Parties on Bangladesh turmoil: Congress treads cautiously, BJP & RSS focus on ‘threat to Hindus’

On Friday, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale issued a statement, asking the Union government to ensure the safety of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. “The RSS expresses serious concern over violence against Hindus, Buddhists and other minority communities in Bangladesh during the movement for regime change in the last few days… targeted killings, looting, arson, crimes against Hindu and other minority women, and attacks on Hindu temples are intolerable.” Hosabale said.

Hosabale said he expects the Bangladesh interim government to “immediately stop” such incidents, and requested the global community and all political parties in India to stand in solidarity with persecuted communities, including Hindus and Buddhists, at “this critical time”. Hosabale’s statement comes close on the heels of Modi expressing similar concerns on Thursday. Modi had said: “We hope for an early return to normalcy, ensuring the safety and protection of Hindus and all other minority communities…”

Reports of attacks on minorities and their places of worship in Bangladesh only bolstered the BJP argument that Hindus were not safe in neighbouring Muslim-dominated countries. This was the fundamental basis on which the government had passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019, sparking protests across the country. The legislation was finally implemented just before the Lok Sabha polls this year.

The reactions from the Congress have been more measured. In his statement congratulating Yunus, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had said: “We hope that normalcy and peace returns in Bangladesh, with whom we Indians share a historic relationship. We pray for the safety of all the Bangladeshi people, including all the minorities.”

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s congratulatory message to Yunus only added: “A swift restoration of peace and normalcy is the need of the hour.”

The TMC, which had earlier created a controversy with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee saying she would welcome people from Bangladesh seeking refuge in the country, exercised caution. In her first remarks as the Hasina government unravelled, Banerjee had said that she would back any stand the Centre took. “If our brothers and sisters who are there face some trouble, the government of India and the government of Bangladesh will look into it,” she had said.