Minorities in Bangladesh: What India's parliament is told, what is kept from them
The chief adviser’s press wing said, "The figure is misleading and highly exaggerated"
Upper house of Indian parliament has been informed that the High Commission of India in Dhaka "continues to monitor the situation" related to minorities in Bangladesh "closely".
"The primary responsibility for the protection of life and liberty of all citizens, including minorities, rests with the government of the country concerned," Kiriti Vardhan Singh, Indian minister of state for foreign affairs told the Rajya Sabha on 20 December.
He claimed that a total of 2,200 cases of violence against Hindus and other minorities were reported in Bangladesh till 8 December, according to the Times of India.
In his written response to a query, he expressed India's expectation that Bangladesh would take necessary actions to ensure safety of the minorities.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Bangladesh's interim government does not refuse some such incidents, but the figure is much lower.
"The figure is misleading and highly exaggerated," the chief adviser's press wing said in a statement on its verified Facebook page CA Press Wing Facts yesterday (20 December).
According to the chief adviser's press secretary, 70 people have been arrested in 88 cases filed in connection with violence involving minorities that took place between 5 August and 22 October.
"All those who commit such violence and heinous acts in Bangladesh will be brought to book." said Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam.
Although 88 cases were related to violence against minorities, it has come to their notice that in many cases, people who faced violence were members of the previous ruling party, he said.
The figure placed in Indian Rajya Sabha is close to the claim of Bangladesh-Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad.
The Parishad claimed at least 2,010 incidents of violence against minorities took place across the country from 4 August to 20 August.
The Indian state minister did not give any specific source of his claim of over 2,000 incidents. However, he informed the Indian parliament that 47 such incidents took place in Bangladesh in 2022 and 302 in 2023.
He asserted that cases of violence against Hindus and other minorities in other neighbouring countries-- except Pakistan and Bangladesh-- are nil.
The Indian state minister's statement neither included massacre of Muslims in neighbouring Myanmar nor any single incident involving minorities in India.
However, a report of US Commission on International Religious Freedom said religious freedom conditions in India have continued to worsen throughout 2024, particularly in the months prior to and immediately following the country's national elections.
