GUWAHATI
An Indian rights group has requested the United Nations to assist cease Mohammed Yunus, the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh, from emboldening the religious fundamentalists in his nation by denying assaults on the minorities in his nation.
The New Delhi-based Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) additionally stated Mr. Yunus had been trivialising the acts of violence towards the Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians in Bangladesh by describing them as outcomes of private disputes, prison acts, or accidents.
His denial of atrocities towards religious minorities had made the leaders of the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council extraordinarily weak to additional assaults, the RRAG stated in an attraction to the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), and the heads of diplomatic missions and worldwide organisations in Dhaka.
In a rejoinder to the Unity Council’s newest report on such atrocities, Mr. Yunus stated on March 25: “With respect to the killings, preliminary investigations by the police indicate that these incidents were not connected to communal violence. Rather, these tragic deaths occurred at the hands of troublemakers, driven by a variety of factors such as prior enmity, theft, domestic disputes, and reckless behaviour.”
Also learn | Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh not communal, difficulty ‘exaggerated’: Muhammad Yunus
On March 13, the Unity Council stated violence towards religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous communities in Bangladesh continued unabated, as in the previous.
“In January and February, 92 incidents of violence targeting minorities and indigenous communities have occurred, including 11 murders, three cases of rape, 25 attacks on temples, one allegation of religious disrespect, six attacks on indigenous communities, 38 incidents of attacks, vandalism, and looting of homes and businesses, two cases of job dismissals, and six other attacks,” the Unity Council’s report stated.
The RRAG stated Mr. Yunus, with none investigation into any acts of violence towards Hindus, said on September 5, 2024 that these assaults have been politically motivated. Four months later, the police substantiated his assertion via an allegedly manufactured investigation.
“The assertions of Mr. Yunus and the Bangladesh Police that there were no attacks based on religious belief are contrary to a conclusive finding of the UNHCHR, which investigated at his invitation,” RRAG director Suhas Chakma stated on Wednesday.
He stated the UN physique’s report, launched on February 12, revealed Ahmadiyya Muslims have been subjected to violent assaults by the mobs, aside from Hindus and the indigenous teams in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Targeted assaults on the religious minorities and destruction of their homes and locations of worship have been usually beneath the pretext of revenge towards Awami League supporters, he added.
Seeking the worldwide group’s intervention, Mr. Chakma stated Mr. Yunus’ statements have been unbecoming of a head of the federal government, and by condoning the violence as regular prison acts, he was inciting radicals to focus on the nation’s religious minorities.
Published – March 26, 2025 07:46 pm IST
