Hindu community demands recognition as minority 

The Bangladesh Sonatan Welfare Alliance has demanded the Hindu community be given the status of a minority.

"In India, there is a minority ministry for 14.5% Muslims. The Hindu community in Bangladesh is 8.5%. If minorities can be recognised and benefit in India, why not in Bangladesh?" said Shyamal Ghosh, general secretary of the alliance, at a rally in front of the National Press Club on Friday.

In his written statement he also said that due to a lack of constitutional recognition, the Hindu community is deprived of international assistance.

Shyamal noted that the government is building 560 model mosques in the country, but there is not a single model temple for minorities anywhere in the country.

Although the budget allocates special funds to various projects for the religious development of the majority community, there is no such allocation for the Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian communities. Pali and Sanskrit language institutions under the Ministry of Education are in a very dilapidated condition, he added.

According to Shyamal Ghosh, "Extreme discrimination is perpetrated against the religious minority community in every proposed budget and other cases. About 65 lakh acres of land belonging to minorities are trapped because of complications in the law. What the government says about the spirit of the liberation war and implementation of equal rights is absent in the budget and plan of the government."