Congress condemns killing of Hindu leader in Bangladesh, urges govt to flag issue

The Congress on Saturday condemned the killing of a prominent Hindu community member, Bhabesh Chandra Roy, in Bangladesh. Roy was said to be a prominent Hindu community member in Biral upazila of Dinajpur, Bangladesh. He was allegedly abducted from his home and beaten to death on Thursday. The victim Roy, 58, served as the vice-president of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad.

India had on Friday rejected Bangladesh's remarks calling for "protection against minority Muslim population" in West Bengal and instead urged Dhaka to focus on protecting the rights of its own minorities.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, "We reject the remarks made by the Bangladesh side with regard to the incidents in West Bengal. This is a barely disguised and disingenuous attempt to draw a parallel with India’s concerns over the ongoing persecution of minorities in Bangladesh where the criminal perpetrators of such acts continue to roam free."

Condemning the incident, the party's senior leader Jairam Ramesh in a statement said,"...The abduction and assault leading to his tragic death is a chilling reminder of the growing sense of insecurity among religious minorities in the region."

"This is not an isolated incident. Over the past months, there have been repeated and deeply disturbing instances of attacks on minority communities in Bangladesh, from desecration of Hindu temples to targeted attack on the homes and businesses of minorities. This pattern of intimidation and brutality cannot be ignored," the party said.

The party urged the government to take up the matter with the "highest urgency and prevail upon the Government of Bangladesh to ensure a swift, transparent investigation, and bring the culprits to justice."

"We reiterate our demand that the safety, dignity, and rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh be protected in letter and spirit. Silence and inaction are not options when such targeted violence is allowed to take root," the Opposition party said.

The Congress stands in solidarity with the Hindu community in Bangladesh and with all those who believe in secularism, justice and human rights, the party said.

Modi-Yunus meeting was a failure: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, too, reacted to Roy’ killing, saying, "Religious minorities, especially our Hindu brothers and sisters, are being persecuted in Bangladesh." He termed the recent meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Bangladesh interim government head Muhammad Yunus a "failure", saying, "The brutal killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a prominent Hindu leader, is a proof that PM Narendra Modi's meeting with the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh was a failure."

According to the reply given by the government in the Parliament, in the previous two months itself, there were 76 attacks on Hindus, in which 23 Hindus were killed, the Congress chief said, adding, "Attacks on other religious minorities are also continuing."

He said recently, the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh made a very condemnable and disappointing comment about the North-Eastern states of India. "The persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh, human rights violations and the attempt to erase the memories of the 1971 Liberation War are attempts to weaken the relations between India and Bangladesh," he added.