Washington, DC (October 31, 2016) — The Hindu American
Foundation (HAF) was shocked by the news of rioting in Brahmanbaria, in the
eastern part of Bangladesh, instigated by an alleged Facebook post that
reportedly mocked an Islamic pilgrimage site. A local representative of the
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said more than fifteen
temples were ransacked by a rioting mob of hundreds of men, injuring at least
150 people on the day of Kali Puja, the Bengali traditional observance during
the Hindu festival of Diwali. Other media reports place the figure of temples
looted and damaged slightly lower.
Bangladesh
police authorities named several Islamist groups operating in Bangladesh as
the main culprits for instigating the violence, including Jamaat-e-Islami and
Hafezat-i-Islam. Local police have also said they have apprehended Rasraj Das,
who allegedly created the Facebook post in question and whose death was
demanded by Islamists in the region.
“HAF is shocked and disappointed by the news of the riots in
Bangladesh,
especially occurring on the auspicious day of Diwali for Hindus around the
world,†said Jay Kansara, HAF Director of Government Relations. “Religious
violence in Bangladesh
seemed to have recently subsided due to the efforts of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina’s government in cracking down on terrorists and extremists in the
aftermath of the Dhaka cafe attack. However,
it is now apparent that the government must renew its vigilance and should
direct its current investigation towards apprehending the perpetrators of such
mass rioting, instead of focusing on the individual who created the Facebook
post.â€
HAF has extensively documented religious violence and
discrimination against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh in its annual human
rights report