Leaders of minority communities on Friday said certain quarters are actively trying to undermine the government’s pledge to build a secular and humane society and state.
The leaders said that the country’s religious and ethnic minorities had hoped the ruling party would fulfil its commitment to establishing a secular and humane society and state.
They urged the government and the head of state to come forward immediately and play an effective role in stopping such ill-motivated activities.
They made the call at a human chain organised in front of the Jatiya Press Club in protest against nearly fifty incidents of communal violence that occurred across the country in the one month following the national election.
They also expressed hope that the peaceful environment ensured a few days before the election to allow voters to cast their ballots freely and without fear would continue in the process of building a democratic Bangladesh.
Human chains and protest processions with the same demands were also held in various districts and metropolitan cities across the country, in addition to the capital Dhaka.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the coordinated Minority Unity Alliance said that incidents of communal violence in the month following the election included murder, rape, attacks on temples, looting, attacks on homes and business establishments, and the grabbing of indigenous people’s homesteads.
The leaders demanded the immediate arrest of those involved in all communal incidents and exemplary punishment under the law.
They also called for compensation for victims and proper treatment for the injured.
At the same time, they urged the government to take effective steps to implement their eight-point demand, including the immediate enactment of a Minority Protection Act and the formation of a Minority Commission and a Ministry for Minority Affairs.
Following the human chain, a protest procession of several hundred people marched from the Jatiya Press Club premises, circled Paltan intersection and returned to the same venue.
The rally held before the procession was presided over by journalist Basudev Dhar, president of the Bangladesh Puja Celebration Council.
Advocate Subrata Chowdhury, president of Gono Forum and member of the presidium of the Unity Council; Manindra Kumar Nath, acting general secretary of the Unity Council and joint coordinator of the Minority Unity Alliance; Subrata Hazra of the Bangladesh Christian Association; Advocate Suman Kumar Roy, general secretary of the Bangladesh Sanatan Party; Santosh Das, joint general secretary of the World Hindu Federation; Dr M K Roy, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Mahajot (MK); Atul Chandra Mondal, general secretary of Anubhab Bangladesh; Krishna Das, member secretary of the Unity Council Dhaka South; Newton Adhikari of Matua Mahasangha; Supriya Bhattacharya, president of Bangladesh Mahila Oikya Parishad; Shimul Saha, president of Youth Unity Council; Sajib Sarkar, acting president of Student Unity Council; and Piyush Das of Sanatan Mahasangha, among others, were present.
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The rally was conducted by Palash Kanti De, spokesperson and executive secretary general of the Bangladesh National Hindu Mahajot.
Barun Chandra Sarkar, president of the World Hindu Federation; Milon Kanti Dutta, member of the Unity Council presidium; joint general secretaries Rabindra Nath Basu and Ramen Mondal; organisational secretary Advocate Dipankar Ghosh; Dipali Chakraborty, general secretary of Mahila Oikya Parishad; Gita Biswas and others were also present.