Violence in Bangladesh since Hasina’s ouster sparks fear among country’s Hindu minority

KHULNA When a mass uprising forced Bangladesh’s long-time prime minister to resign and flee the country last week, a 65-year-old retired auditor who worked for his political party feared for his life.

Arobinda Mohalder, a member of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority, had just learned that a Hindu official working for the Awami League party in Khulna district had fled before an angry mob set his house on fire.

Mohalder and his wife quickly packed their clothes and passports, fleeing their home to stay with a relative nearby. Later that evening, they learned their home had been set on fire. The attackers had looted everything, including a television, a refrigerator, and two air conditioners.

Since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India, her supporters and associates have faced retaliatory mob attacks that have met little, if any, resistance from authorities. The country’s Hindu minority feels the most vulnerable because they have traditionally supported the Awami League — seen as a secular party in a Muslim-majority country — and because of a history of violence against them during previous upheavals.

In the week after Hasina was ousted on August 5, there were at least 200 attacks on Hindus and other religious minorities in 52 districts, according to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a minority rights group that monitors the incidents.

Experts, however, caution that it is difficult to determine the scale and motives for the violence in this South Asian country of 170 million people.

“There may be a minority element, particularly Hindus, who are targeted because of their faith. But many Hindus had links with the Awami League because historically it was a party that protected minorities, so they may have been targeted because of their political affiliations,” said Thomas Kean, senior consultant on Bangladesh and Myanmar at Crisis Group.

Hasina’s ouster was sparked by student protests against a quota system for government jobs. After clashes between protesters and government forces that left hundreds dead, the movement escalated into a broader rebellion against the leader and her government.

Mobs rampaged across the country after Hasina fled. Some of the violence was simply criminal activity, Kean said, and “we shouldn’t assume it’s all about race or religion.”

The caretaker government, installed after Hasina was ousted, condemned the attacks as “heinous” and said it was working with community leaders to ensure the safety of Hindus.

Hindus, who make up 8 percent of the population and are the largest minority, are “trembling with fear,” said Kajal Debnath, vice president of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council. “They are closing their doors, they are not opening them until they confirm who is knocking. Everyone (in the Hindu minority) … from the capital Dhaka to the remote villages is very scared.”

For many, the violence brought back painful memories of Bangladesh’s 1971 war for independence from Pakistan, during which Hindus were targeted. Hindus were also attacked during the rise of Islamist groups in the 1990s, which Hasina suppressed.

Over the past week, Hindus have staged mass protests involving thousands of people, demanding protection and condemning the recent wave of attacks.

Munni Ghosh, a Hindu housewife from Dhaka, said the attacks had intensified since Hasina fled. “The reason is that she used to support us,” she said.

According to minority groups, the attacks included vandalism and looting of Hindu homes and businesses. Several temples were damaged. But details remain scarce, and police — members of whom were also killed in the recent violence — went on strike last week.

Some analysts say many attacks on Hindus are politically motivated and reflect antipathy to Hasina’s party.

Hindus were also hit, but most of the attacks were “politically motivated because the target was the Awami League,” said Zillur Rahman, executive director of the Dhaka-based Centre for Governance Studies.

In Mohalder’s village, dozens of other Hindu homes were untouched. And his brother-in-law’s home, which is connected to his own, was not vandalized. A temple in their family compound was also untouched.

Mohalder believes he was attacked because of his links with the Awami League. He doesn’t know when it will be safe for him to return home. “I want to go back, but the bandits have ransacked my house and that’s why I’m scared.”

The issue has become increasingly sensitive in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over reports of attacks last week.

But experts say the lack of credible information and official investigations into anti-Hindu violence is contributing to the spread of misinformation about the attacks, mostly coming from Indian news sources, social media and leaders, Kean said.

On Aug. 5, the day Hasina fled, Modi’s party leader in the state of West Bengal, which borders Bangladesh, claimed without evidence that Hindus were being slaughtered. Television channels ran headlines saying the attacks were an “act of genocide” and a “pogrom.” In another example, Indian media claimed a temple had been set on fire, but Prothom Alo, a leading Bengali daily, called that untrue and reported that the Awami League office behind the temple had been burnt down.

Nahid Islam, a leading student protester who was sworn in as a minister in the caretaker government last week, said the violence was politically motivated rather than religiously and aimed at dividing the country, but that Bangladesh would protect them.

“Those responsible will be held accountable… you can be sure that the people of Bangladesh and the government of Bangladesh will support you.”

But for many Indians, the biggest concern is the lack of police, who began strikes in many parts of the country after Hasina fled.

“Anything can happen at any time because there is no law and order,” Debnath said. “There is no room for complaints. If they kill me, if they burn my house, there is no one to whom I can complain.”

Several police stations opened Monday, and many hope that will help ease tensions. But while police were on strike, students and other volunteers in Dhaka and elsewhere banded together to patrol neighborhoods and keep watch, sometimes carrying sticks and umbrellas.

Tahsim Uzzaman, a 26-year-old student from Dhaka, is one of the volunteers patrolling Dhaka’s neighborhoods late at night.

“I don’t feel comfortable staying at home anymore. I go out at night to guard places, especially in minority neighborhoods. We took bullets to take back our country, it shouldn’t be in vain, we now have to make it safe for everyone,” he said.

___ Pathi and Ganguly reported from Dhaka, Bangladesh.