Hindus vulnerable to polls-time violence

Stating that the Hindu community remains vulnerable to attacks before and after any election, leaders of Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajote yesterday urged the government to take proper steps to avert such violence centring the December 30 countrywide municipality polls.

Addressing a press briefing in the capital's Dhaka Reporters Unity, they also urged the government to enact a law to protect minority communities.

“We want foolproof security so that Hindu voters can cast their votes peacefully and their houses remain untouched,” said the mohajote Executive Secretary General Palash Kandi Dey, threatening to wage a “tough” countrywide movement if any such violence occurred.

Talking to The Daily Star later, the leaders said Hindus were fearful and anxious as two temples in Dinajpur were attacked recently. They demanded immediate arrest and punishment for the perpetrators irrespective of their political affiliation.

The mohajote Executive President Sukriti Kuman Mondal alleged that some persons who had tortured and attacked Hindus have been nominated by political parties to contest the municipality election.

Such nominations will encourage oppressors more, he said, assuring to divulge the names of such candidates soon.

The mohajote President Dr Provash Candra Roy said minority communities were being tortured every moment across the country, mostly centring attempts to grab their land. “It should be stopped,” he said.

The mohajote Chief Coordinator Shyamal Kumar Roy, Secretary General Ananda Kumar Biswas, Woman Affair Secretary Mina Sarker and Soma Sarker were present.