Protect Sikh, Hindu shrines in Bangladesh, Ravneet Bittu urges External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar
Shubhadeep Choudhury
New Delhi, August 7
Noting the plight of religious minorities in Bangladesh in the wake of the collapse of the government there, Ravneet Singh Bittu, MoS, Railways and Food Processing Industries, has urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to assure members of Sikh and Hindu communities living in Bangladesh that India would safeguard their places of worship.
“I request you to assure the Sikh and Hindu communities of Bangladesh that the Indian Government will take all necessary steps to protect the Sikh shrines and Hindu temples of Bangladesh,” Bittu on Tuesday wrote in a letter addressed to Jaishankar.
According to Daily Star, English daily published from Dhaka, Hindu houses and establishments in 27 districts were attacked and looted by mobs on Monday. The districts include Lalmonirhat Sadar, Kaliganj, Hatibandha, Dinajpur, Khansama, Khulna among others. Attempts by attackers to vandalise a temple at Railbazarhat were reportedly foiled by locals.
Daily Star also reported the death of at least 24 people in Jessore on Monday after a mob set a hotel owned by a Hindu general secretary of the Awami League on fire.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a religious minority advocacy group of Bangladesh, also issued a press release on Monday listing multiple instances of atrocities against minorities and their places of worships taking place in Bangladesh on August 4 and 5.
The former Ludhiana MP urged the External Affairs Minister to take up the issue with the authorities in Bangladesh so that two gurdwaras in Dhaka -- Gurdwara Nanak Shahi and Gurdwara Sangal Tola -- and Hindu temples were protected.
