Guwahati (Assam) : With the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India, the atrocities against Hindus in the neighboring country of Bangladesh have become even more pronounced. In view of this, many Hindu Bangladeshis have been forced to leave the country to save their lives. On the other hand, many people have left the country due to the promises of giving citizenship to Hindus of Bangladesh in India.
This was stated by Advocate Govind Chandra Pramanik, general secretary of Bangladesh's National Hindu Grand Alliance. Advocate Pramanik, had a telephonic conversation with ETV Bharat regarding the environment and situation in Bangladesh after the implementation of CAA in India. He said that Muslims in Bangladesh are looking at it with hatred, which is because Muslims have been ignored in the act. Muslims in Bangladesh have called the CAA communal amidst rumors that in Bangladesh, even Muslims of Indian origin will be chased away.
Pramanik said that there is not much reaction from Hindus in Bangladesh to the widely publicized law. Explaining the reason for this, he said that those who went to India before 2014 will get citizenship and there is no benefit to those who are in Bangladesh. But with the enactment of this law, the Hindus are becoming victims of atrocities, he said. Bangladesh is an Islamic state and a section of people are pressurizing Hindus to leave the country because there should be no Hindus as per them in the country, he added.
The advocate said that the population of Hindus in Bangladesh is 7.95 per cent officially but in reality they were 10.7 per cent in 2015. On the reason for the decline in the number of Hindus in Bangladesh, he said that there is an impact of conversions and the main reason is their leaving the country. Noting that Hindus who left Bangladesh for the sake of their lives had taken shelter in India, he said that the atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh increased two hundred times since 2014 on the issue of citizenship. He raised the issue of dual citizenship which would be good for the Hindus of Bangladesh.
He said that if there is a dual citizenship, the families of those who left the land and went to India during the 1964 conflict will also be able to come back. He also called upon the Government of India to make the Hindus of Bangladesh free from the visa in terms of entry into India.
Referring to the influx of Hindu Bangladeshis into India, Pramanik said that after 1971, about four and a half crore Hindu people from Bangladesh have entered India. He pointed out that the process of entry of Hindu Bangladeshis into India is increasing even faster in the present times.
Noting that the Hindu population in Bangladesh has declined by 2.8 per cent in the last six years, he said that not all Hindus have accepted conversion. He added that no one wants to leave their motherland and move to other places. But many have been forced to leave in the interest of saving their lives.
"We look forward to the Government of India to keep an eye on the Hindus of Bangladesh", he said. He also pointed out that the silence of the Government of India on the issue of Hindus in Bangladesh has hurt them a lot. He also called upon the Government of India to put pressure on the Government of Bangladesh to reserve seats for minorities in the Parliament of Bangladesh.
Read More
