Conservative MP Bob Blackman said there was an “attempted ethnic cleansing of Hindus”

The arrest of religious leaders and assaults on the Hindu minority in Bangladesh have alarmed UK Members of Parliament, who have described the level of violent increase as “deeply concerning.” Bob Blackman, a Conservative MP, said that there was a “attempt at ethnic cleansing of Hindus.”

In order to address the situation in Bangladesh and the recent assaults on members of the Hindu minority, Labour Party MP Barry Gardiner on Monday called for an immediate meeting of the UK Parliament.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, Catherine West, told the members of the UK Parliament about the steps the government has taken to address the situation in Bangladesh. She recalled her November visit to Bangladesh, where she met with Muhammad Yunus, the chief advisor to the Bangladesh Interim government, and discussed bilateral issues, including the significance of protecting religious minorities in Bangladesh.

West said, “My Hon. Friend the Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner) is aware that I visited Bangladesh only last month, when I met Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain and Chief Adviser Professor Yunus as part of our initiative. I covered a wide variety of bilateral topics during my discussion with Chief Adviser Yunus, including the significance of safeguarding Bangladesh’s religious minority.

“The UK Government support freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression in Bangladesh through both our political advocacy and development programme funding, providing up to £27 million from March 2023 to February 2028 under the Bangladesh collaborative, accountable and peaceful politics programme for protecting civic and political space,” she stated.

She said that they had received guarantees about the Hindu community in Bangladesh from the interim administration. According to West, “She stated that UK government will continue to monitor the situation, including making representations from this House, and will engage with the interim Government in Bangladesh on the importance of freedom of religion or belief specifically as it affects the Hindu community.”

“The Indian government is concerned about the arrest of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, and the UK is aware of that,” she said.
Catherine West stated: “We are aware of the Indian government’s declaration of concern after prominent Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested on sedition charges. Those developments are being carefully watched by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office department.

On November 25, Chinmoy Krishna Das, a member of the Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, was taken into custody in Dhaka. The arrest came after a local legislator submitted a complaint on October 31 alleging that Chinmoy Das and others had disrespected Bangladesh’s national flag during a Hindu community event.

Barry Gardiner said during his speech before the Parliament that since the previous administration fell in August, there had been more than 2000 violent occurrences in Bangladesh.

“There have been over 2,000 violent incidents in Bangladesh since the previous government fell in August, with the majority of these incidents targeting the minority Hindu community,” Gardiner said. Less than ten percent of Bangladesh’s population is Hindu. Anti-Hindu violence has been a frequent occurrence in Bangladesh, as my honorable friend is well aware.

In fact, the Jamaat-e-Islami party was outlawed earlier this year after rioting that claimed 200 lives.

He said, “Even though Bangladesh no longer has the secular constitution of 1971 and converted to Islam in 1988, the constitution’s provisions for minority faiths, such as articles 28 and 39, are still meant to exist.

These don’t seem to be enforced, however. According to accounts, the army and police stood by as more than 20 houses of worship for Sufis and Hindu minorities were attacked and vandalized. When extremist organizations from the Jamaat-e-Islami party assaulted two Hindu temples in Chittagong and carried out a campaign of planned violence against the Hindu community on Friday, Toggle’s demonstration of Column 34 came to a climax.

Additionally, he brought up the matter of Chinmoy Krishna Das’s incarceration and referred to ISKCON as a global branch of contemporary Hinduism with its UK headquarters located at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Bushey. He said, “People are concerned that while he was engaged in exclusively peaceful protest, he has been denied due process, charged with sedition and refused bail, yet none of the individuals who attacked the temples has been apprehended or charged.”

According to Conservative MP Priti Patel, there is unchecked violence occurring across Bangladesh. She described the level of violent escalating as “deeply concerning.”

“Our two countries have strong and long-standing ties,” Patel said. Recently, the Minister traveled to Bangladesh. She is correct to note that the level of violent escalation is quite alarming, as stated by the Hon. Member for Brent West.

