An announcement was also made through a mosque calling on people to protect minorities in Bangladesh.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Amid reports of attacks on minorities during violence in Bangladesh, members of the Muslim community stood guard at temples and exhorted people to protect members of the Hindu community.
Owing to huge protests and large-scale demonstrations, Sheikh Hasina had to step down as prime minister on August 5. She was forced to flee the country as thousands of protesters stormed her official residence in Dhaka and indulged in acts of vandalism. Several government offices were also attacked and there were reports of violence at the residences of many ministers in Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government. There were also reports of targeting of members of the Hindu community as they were seen as Awami League sympathisers.
However, concerned citizens of Bangladesh came out to stand guard and protect the minorities against the raging violence. Several pictures of local Muslims including religious groups and madrasa students were shared on social media showing them guarding temples. The pictures also show Bangladeshi Muslims standing near temples along with priests in solidarity with them. Madrasa students can also be seen protecting the temples.
The photos, posted by Facebook users from Bangladesh, later went viral on other social media platforms.
A Facebook user named Ryana Imtiaz from Bangladesh put out a message saying “We need a large number of volunteers to protect the religious institutions in our area Mohammadpur and Dhanmondi until the Army comes. We will make a 4-hour shift for everyone. The shift will start from midnight tonight”.
It also gave a WhatsApp contact number.
An announcement was also made through a mosque calling on people to protect minorities in Bangladesh.
“Dear Citizens, We ‘Students Against Discrimination’ are requesting you, during this period of unrest in the country, we all must maintain communal harmony. We should protect Hindu minorities. Protect their lives and their wealth from miscreants/evil forces. It is your responsibility, our responsibility, and everyone’s responsibility. Let’s all be vigilant,” said the announcer from a mosque.
Gobinda Pramanik, a leader of the Hindu community, also said that members of Jamaat-e-Islam Bangladesh and BNP were asked by their leaders to ensure the safety of the Hindu community.
“After Sheikh Hasina’s resignation last afternoon, the Hindu community of this country thought they would be attacked in a massive way and there’d be incidents of arson. However, leaders of the BNP and Jamaat instructed their functionaries to ensure that Hindu homes were not attacked and temples were protected. And we have seen that temples are being protected,” said Pramanik, general secretary of Bangladesh National Hindu Mahajot, in a video statement.
He further said “There has been no incident of attack on temples and Hindus. Houses of some Hindu leaders of the Awami League who were very active as well as those of some Muslim leaders were attacked. Some opportunistic people attacked a few local temples, but no big incident”.
Pramanik said “But we saw that Republic TV from India spreading rumours and making strange claims. Today I saw them making up stories about Sheikh Hasina. They are extremely pained at Bangabandhu’s statue being demolished. I told a journalist who called me, “If you are so worried about Hasina, please remove PM Modi and announce Sheikh Hasina as your PM. She will protect India and also the Seven Sisters. You are saying every day that Seven Sisters would not exist if Hasina was not there. Now this is a big opportunity for you. You make Sheikh Hasina India’s PM.”