Indian American lawmakers call for Congressional hearings on attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

New York, Aug 10 : Indian American members of the House of Representatives have called for Congressional hearings on the targeted violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.

“When the Congress returns from recess, we must hold hearings to learn more about the failures to protect the Hindus and other minority groups in Bangladesh, and how to prevent such actions from happening in the future,” Shri Thanedar said in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

He and another Congressman, Raja Krishnamoorthi appealed to Blinken in separate letters to urge the administration of Muhammad Yunus to end the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh in the aftermath of Shiekh Hasina’s resignation as prime minister and her exile to India.

Yunus, the Nobel Prize-winning micro-financing pioneer, took over as the interim leader of Bangladesh in the midst of the chaos from the violent student-led uprising.

While violence directed against the government has generally abated, Hindus, their business and temples have become targets for attacks.

Thanedar also asked Blinken to give temporary protected status to Bangladesh Hindus and other minorities, which would allow those here to stay on here even if their visas have expired till it is safe for them to return home.

Krishnamoorthi said in his letter, “Instability in this region, fueled by religious intolerance and violence, is not in the interest of the United States or our allies.”

“I urge you to directly engage directly with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ government and exert our influence to help his government end the violence and bring those responsible to justice,” he wrote.

Thanedar wrote, “The US has an obligation to assist this new government to ensure that the violence and civil unrest comes to an end.”

“I urge the [President Joe] Biden administration to grant persecuted Bangladeshi Hindus and other religious minorities, temporary protected status as refugees,” he added.

Krishnamoorthi referred in his letter to the “credible eyewitness reports” in Western media, including The New York Times and the BBC, documenting the massive attacks in Dhaka, major cities and several districts.

He said that according to the minorities organisation, Hindu, Buddhis, Christian Unity Council (Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parisha), the anti-Hindu violence has spread to 45 out of the nation’s 64 districts this week.

“Sadly, this is not the first time that anti-government protests have metastasised into anti-Hindu violence,” he wrote recalling the riots in 2021, 2017, and 2013 in which scores of Hindus were killed or “disappeared”.

Meanwhile, a group representing Hindu and minority groups met this week with US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussein to urge Washington to ensure the protection of minorities in Bangladesh.

After the meeting, the Hindu American Foundation’s Director of Policy Research Anita Joshi said that they told Husseian, “that the United States’ silence in response to the violence against Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh has been deafening. The failure of Congress and this administration to acknowledge and condemn the violence against Hindus and other religious minorities is unacceptable.”

The others who met the religious freedom official were Utsav Chakrabarti, Executive Director of HinduACTion, Human Rights Collective for Bangladesh Minorities Executive Director Priya Saha, and geopolitical analyst Jay Kansara.

Earlier this week, Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad leader Rana Dasgupta said that about 100 Hindus have been injured and two killed and at least 10 temples were attacked.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at [email protected] and followed at @arulouis)