Protesters approached her residence and the only option she could think of to save her life was to leave the country she had led as prime minister for 15 years. This is what happens when foreign actors intervene in a democracy and try to install their own puppets there. On August 5, 2024, Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu and father of Bangladesh’s Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, fled to India.
All this started when the quota system, which was abolished by Hasina in 2018, was overturned by the Supreme Court in June 2024. However, this court order was later overturned by the Supreme Court, which means that there is currently no such quota in the South Asian country. The system has its origins in 1972 when then Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman introduced it and reserved 56% of government jobs in Bangladesh for various groups, including 30% for the descendants of freedom fighters who had fought in the Bangladesh War of 1971.
Following the Supreme Court ruling in June, students and teachers went on strike in Bangladesh’s public universities in July against the new universal pension scheme, Prottoy, which, if implemented, would have resulted in salary cuts. Initially, the protests were peaceful, but when Hasina gave a speech in which she referred to the protesting students as “Rajakars” – a term used to describe supporters of Pakistan during its liberation war – the protests escalated.
The clashes between the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League, and the protesting students with the support of the police were widely reported. In addition, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed by the Hasina government on the Dhaka University campus.
But the main culprit behind the overthrow of the Hasina government, according to India Today, is the Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS), the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. Many ICS cadres have been admitted to various Bangladeshi universities in the last two years, which gave them the opportunity to instigate the ordinary students. The said organization is believed to be supported by the Pakistani secret service Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and is largely funded by the Chinese organizations operating in Pakistan.
Just three days after Sheikh Hasina fled, on August 8, Muhammad Yunus, an economist who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for lifting millions out of poverty, took the oath of office as head of Bangladesh’s interim government. Through his Grameen Bank, he provided microloans to rural poor who were not wealthy enough to attract the attention of traditional banks.
But even the Nobel Prize winner could not stop the targeted attacks on minorities, especially Hindus. According to The Daily Star newspaper, the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad in Bangladesh published a report on August 9, citing 205 cases of attacks on members of minority communities, especially Hindus, in 52 districts of the country.
Another document released by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council pointed to 54 attacks on the Hindu minority, including staged attacks on their temples, homes and establishments. Along with the document, several videos that went viral on social media showed the same. On August 6, Hindu homes and shops in 27 districts were attacked again, The Daily Star reported.
The Islamists have raped several Hindu women in this wave of genocide, but no international human rights or women’s rights organization has come forward to show their support to the victims. If the victims had been Muslims, they would have been at the forefront. That is how sad the situation of the Hindus is today.
The New York Times published a report on August 7 with the headline “Hindus in Bangladesh face revenge attacks after PM’s departure,” which, after strong reactions from readers, was changed to “Hindus in Bangladesh face attacks after PM’s departure,” meaning that the US daily omitted the word “revenge.”
Human Rights Watch repeated the same story. Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Hindus are being attacked because they traditionally support their party, the Awami League. Bangladeshis have taken to the streets to demand an end to authoritarianism, and these attacks undermine their legitimate demands for human rights.”
In another article titled “Bangladesh: Why one must be cautious in assessing violence against Hindus,” Scroll justified the violence perpetrated by Islamists against Hindus. “In India, the Hindutva propaganda machine in sections of the Indian media, along with various kinds of rumours and misinformation, has reinforced these fears,” the article said.
In view of the above arguments, I conclude my argument by stating that the lives of Hindus are very worthless, which proves the ongoing genocide against them in Bangladesh.
-Rishabh Gaur
