Three organisations advocating for the protection of minority rights in Bangladesh organised a human chain and protest march in front of the Press Club in capital Dhaka and elsewhere across the country on Saturday.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Minority Unity Front, and the Bangladesh Puja Celebration Council held the protest to condemn the "ongoing violence against religious and ethnic minorities," according to a press release.
In their statement, Oikya Parishad mentioned that in Dhaka's Khilkhet area, the Khilkhet Sarbajanin Durga Temple was demolished with a bulldozed, with the idol still inside, and during the drive destroyed. In doing so, the government once again bowed down to the demands of communal forces.
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In Lalmonirhat, a low-income family's father, Paresh Chandra Shil (69), and son, Bishnu Chandra Shil (35), were beaten and handed over to the police on what the alliance described as 'false' charges of "religious defamation."
From the protest, the organisations made strong demands to the government for immediate action.
They called for the immediate rebuilding of the temple in Khilkhet, the formation of an investigation committee to identify and punish those responsible for the demolition, the immediate release of Paresh Chandra Shil, Bishnu and others who were unjustly arrested in Lalmonirhat, urgent measures to stop the ongoing persecution of religious and ethnic minorities.
The speakers emphasised that an inclusive, secular Bangladesh was created in 1971 through the Liberation War.
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However, they stated that communal forces, both domestic and foreign, are now using the interim government as a cover to persecute religious and ethnic minorities.
This includes looting their homes, vandalising places of worship, attacking them on false religious grounds, and filing lawsuits against minority leaders across the country.
They called this a major challenge to communal harmony and urged all progressive, non-communal social, political and cultural groups to unite against these forces.
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The central protest in front of the Dhaka Press Club was chaired by Nim Chandra Bhowmik, a prominent president of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, and moderated by Joint General Secretary Advocate Shyamal Kumar Ray.
After the rally, a protest march paraded through various city streets, chanting slogans before concluding back at the Press Club.