No country for minorities?: Islamists threaten to kill two lakh Hindus in Bangladesh

New Delhi: Even as religious minorities continue to bear the brunt of large scale violence in Bangladesh, an alarming development in Chittagong has increased the levels of anxiety among the members of the Hindu and Buddhist minorities.
According to media reports, a banner which was allegedly issued by an Islamist group in the Raozan subistrict of Chittagong, has threatened to set in motion a plan kill at least two dozen Hindus and Buddhists.

What does the banner say?

According to reports in the local media, the controversial banner has threatened to kill at least two lakh Hindus and Buddhists in an effort to erase the very existence of religious minorities in Bangladesh.
Islamist extremists in Bangladesh have often accused the Hindu community of acting as Indian agents. Violence against Hindus have escalated after popular youth leader Osman Bin Hadi was shot in the head by unidentified assailants in Dhaka on December 12.
Several Hindus have been killed by rabid mobs while several instances of Islamists setting fire to houses of the minority community have also come to light.

How has the global community reacted?

The attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh has attracted global condemnation with Russia and Canada issuing strong statements against the administration of interim Prome Minister Mohammed Younis.
Popular Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has accused Younis of actively abetting the violence against Hindus.
“In Dumritola village of Pirojpur, five rooms of the Saha family’s house were burned down by Hindu-hating jihadis. They set the house on fire in the early hours of the morning, when everyone was asleep," the author wrote on X.

“In Raozan, Chattogram, jihadis had set fire to Hindu homes in the same way, at dawn. Will all the remaining Hindu homes in the country be burned like this? They want to burn Hindus alive; that is why they set fires when people are asleep. Is Yunus just playing the flute?" she added.