Pupil leaders in Bangladesh have requested supporters to protect Hindu temples and church buildings as diplomats and rights teams expressed issues over stories of assaults on minority teams after the prime minister resigned amid a nationwide rebellion.
There was euphoria – but in addition looting and the ransacking of nationwide monuments and authorities buildings – after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the nation on Monday following weeks of lethal demonstrations in opposition to her authorities.
Opposition politicians on Tuesday referred to as for the safety of all Bangladeshis “irrespective of faith and politics, from discriminatory violence”, amid stories of assaults on temples and church buildings.
College students have been seen guarding Hindu temples and different locations of worship in social media footage and pictures verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking company Sanad, together with in Chittagong, the nation’s second-largest metropolis.
“Miscreants are systematically attacking numerous private and non-private establishments to show the scholars’ motion flawed,” Chittagong College coordinator, Russell Ahmed, advised the Bangla Tribune newspaper.
“To forestall any form of assault on the locations of worship, temples and church buildings of various religions in Chittagong, we’ve made a committee in every district … to maintain watch from Monday night,” he stated.
Within the capital, Dhaka, a Muslim man was seen guarding the Dhakeshwari Temple, a Hindu place of worship.
“A Muslim man noticed praying salah in entrance of Dhakeswari temple… and defending the hindu temple from all of the evil people who find themselves making an attempt to cease the reform by attacking minorities and public properties,” Saif Ahmed, the social media supervisor of the Bangla Tigers cricket workforce, shared on X.
Each Muslim and Hindu neighbours have been guarding and defending the temple, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.
College students who led the protests in opposition to Hasina over authorities job quotas they stated have been discriminatory additionally urged individuals to not goal minority communities within the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million individuals.
Nahid Islam, a pupil at Dhaka College and one of many protest organisers, advised native media: “There isn’t a grouping or division amongst us. We’re in opposition to any form of non secular incitement, sabotage or division. We’ll stop any such makes an attempt.”
That is Actual Information Tonight in #Bangladesh
Everyone seems to be coming ahead to guard the temple in other places.
1. Hathazari Kali Mandir is guarded by the scholars of Hathazari Madrasa.
2. A workforce is on guard to guard the Ramakrishna Mission in Faridpur!
3. We’re common… pic.twitter.com/nH7eGcxHCs
— Nirab (@Nirab23) August 5, 2024
The principle opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP) urged individuals to train restraint in what it stated was a “transitional second on our democratic path”.
“It’s our responsibility to guard all Bangladeshis, irrespective of faith and politics, from discriminatory violence, and to not harass any explicit group, create division, or search vengeance. Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, believers, atheists – nobody will likely be left behind or be prejudiced on our democratic path; collectively, we’re all proudly Bangladeshis,” Tarique Rahman, the BNP’s appearing chair, wrote on X.
Diplomats involved
Monday was the deadliest day of unrest because the protests erupted final month, with no less than 122 individuals killed.
“Homes and retailers of minority individuals have been attacked, vandalised and looted, no less than 97 locations on Monday and Tuesday,” Rana Dasgupta, common secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, stated in a press release, the AFP information company reported.
“Such assaults on minorities are in opposition to the basic spirit of the anti-discrimination pupil motion,” Transparency Worldwide Bangladesh (TIB) head, Iftekharuzzaman, advised AFP.
India’s Overseas Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday stated the nation was “monitoring the state of affairs with regard to the standing of minorities”, including that the Indian authorities would “stay deeply involved until legislation and order is visibly restored”.
America embassy in Dhaka referred to as for “calm”, in a put up on X.
“We’re involved about stories of assaults on non secular minorities and spiritual websites in Bangladesh,” it stated, a message echoed by European Union diplomats.
EU heads of mission “are very involved about incoming stories of a number of assaults in opposition to locations of worship and members of spiritual, ethnic and different minorities in Bangladesh”, EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley posted on X.
