Former Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, S.P. Vaid, on Thursday raised concerns over the ongoing violence and atrocities against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the issue on the global stage.
He emphasised the need for PM Modi, recognised globally as a respected leader, to intervene and address the issue at international platforms like the United Nations.
"We all have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use his good office. He is respected globally, he is not just a well-known leader in India but across the world. Every country listens to him," said S.P. Vaid.
Highlighting the dire situation of the Hindu minority, which constitutes about 1.5 crore people in Bangladesh, S.P. Vaid condemned the violence and the alleged genocide being carried out against the community. He stressed that India should play an active role in stopping the atrocities and pressuring Bangladesh to enforce law and order.
"Whatever atrocities are being conducted in Bangladesh against the Hindu minority, the way their genocide is being carried out, India should contribute to stopping this and set an opinion. Bangladesh should be obliged to take action against street violence which shows there is no law and order. Police and the army are mere spectators there," the former DGP remarked.
Referring to the recent arrest of ISKCON's Chinmoy Krishna Das on what he described as "fake and fabricated charges," Vaid expressed his outrage.
"The way ISKCON's Chinmoy Krishna Das was arrested because of a fake, fabricated case, I think this should be stopped. PM Modi, being a world leader, should set an opinion in the UN and international organisations against Bangladesh. Whatever is being done there is, somewhere, on the instructions of America," he alleged.
Das, a prominent Hindu leader, and spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote, who was arrested on Monday, was presented before a Chittagong court on Tuesday. The court denied his bail plea and sent him to custody.
A case has been filed against Das on charges of sedition, accusing him of raising a flag on a stand displaying Bangladesh's national flag. However, the complainant has since expressed unwillingness to pursue the case, a minority leader said.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the largest minority group in Bangladesh, expressed concerns on Tuesday over the arrest and called on the interim government to release Das immediately.
S.P. Vaid also condemned the desecration of Hindu temples and idols in Bangladesh, calling for an immediate end to such acts of vandalism.
"Minorities also have the right to protest when their rights are being violated. The way Hindu temples and idols were vandalised is condemnable. This should be stopped," he said.
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