24^th October 2021 – Bangladesh saw one of the worst attacks in the recent history on the Hindu minority community this past Navratri. Scores of Durga Puja pandaals were vandalized, idols broken and violence took place in over 20 districts against the Hindus.

 

 

 

 

 

Several Hindu women are reported to have been raped and over 1,000 Hindu homes have been burnt in many villages and towns. At least 10 Hindus have been brutally murdered and many Hindu shops and businesses were looted and ransacked. Numerous members of the ISKCON Bangladesh were attacked in what seems as a pre-planned attack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As per WION news, a 35-year-old Iqbal Hussain has now been arrested by Bangladesh Police after a CCTV footage appeared which showed him placing a Quran inside a puja pavilion in Comilla. The anti-Hindu riots were triggered after this incident. The police are now investigating to find out if this was a part of a bigger conspiracy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What has been more insulting and which rubbed salt on Hindu wounds is the fact that the Twitter handles of ISKCON Bangladesh and Bangladesh Hindu Council have now been suspended. These accounts were sending updates to the social media community as the mainstream media in Bangladesh failed to cover for days the atrocities on Hindus.

Since the news have now spread to all parts of the world, the Hindu community stands hurt, humiliated, isolated but yet united. Protests in major cities of world have taken place to stand in solidarity with Bangladeshi Hindus. Scottish Hindu Diaspora took part in a silent vigil against prosecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. Huge Peaceful Kirtan was conducted by ISKCON Bangalore. A similar vigil took place in London, UK where large number of devotees gathered. Pushpita Gupta is doing a hunger strike in front of Bangladesh Embassy in London against ongoing attacks on Hindus. Some U.S. politicians including Tulsi Gabbard have shown their support for Bangladeshi Hindus (see video).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Locally, a large gathering of Hindus happened yesterday afternoon in Downtown Toronto, to show their support for their brothers and sisters in Bangladesh. The local chapter of ISKCON along with other Hindu groups were present there (see video).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CoHNA has urged the Canadian Hindu community to reach out to local politicians to gather support on this matter (www.cohna.org/bangladeshi-hindus-canadian-lawmakers). No Canadian politician has spoken on this issue so far.