“Uncontrolled violence is now occurring in numerous places. As further violence breaks out in Bangladesh, we are shocked and horrified. All of us in the House are thinking about the impacted people in Bangladesh and the expatriate community here. These claims are really unsettling. The minister also brought up the violent incidents and fatal assaults that occurred in 2021 during the Durga Puja celebration, which is considered to be auspicious. This is a time of great anxiety given the unrest that is now occurring in Bangladesh and the previous prime minister’s August departure.

Concerned about the state of Hindus in Bangladesh, UK MP Bob Blackman referred to the matter as a “attempt at the ethnic cleansing of Hindus from Bangladesh.”

“Hindus are suffering because their businesses have been looted and their homes have been burned,” Blackman added. In addition to the 63 monks who have been refused entry into the nation, priests have been detained, and I believe that two more were arrested over the weekend.

The aim to ethnically cleanse Bangladeshi Hindus is the obvious problem. Will this violence against Hindus be publicly denounced by the Minister? We want to hear outright denunciation of the current situation, not just words of piety. There is intentional persecution of religious minority due to their faith.

According to UK MP Sam Curling’s views on the matter, a number of people who are “incredibly concerned” about their family members in Bangladesh have contacted him. He said, “Those family members have been living in extreme fear for some time, but particularly since August, and reports of increasing violence against the Hindu community are disturbing.”

Additionally, UK MP Kirsteen Sullivan said that she was aware of the violent crimes against the Hindu community. She said, “Some of my constituents from the growing Indian community in Winchburgh are increasingly concerned about the accounts of horrific acts of violence towards the Hindu community in Bangladesh.”

“Does the Minister agree that violence against Hindus, or any other religious minorities, is entirely unacceptable?” Sullivan asked the UK minister about the guarantee she can provide residents. How can she reassure my constituents that the UK government is behind every initiative to safeguard religious and belief freedom?

Rupa Huq, a Labour MP, urged vigilance against any assaults on minorities in Bangladesh, such as Christians, Buddhists, or Hindus. She noted that since Bangladesh’s creation in 1971, there have been conflicts amongst its many communities.

“This is not a new phenomenon,” she added, adding that the Hindu population in Bangladesh fell from 13.5% to 8.5% between 1974 and 2001. Could I warn the Minister as well?

Some individuals could try to take advantage of these tensions when the dictatorship fell after 800 students were killed in the summer, therefore we must put a strong stop to it.”

UK MP Jim Shannon thanked Catherine West for her dedication to tackling human rights and religious freedom problems. “2,010 people reported incidents over 16 days, including attacks on 69 Hindu temples,” he added. Nine Hindus were killed when 157 families’ houses were assaulted, plundered, vandalized, or burned down.

He inquired about the actions the UK government could take in collaboration with the Bangladeshi government and other international partners to advance the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh, hold those responsible for these horrible crimes accountable, and advance everyone’s fundamental right to freedom of religion or belief.

Concern for the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh was also voiced by several UK parliamentarians, such as Monica Harding, Paula Barker, Amanda Martin, Gurinder Singh Jason, and Lake Murphy.
Greg Smith, a member of the Conservative Party, encouraged the UK government to safeguard the Hindus in Bangladesh by using all diplomatic measures.

Smith said, “A number of members of the Hindu community in Mid Buckinghamshire have contacted me to say that they are deeply concerned about the situation in Bangladesh, and I urge the Minister to take every diplomatic step possible to protect Hindus in that country.”

Notably, violent assaults against Hindus and other minority groups have increased in Bangladesh, leading to requests for more security and assistance.

Following the arrest of former priest Chinmoy Krishna Das on sedition charges and for reportedly raising a saffron flag above Bangladesh’s national flag in Chittagong on October 25, the country has seen a rise in violence against minority populations.