Bangladesh and the Death of Compassion

By: Salil Gewali

The thunderous roars of Hasnat Abdullah, a senior leader of Bangladesh’s newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP), echoed through a rally in Dhaka as he screamed that Bangladesh should “isolate” India’s Northeastern states and shelter separatists of the “Seven Sisters.” His inflammatory words should not be dismissed lightly. They stand as a dangerous reminder of how reckless leadership can imperil peace in the region.

It should also be borne in mind that certain international forces are actively plotting strategies to push indoctrinated infiltrators into the northeastern states. How can we brush this aside when the safety and security of the Northeast are at stake? Mind, the roar of vengeance that often echoes from across our neighbouring “countries” must not catch us off guard.

Just look at how minority communities are picked up, inhumanely tortured, and killed in broad daylight on false accusations. A poor garment factory worker, Dipu Chandra Das, was brutally tortured, hung upside down and set on fire on the accusation of blasphemy. However, the investigations carried out by the police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) found no evidence to back those claims. They were false, fabricated, and unsubstantiated. New York State Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar said she was “deeply disturbed by the ongoing violence against Bangladesh’s Hindu minority.” Yet again, another Hindu man, Amrit Mandal, was lynched to death in Rajbari Pangsha sub-district, Bangladesh.

Noted Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist Parvez Hashem also points out that apart from minority Hindus, even Christians are caught between the devil and the deep sea. Over the last few months, Christians in Dhaka have faced terrifying bomb blasts that panicked an already vulnerable population. On October 8, a homemade bomb exploded at the gate of the old Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Then on November 7, St. Mary’s Cathedral was bombed, with police discovering another device close by. The very next day, November 8, a blast struck St. Joseph’s Higher Secondary School, where children study and hope for a better tomorrow. What is it that makes one see the innocent with such hatred?

What is most disgusting is that there are some in Assam who had the audacity to applaud these heinous crimes against Hindus in social media.  In West Bengal, several reports and videos claim that people who came out in protest against the barbaric incidents in Bangladesh were lathi-charged like unruly schoolchildren and bundled off to jail by the Mamata Banerjee government. Is the TMC not culpable?

An eminent Islamic scholar from Assam, Maulana Nurul Amin Qasimi, has also strongly condemned the violence against minorities in Bangladesh. He directly urged Bangladeshis to stop targeting Hindus, Christians, or Buddhists, emphasizing that such brutal attacks go completely against Islamic teachings of peace and tolerance.

Tom Morrison, MP for Cheadle, Britain, has denounced the “inhuman attacks” in Bangladesh, voicing grave concern for the safety of minority communities, demanding full investigations and accountability, and urging the UK government and international partners to press Bangladeshi authorities to protect vulnerable citizens. In his letter, Morrison stated,  “I am horrified by the recent inhuman attacks in Bangladesh and the brutal lynching of innocent people. These acts of mob violence are an affront to basic human dignity and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. The UK government and international partners should press for full transparency and ensure that minority communities are protected. There can be no justification for violence carried out in the name of religion or politics. We must stand together for the rule of law, religious tolerance, and the protection of human rights.”

Of course, every religion shows its believers the pathway to humanity and then divinity, not to barbarism. Yet, tragically, hatred against non-Muslims by extremist forces continues unabated. In just six months, how many innocent lives have been attacked and lost in these barbaric blasts, including mass shootings in Australia, whether Hindu, Christian, Buddhist or Jewish? Are we not first human beings? Do the same breath and the same heartbeat not flow through each of us? Why has compassion, a true human virtue, been replaced by hatred and ultimately bloodshed? How can God be pleased when humanity itself is set ablaze?