Ram Puniyani 
The upsurge in Bangladesh has been a major phenomenon, which not only shook that country but also saw a lot of fake news and Islamophobia getting intensified in India. Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for the past 15 years, totally suppressing the Opposition to the extent of imprisoning or imposing house arrest on the major Opposition leaders.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
With Hasina leaving the country, the whole hell broke loose. There were attacks on Awami League supporters and the burning of Awami League offices in the main cities. But Hindus have also been targeted. According to the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, minority communities in Bangladesh faced 205 incidents of attacks in 52 districts after the fall of the Hasina government on August 5. There was a massive rally of minorities demanding protection. Prof. Muhammad Yunus — who was the choice of students to lead the interim government — immediately issued an appeal. He “…urged the student protesters to protect all minority communities, including Hindu, Christian and Buddhists, from being targeted.”
“Are they not the people of this country? You have been able to save the country. Can’t you save some families?” Prof Yunus asked the student protesters.
This was a powerful appeal and as per Mahfuz Anam, editor of Bangladesh’s Daily Star, the violence against Hindus more or less stopped, to the extent that the right wing Jamat-E-Islami formed teams to protect the temples. In an interview given to The Wire’s Karan Thapar, Anam also pointed out that rightists in Bangladesh and India feed each other. He said that after the fifth day, the attack on minorities came to a total halt. He and many other Youtubers have pointed out that in India many rumours and fake news have been circulated without any fact check.
One major example is the news and visual that cricketer Leepan Das’s house was put to fire. The BBC fact check revealed that it was the house of another cricketer, who is close to the Awami League and had been an MP for two terms. Similarly, another visual shows the burning of a temple in Chittagong. The fact check showed that what was put to fire was an Awami League office, which was near the temple. Such examples abound, showing the burning of Hindu temples and killing of Hindus. There are other visuals which have not been shown and those are of the students forming teams to protect Hindu temples.
There are other visuals which have not been shown and those are the Students forming teams to protect Hindu temples.
“Both, Hindus and Muslims are victims. But they cherry-pick and highlight the politically motivated attacks as communal. When the victim is Hindu, all incidents are widely propagated as communal persecution, which will increase anti-Muslim hatred in India,” Shohanur Rahman, a Fact Checker told The Quint.
Now the two major players in Bangladesh are Prof Yunus and the students who led the protests. Both these are taking the line of inclusive character of Bangladesh and have taken a strong position on protection of Hindus and other minorities. Undoubtedly, the Jamaat-e-Islami dreams of an Islamic state, and there is Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is also pro-right, pro-Islamic state, while the major scale is tilted towards the attitudes which Prof Yunus and students are displaying. Prof Yunus, true to his pluralism visited the Dhakeshwari temple on August 13 (Tuesday) and met Hindu leaders to assuage their pain and reassure their safety. That is so reassuring.
Also read: The New Bangladesh Government Should Prevent Majoritarianism in the Wake of Pro-democracy Revolts
Here in India, the hate mongers and votaries of Hindu nationalism are spreading hate and sending inflammatory messages with abandon. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kangana Ranaut, tweeted:
“Peace is not air or sunlight that you think is your birthright and will come to you for free. Mahabharata ho ya (or) Ramayana biggest battles in the history of the world have been fought for peace. Pick your swords and keep them sharp, practice some combat form daily.”
Many others are deliberately calling the People’s Republic of Bangladesh ‘Islamic Republic of Bangladesh’ with motives which are very retrograde.
On similar lines, many trolls and leaders of the BJP are spreading such things which incite the people. What is needed at the moment? We must stand with the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh. As the interim government is calling for protection of minorities and as minorities could successfully stage a demonstration for their rights, it seems there is space in Bangladesh for democratic, secular values — which need to be appreciated and supported. Violation of minority rights cannot be selective. We need to stand for it at home if we are to make the same demand of neighbouring countries.
South Asia as such has been going through a phase of sectarian nationalism. Sri Lanka’s sectarianism was very visible a year ago. Pakistan is a major violator of minority rights and Myanmar is also proceeding on similar lines. In India, sadly, those indulging in ‘take out swords’ and other hateful messages get away with their calls without facing the charge of promoting hate speech and divisiveness.
The false propaganda in India about ‘Hindu khatre mein’ (Hindus are in danger) based on demographic misconceptions gets fuel from such social media posts which are circulated widely without any fact check mechanism. The responsibility of those striving for pluralism and democracy is immense at the moment. The hate mongers have erected a huge machinery to do their divisive job. More believers in peace and amity will have to come forward to combat this hate by widening their net and intensifying the process of fact checking.
Hasina had a dual character. At one level she was very dictatorial while at another, pluralism survived to some extent. What is needed is the implementation of both pluralism and democracy. The Bangladesh government faces the challenge of bringing both of these into practice. Prof Yunus’s visit to the temple gives lots of hope for secularism in Bangladesh.
India also needs to act as a model for South Asia by promoting these values. We should strive for promoting intercommunity relations, affirmative action for minorities and standing for upholding the human rights of all, while shunning the hate mongering against any community.
Ram Puniyani is president of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism.
A version of this piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.