US welcomes focus on Bangladesh’s focus on minorities, in touch with India too: State Dept official

Washington, Aug 15 (PTI) Even as it welcomed the new Bangladesh government’s focus on the protection of minority communities, the US has said it is in touch with India and other countries in the region on the situation in the country while seeking an end to the violence there.

Amid continued reports on targeted attacks on minorities in Bangladesh, especially the Hindus along with the destruction of temples and their properties after August 5 when Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India, several influential US Congressmen have requested the Biden administration to look into these attacks.

Chief Advisor to the interim government Yunus Muhammad, who took charge on August 8, met the distressed community at the famous Dhakeshwari temple in Dhaka on Tuesday and assured them that his government would punish the perpetrators.

During his daily news conference on Wednesday, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel welcomed Yunus’ statement calling for calm and an end to the recent violence.

“We welcome the new government’s focus on restoring security and protection of members of minority communities as well,” Patel said.

The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance has claimed that the minority community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts since August 5 and termed it as an “assault on the Hindu religion.

Patel was also asked about the communication between India and the US on the Bangladesh situation following the Hasina government’s collapse.

“I’m not going to get into private diplomatic discussions but we continue to push for an end to violence in Bangladesh, accountability and for the respect for rule of law,” he said.

“We have been in touch with our Indian partners as well as other countries in the region to discuss recent events in Bangladesh,” Patel said.

Meanwhile, the Hindu American Foundation on Wednesday urged the White House to act to protect the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh and drew attention to the President’s silence on the issue.

“Latest reports are that the President (Joe Biden) is not commenting on the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus despite continuing reports of attacks,” the Foundation said.

“Demand Action Now! The silence from President, Vice President and Secretary Blinken on the atrocities against #BangladeshiHindus is unacceptable. Lives lost, homes & temples destroyed — yet no condemnation from our US government,” the Foundation said in a post on X.

Washington-based NGO HinduACTion claimed that Hindus in rural areas of Bangladesh are being targeted the most.

“Their remoteness allows the Islamists more freedom and time to target them. Now that Mohammad Yunus is the new caretaker leader, should the Vice President and the State Department work towards enabling grassroots education and awareness that ensures that the country’s Madrassa curriculum and the public discourse is purged of its anti-Hindu theological content.

“We hope the president and his advisors realise that if Bangladesh loses the last eight per cent of its Hindus, it will be a Taliban state with a lot of tree canopy cover,” it said on X.

In Bangladesh, arsonists torched a house belonging to a Hindu family with no political affiliation in a village in northwest Bangladesh on Tuesday evening hours after Yunus met the distressed minority community in Dhaka.