A group of expatriate Bangladeshi Hindus has urged India to request UN sanctions against Dhaka

A group of expatriate Bangladeshi Hindus urged the Indian government on Monday to call for UN sanctions against Bangladesh and to “complete the unfinished population exchange” in order to protect Hindus and other religious minorities in the country. The group, consisting of individuals of Bangladeshi origin living in Europe and North America and affiliated with the Global Bengali Hindu Coalition, is in India for meetings with political leaders to address the targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh, especially after the ousting of the Sheikh Hasina government in August. Speaking at a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club, the group presented a five-point “call to action” aimed at safeguarding Hindus, religious minorities, indigenous peoples, and tribal groups “under the hostile and pro-jihadist illegal government in Bangladesh.”

The group called on the Indian government to seek global intervention, including the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces to protect minorities in Bangladesh. It also urged India to push for targeted UN sanctions against the “current illegal and hostile regime” in Bangladesh due to its “proven misconduct and failure to uphold human rights and protect the dignity of religious minorities.” The group emphasized the need to complete the “unfinished population exchange” from the 1947 Partition, which would allow for the secure resettlement of displaced minorities. No additional details were provided about this proposal.

Furthermore, the group urged India to pressure Bangladesh’s interim government to create “protected zones” in Hindu-majority regions to ensure the safety and security of minorities. The group also called on India to reconsider its support for Bangladesh’s peacekeeping contributions, as Bangladesh is one of the largest providers of troops for UN missions worldwide. It suggested India reassess its support for Bangladesh's peacekeeping quotas.

Sitangshu Guha, a US-based leader of the group, highlighted India’s role in Bangladesh’s liberation war in 1971 and said, “India is our best friend, it can help rescue the 20 million Hindus of Bangladesh.” He added, “What the Indian government will do is up to the Indian government. We urge the Indian government to help the Hindu community from extinction.”

India has expressed its concerns to Bangladesh’s interim government about the targeting of Hindus and other minorities, as well as the November arrest of Bangladeshi monk Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges. These issues were raised during foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to Dhaka earlier this month to consult with officials from the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Relations between India and Bangladesh have deteriorated since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down in August amidst widespread protests and fled to India. The interim government in Bangladesh has downplayed reports of attacks on Hindus, claiming such accounts are exaggerated and stating that around 80 people have been arrested in connection with various incidents. However, Guha and Pushpita Gupta, a Labour Party councillor from the London borough of Redbridge, insisted that attacks on Bangladesh’s Hindu community are still ongoing. Guha asserted that all Bangladeshi governments, including Hasina’s, had failed to protect Hindus and had instead allowed Islamists to thrive.

Arun Dutta, a Canada-based member of the group, pointed out Bangladesh’s reliance on Indian goods, stating, “If the trucks don’t go [from India], they will go hungry.” He also noted that the Hindu population in the former East Pakistan had decreased from 22% in 1951 to 7.95% in 2022, highlighting the suffering of Hindus in present-day Bangladesh since 1947, due to the lack of protection for their interests.

According to a report by the Bangladesh United Sanatani Awakening Alliance, 51 attacks on Hindu temples, orphanages, and crematoriums were documented between August 5 and December 21. The report also detailed a robbery at a temple in Natore Sadar upazila on December 20, where the shrine’s caretaker was killed, and gold ornaments were among the items stolen.