Even as Hindus are being subjected to various atrocities in Bangladesh, a section of people have been desperately trying to downplay the anti-Hindu pogroms and even pass them off as politically motivated violence. In this vein, Meenakshi Ganguly, the Deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch resorted to whitewashing the crimes against Hindus being committed by Islamists saying that it is due to political reasons and not hatred against Hindus.
Taking to X on 7th August, Meenakshi Ganguly wrote, “In #Bangladesh, musician Rahul Ananda’s house burned in an ugly spree of attacks on Hindu minorities because they traditionally supported Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party. Authorities should ensure rule of law, identify & prosecute perpetrators.”
As reported earlier, on the afternoon of 5th August, an Islamist mob reached the house of the singer and frontman of the band Joler Gaan, Rahul Ananda. He was living in a rental house that was attacked. When the attack happened, Rahul, his wife Shukla, his son Tota and other family members were there. Somehow, they managed to escape and took shelter at an unknown location. The house, where Rahul lived, was a 140-year-old place which has now been burnt to ashes with all the memories and history it contained.
Notably, back in 2019, Meenakshi Ganguly had claimed that Kashmiri Pandits were ‘asked’ to leave the valley, presumably by the Indian State, in 1990.
It is pertinent to note that Ganguly is not alone in peddling the sinister narrative that Hindus, their temples and properties are not being attacked by Islamists due to their hatred for Hindus but as revenge for their perpetual support for Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League. As reported earlier in the day, the New York Times changed the headline of one of its published news reports after facing severe backlash from readers. Earlier, the headline read “Hindus in Bangladesh Face Revenge Attacks After Prime Minister’s Exit” which attracted heavy criticism on social media. Though the title has been changed, the content remained the same, pushing the narrative that Hindus were being targeted as they supported Hasina’s political party and not because of communal reasons.
While killing Hindus, and vandalising their houses and temples is not justified even if they supported Sheikh Hasina’s political party, let’s for argument’s sake assume it is indeed the case, would Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch, NYT and other Islamist cheerleaders mind explaining how checking a deceased victim’s private part determines one’s political affiliation? In one such incident Islamists encircled a dead victim lying on the ground while several men were gathered around the deceased. With the aid of a stick, one of the Islamists strips the deceased person naked and checks the victim’s private part for circumcision. The happiness of the Islamist had no bounds and he started shouting ‘Hindu, Hindu’ over the corpse, the crowd hovering over the dead body laughed, realising that the man was a Hindu because he was not circumcised.
It is opprobrious that so-called human rights defenders are giving the communally motivated anti-Hindu violence a political colour to make sure nobody criticises or questions their Islamist overlords
Attack on Hindus in Bangladesh
On 5th August, it came to light that Islamists attacked Hindus’ houses, shops and temples in Bangladesh in the guise of protests against the Sheikh Hasina government. Despite the resignation by Hasina from the Prime Minister’s post, the protests continued and so did the attacks on Hindus. Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar has also expressed concerns over attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh.
