Kolkata: Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Chowdhury voiced Monday concerns over reports of attack on minority Hindu community in some parts of Bangladesh. Adhir Chowdhury urged the Centre to take up the issue immediately with the neighbouring country.
Chowdhury’s statement came in the wake of media reports that houses of several Hindu families have been vandalised and burnt by radical Islamists in Bangladesh’s Comilla district over rumours about an alleged Facebook post slandering Islam.
“It is reported that Hindu families in Bangladesh have been targetted by fundamentalist forces. It has resulted in arsoning and other violence as a reprisal of the stand taken by our government,” Chowdhury said in a statement.
Asked what he meant by ‘reprisal of the Indian stand’, Chowdhury said he indicated the Centre’s pledge to France for jointly fighting global terror.
“There are rumours pouring in that Hindus have been attacked over the issue of decapitation (of a teacher) and Macron’s statement in France. The veracity of the news is yet to be clarified,” Choudhury said in a tweet.
“The Indian government should take up the issue with Bangladesh government as immediately as possible so as to prevent further escalation,” added Chowdhury.
According to a media report Monday from Dhaka, households were vandalised and set on fire on Sunday. It happened after a Bangladeshi man, who lives in France, allegedly praised French President Emmanuel Macron over Facebook for taking steps against inhumane ideologies following the decapitation of the teacher in a Paris suburb October 16 for showing caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.
The headmaster of a kindergarten school in Purbo Dhour in Bangladesh’s Comilla district had welcomed Macron’s action min his comment on the post.
As the rumours about the Facebook post spread, tension mounted in the area Saturday. The police arrested two persons, including the headmaster of the kindergarten, on charges of hurting the religious sentiments Sunday, the report said. The other person is a resident of nearby Andikot village, the report added.
The Bangladesh police have initiated a case under the Digital Security Act against the two arrested.