US Congressman seeks briefing on 'plight of Hindus' in Bangladesh

US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has requested a briefing from the State Department on reports of "the rise in harassment and violence against Hindus" and other minority communities in Bangladesh following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Krishnamoorthi's office said the Congressman has sought the briefing by month-end.

"As you are aware, Bangladesh's Hindu community has historically faced challenges, but recent incidents following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have heightened concerns about their safety," the Congressman wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council recently reported over 2,000 incidents of communal violence targeting minorities, mostly Hindus, across the country from August 4 to August 20, 2024. This included nine deaths of people belonging to minority groups, rapes, and attacks on 69 places of worship, which were vandalised or set on fire.

"Given the alarming rise in violence against religious minorities," he continued in the letter.

"I respectfully request a briefing by October 31, 2024, on the treatment of religious minorities in Bangladesh and the State Department's efforts to promote the security and safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh, including during the Durga Puja festival, in addition to an assessment of the efforts of Bangladesh’s government to combat violence against religious minorities and prevent additional attacks," he wrote.

Krishnamoorthi noted Blinken's meeting with Bangladesh interim government Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in September in which "you stressed the need to protect minority communities in Bangladesh".

Krishnamoorthi is one of four Hindu members of the US House of Representatives -- the others are Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and Shri Thanedar -- and he has raised the issue of safety and security of Hindus in Bangladesh before.

As Bangladesh was undergoing tumult after Sheikh Hasina's ouster in August, Krishnamoorthi had sought to attention of the secretary of state to the "rise of coordinated anti-Hindu violence" and had urged the US to engage with Yunus "for the purposes of both bringing the violence to an end and the perpetrators to justice".

"Sadly", he added in a letter to Blinken, "this is not the first time that anti-government protests in Bangladesh have metastasized into anti-Hindu violence. The anti-Hindu riots in October 2021 left 9 people dead amidst the destruction of hundreds of homes, businesses and temples. In 2017, more than 107 Hindus were killed and 37 'disappeared' according to Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu. The anti-Hindu riots of 2013, following the International Crimes Tribunal conviction of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Sayeedi for war crimes, were especially destructive".