BNP promises justice for persecution of Hindus

Stating that Bangladesh is an example of communal harmony, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday said that their party, if returns to power, will ensure justice through proper investigations and trials for all incidents of persecution against Hindus.

During a visit to the Puja mandap at Dhakeshwari Temple on the first day of Durga Puja, he also expressed the BNP's sympathy for the Hindu community's eight-point demands.

"We're considering the eight-point that you mentioned...we have our full sympathy for the core issue of the eight-point demand. We can tell you this: just as we have supported you in every problem in the past, we'll continue to stand by you in the future," Fakhrul said.

In an oblique reference to the Awami League, the BNP leader said it is unfortunate but true that the members of a particular political party, which claims to be the greatest saviour of the minority community, have been involved in all the incidents of repression that have occurred against them in the past.

"They (AL men) were also behind the incidents involving the occupation of land and property belonging to your community (Hindus) in Bangladesh. If our party forms the government in the future, each incident will be investigated impartially, and justice will be ensured," he said.

At the beginning, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad General Secretary and daily Kalbela editor Santosh Sharma highlighted the eight-point demand of their community, calling for justice and exemplary punishment for the injustices and abuses suffered by minorities.

Fakhrul said some foreign media are spreading propaganda against the communal harmony of Bangladesh with biased and false reports to undermine the political changeover following the fall of the Awami League through a mass uprising. "I won't say nothing happened. Some of the incidents that happened were not communal in nature but political incidents."

The BNP leader recounted how their party leaders and activists struggled for 15 years against the Awami League government, enduring repression, killings, enforced disappearances and imprisonment in false cases.

He paid tribute to the more than 1,500 people who were martyred during the recent mass uprising and called upon the government to provide compensation for the martyrs and support for their families.

Fakhrul, on behalf of the BNP, its chairperson Khaleda Zia, and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, extended greetings to the Hindu community on the auspicious occasion of Durga Puja.