MLA leads protest against Bangladesh violence

Senior Jammu and Kashmir BJP leader and MLA Daleep Singh Parihar on Saturday led a protest demonstration in Bhaderwah town of Doda district against alleged atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh.

The call for the protest was given by the Shri Sanatan Dharam Sabha and it was supported by the BJP and various Hindu outfits, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Many shops in the town observed a half-day closure due to the protest.

Carrying placards and raising slogans, the protesters burnt an effigy of Bangladesh’s interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus at the historic Seri Bazaar and demanded the release of arrested ISKCON priest Chinmoy Krishna Das in the neighbouring country.

The protest started from the ancient Vasak Dera temple of the old town locality and the participants marched in a procession through the Ganpat Bazar to the Seri Bazar amid tight security arrangements.

“Minorities, including Hindus, are faced with oppression in Bangladesh which needs to be stopped immediately. Hindus and other minorities are being killed and their houses burnt. We are on the roads to submit a resolution and seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to safeguard Hindus in Bangladesh,” Parihar said.

The protesters later submitted a memorandum to the additional deputy commissioner before dispersing off peacefully, officials said.

The BJP’s Mahila Morcha district president Arpana Kotwal and VHP leader Satish Kotwal criticised the Bangladesh interim government for its alleged failure to check attacks on the Hindu minority in the country. “Such incidents are intolerable and should be stopped forthwith,” Arpana Kotwal said. Shri Sanatan Dharam Sabha also held protest rallies in Reasi and Udhampur.