By Ram Puniyani
The upsurge in Bangladesh has been a major phenomenon, which not only shook that country but also saw a lot of fake news and Islamophobia getting intensified in India. Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for the past 15 years, totally suppressing the Opposition to the extent of imprisoning or imposing house arrest on the major Opposition leaders.
With Hasina leaving the country, the whole hell broke loose. There were attacks on Awami League supporters and the burning of Awami League offices in the main cities. But Hindus have also been targeted. According to the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, minority communities in Bangladesh faced 205 incidents of attacks in 52 districts after the fall of the Hasina government on August 5. There was a massive rally of minorities demanding protection. Prof. Muhammad Yunus — who was the choice of students to lead the interim government — immediately issued an appeal. He “…urged the student protesters to protect all minority communities, including Hindu, Christian and Buddhists, from being targeted.”
“Are they not the people of this country? You have been able to save the country. Can’t you save some families?” Prof Yunus asked the student protesters.
This was a powerful appeal and as per Mahfuz Anam, editor of Bangladesh’s Daily Star, the violence against Hindus more or less stopped, to the extent that the right wing Jamat-E-Islami formed teams to protect the temples. In an interview given to The Wire’s Karan Thapar, Anam also pointed out that rightists in Bangladesh and India feed each other. He said that after the fifth day, the attack on minorities came to a total halt. He and many other Youtubers have pointed out that in India many rumours and fake news have been circulated without any fact check.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.