Bangladesh: Religious Leaders Call For Protection, Rights

By Porimol Palma

(UCA News) — Top religious and community leaders from minority faiths in Bangladesh have met with the head of the country’s interim government to seek protection and rights for minorities.

They also pledged to cooperate to build a nation based on inclusivity and harmony when they visited Professor Muhammad Yunus, the interim government’s chief adviser, at his official residence in the capital, Dhaka, on Aug. 13.

The meeting was led by a delegation from the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the largest minority forum in the Muslim-majority nation.

Oblate Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze of Dhaka, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB), was among the delegation and read out a letter handed to Yunus on behalf of the country’s Christian community.

In the letter, D’Cruze congratulated students who led the mass uprising against discrimination that toppled the Awami League regime on Aug. 5 and paved the way for the interim government led by Nobel-laureate Yunus.  

D’Cruze said that Christian schools, hospitals, and charities like Caritas and World Vision are significantly contributing to Bangladesh’s development.   

“We expect that the interim government will take strong initiatives to build a Bangladesh based on justice and the rule of law, and that will be inclusive and non-communal,” the letter said.

It urged the government to ensure ethnic and religious minorities face no deprivation, injustice, or oppression.

The meeting came days after a series of attacks against minorities, mostly Hindus and supporters of the Awami League, after former premier Hasina fled to India on Aug. 5.

More than 250 Hindu homes, businesses and at least 10 temples have been attacked and vandalized since Aug. 5, according to the BHBCUC.

At least nine Christian houses and organizations have come under attack since Hasina’s fall, said Nirmol Rozario, a Catholic and leader of the council.  

The uprising that culminated from student protests against the public service job quota system left at least 580 people dead and thousands injured while state buildings and facilities were vandalized and set ablaze. 

Some 40 to 50 unidentified people attacked the regional office of Catholic charity Caritas in southern Khulna district on Aug. 4 and vandalized furniture and computers on its ground floor, according to Sebastian Rozario, Caritas Bangladesh executive director.

Rozario said the attackers mistook the Caritas office for a government office.

“Later, we came to know that this attack mistakenly happened since they came to attack a government office near ours,” Rozario told UCA News.

The UK-based Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) issued a statement urging the restoration of law and order.

“We urge the Bangladeshi president, interim leaders, and the international community to restore law and order and respect private property,” said Janet Symes, Cafod’s Head of Region for Asia. 

An office of the Christian Cooperative Credit Union Limited in Madanpur of Narayanganj district, near the capital Dhaka, also came under attack. The center also offers pastoral care to Christian migrant workers in the area.

“A statue of Mother Mary on the premises of the cooperative union where I offer Mass on Sundays was also vandalized,” Oblate priest Ajit Victor Costa told UCA News on August 14.

Archbishop D’Cruze said he condemns all attacks on minority communities, including on Christians, and stated the attacks were not major or communally charged.

Council leader Nirmol Rozario, also at the meeting, said the delegation called for equal rights for minorities. 

“We demanded proportional representation for minority communities in every sector, including in government jobs, local government bodies and parliament,” Rozario told UCA News, adding that they also called for appropriate compensation for attacks on minorities.