Winnipeggers rally to draw attention to violence in Bangladesh

Cries in support of Bangladesh’s minority Hindu population blared across the International Mother Language Plaza in Kirkbridge Park Saturday.

“Justice for Hindus and Bangladeshi minorities,” a man with a megaphone yelled as the gathering of roughly 100 people echoed the statement in unison.

Some the many signs held by attendees depicted blood-stained handprints, images of burning buildings, and carried statements calling for justice and protection for Bangladeshi minorities.

The plaza where the rally took place Saturday afternoon is modelled after the Shaheed Minar monument in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, where violence has erupted against the country’s minority Hindu population after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country earlier this week.

Hindus, who tend to support Hasina’s Awami League party, account for between six and eight per cent of Bangladesh’s largely Muslim population of 171 million people.

Hasina was forced out on Aug. 5 after weeks of student protests against a system that provided a portion of government jobs to families of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Clashes ensued between protesters and government security forces. Media reports suggest hundreds of people have been killed in recent weeks.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s office has called for “racially based attacks or racially based incitement to violence” to be “tamped down.”

On Monday, Canada foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly condemned “human rights violations, deaths, torture, arbitrary arrests and lethal force” in Bangladesh.

The rallying group on Saturday was anxious to get the few local reporters present to understand the plight of relatives an ocean and two continents away.

For Winnipeg’s Hindu population, the nights have been long as they worriedly await news from relatives back home.

Several played videos on their phones showing homes and buildings burning in Bangladesh as people clashed on the streets.

Shashwati Shome said family back home tell her they’re living in fear.

“I cannot take it anymore,” she said of the destruction, adding it’s “horrible to watch.”

Dipika Ghose said her 75-year-old father and 68-year-old mother now spend their days afraid to leave their home.

Amal Majumder said Bangledesh has been filled with “anti-Hindu sentiment” since the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence.

Several people who spoke with the Free Press, said they doubt Muhammad Yunus, the new leader of an interim government, will bring any meaningful change.

Dip Deb said minorities will have to keep trying to flee into India.

“A small government, what can they do,” Deb said adding, “They cannot change the whole mentality.”

Dhiraj Senapati said he fled to Canada in 1993 following clashes between Hindus and Muslims in 1992.

Nothing has changed, he said, adding that increasingly more Hindus are having to leave.

Swapon Dhar said he fears the country will lean farther into Islamist extremism until unwelcome minorities are gone.

The gathering’s appointed spokesperson Shubhrakam Shome said the rally is aimed at getting the feds to pressure Yunus’ interim administration to protect Hindus.

“The relatives left behind are facing the wrath of this event, and they’re being targeted,” Shome said.

There are two choices for Hindus there, he suggested, keep hoping for change, or leave the country.

Chirangib Chanda stood nearby listening to Shome’s remarks.

“My in-law’s family is there, my brothers and sisters are there,” he said.

Ongoing oppression of minorities since the 1970s gives Chanda little reason for hope, but he said, “Why should we leave our country?”

jordan.snobelen@freepress.mb.ca

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