In the procession, slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Yunus Sarkar Hoshier’, ‘Hindu Hattya Band Karo’, ‘Jai Sri Ram’, ‘Sakal Hindu Ek Hou’, ‘Jago Hindu Jago Santan’ were raised as members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal accused Bangladeshi authorities of failing to protect minorities.
The rally was organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) & Bajrang Dal, and people including men, women, children and elderly and even the people, cutting across the party lines, responded to the call of the VHP and actively took part in the rally. The protestors gathered in front of the Sri Sri Radha Govind Temple here at around 03:00 p.m. and the procession started from there about 03:30 p.m. The procession marched up to New Durga Market and concluded at Dolphin Chowk where a temporary stage was made for addressing the gathering.
The shopkeepers of Diglipur who also participated in the rally and extended their unconditional support to this protest, kept their shops closed in the afternoon yesterday.
Mr. Anil Tiwar, State President, the BJP, A & N Islands and Mr. Avinash Gaur, State Maha Mantri, VHP, A & N Islands arrived here from Sri Vijay Puram yesterday to participate in the rally. They both addressed the gathering after the protest rally concluded at Dolphin Chowk.
In his address, Mr. Anil Tiwar said that India is a peaceful country, but a few radical groups allegedly always try to disrupt the tranquillity, harmony and national integrity in our country. After the recent regime change in Bangladesh, several incidents of attacks on Mutts, temples, Durgapuja pandals and educational institutions, desecration of deities, barbaric killings, looting of properties, abduction and molestation of women and forcible conversions are reportedly the burning instances of these radical Islamist groups’ heinous acts, the BJP, State President said. The continuous decline of Hindu population in Bangladesh indicates the existential crisis for them, he added. He reportedly threatened Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus to exercise restraint on atrocities on Hindus and other minority communities in Bangladesh otherwise India will teach them an appropriate lesson.
Taking the same line, the State Maha Mantri, VHP, A & N Islands Mr. Avinash Gaur also condemned the persecution being allegedly inflicted on Hindus and other minority communities, especially scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Bangladesh at the hands of fanatic Islamist elements. He cautioned Bangladesh that the persistent ‘anti-Bharat rhetoric’ can severely damage the relationship between the two countries and at the same time he reportedly threatened Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus to exercise restraint on persecution and atrocities on Hindus and other minority communities in Bangladesh or else he would have to reportedly pay the price for that.
Mr. Naresh Halder, the BJP District President also addressed the gathering, and showing his much concern about the continuous decline of Hindu population in Bangladesh, he said that the Bengali community in Bangladesh has been reportedly decreasing owing to alleged persecution and atrocities on them. He further said that the Bengali community in Andaman have a sentiment attached with the Hindu Community in Bangladesh as they were the inhabitants of Bangladesh and were forced to flee from Bangladesh owing to their oppression of the radical Islamist elements. He said that Bangladeshi Muslim nationals and or Rohingyas are allegedly residing in Andaman in disguise and they are reportedly wandering in village areas with mere house articles for vending but with ulterior motives and people need to identify them. People of these islands have to be reportedly cautious about these foreign nationals’ presence and hideouts and if found, the matter should be brought to the knowledge of the administration, he said.
