Dhaka: Reports of attacks on Hindu minorities since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina govt have raised international concern, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
In its report titled ‘After the Monsoon Revolution: A Roadmap to Lasting Security Sector Reform in Bangladesh’, the New York-based HRW stated that commentators in Bangladesh have informed the organisation that Hindus and other religious minorities were attacked because they traditionally supported Hasina’s Awami League. Some reports of such attacks have been “exaggerated” on social media, causing panic, but the uptick in violence against the Hindu community is real, the report added.
Even as Hindu groups allege “hundreds of incidents” of vandalism targeting their businesses, homes and places of worship, the interim govt has confirmed that only 88 cases of communal violence were registered between Aug 5 and Oct 22, with 70 people arrested.
HRW also found a “disturbing pattern” of security force abuses re-emerging after Hasina’s ouster, this time targeting former Awami League supporters, including journalists. Police are again “arbitrarily detaining” people and filing mass criminal complaints against unnamed individuals, which allows the police to threaten virtually anyone with arrest, the rights group said.
The interim govt has embarked on much-needed institutional reforms, but recent cases of arbitrary arrests and reprisal violence underscore the need for long-term systemic reforms, HRW said. The 50-page report offered recommendations saying the govt should seek technical assistance, monitoring, and reporting by the office of the high commissioner for human rights and other UN rights experts to ensure lasting reforms. “...Bangladeshis lost lives fighting for democracy...,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW. “This hard-won progress could all be lost if the interim govt does not create swift and structural reforms that can withstand any repression by future govts.”
