Will not stop until Hindus in B'desh get justice: US Congressman Thanedar

I am especially concerned about reports of attacks targeting the country's Hindu minority, he said

Alarmed at the sudden rise in violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, Indian American Congressman Shri Thanedar Friday said that he will not stop until the minority community gets justice.

We need justice for the minority Hindus. These are heartbreaking activities. This has to stop, and I'm on top of it, Thanedar said in a video statement issued Friday.

The attacks on the minority Hindus is totally unacceptable. I am in touch with the State Department and authorities across the world. I am on top of it. And we will not stop until all of these things are addressed," he said.

Last year, Thanedar founded the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain American Congressional Caucus, to raise the voice of the Hindus and other religious minorities in the US and other parts of the world.

In a statement, a day earlier, Thanedar urged the people and leadership of Bangladesh to put an end to the violence plaguing their country.

I am especially concerned about reports of attacks targeting the country's Hindu minority. Accounts of temples destroyed, homes levelled and individuals targeted are as disturbing as they are reprehensible, said the Congressman from Michigan.

Since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on Monday, media reports from Bangladesh have flagged more and more cases of violence against minorities, including the massive vandalism and destruction at popular folk band Joler Gaan's frontman Rahul Ananda's residence on Monday prompting the singer and his family to go into hiding.

At least 232 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the government led by Sheikh Hasina on Monday, according to a media report on Thursday, taking the death toll to 560 since the anti-quota protests first started in mid-July.