RSS condemns 'govt support' for violence against Hindus in Bangladesh

The resolution passed during the three-day annual meeting noted that the persistent anti-India rhetoric in Bangladesh can severely damage the relationship between the two countries

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Saturday passed a resolution describing the “government and institutional support for the violence and hatred” against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh during the last one year as a serious cause of concern.

 

It is for the first time that the RSS, the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, has directly accused the Bangladesh government and its institutions of providing support to those perpetrating violence against the neighbouring country's minority Hindu community. 

 

Addressing the media after the discussions on the second day of its three-day annual meeting, RSS joint general secretary Arun Kumar also ruled out any friction between the parent organisation and its political arm, BJP, over the delay in electing the latter’s national president. BJP’s current national chief J P Nadda and its general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh are attending the meeting of the RSS’ All India Pratinidhi Sabha, as are heads of the other 31 affiliated organisations of the RSS. Kumar said the BJP follows the process delineated in its constitution to elect its party chief, and that process is underway.

 

 

To a question on the delimitation of the Lok Sabha seats and concerns over some of the seats likely to lose their representation in the House of the People, Kumar said such apprehensions were unfounded, and being stoked without any basis by people with a political agenda. He said the 2002 law had frozen the number of Lok Sabha seats. 

 

He said the government has not said that it will revisit or reopen the question of the number of seats, and even the Census is yet to take place. Such questions should arise once the new Bill is put in the public domain.

 

On Bangladesh, the RSS resolution expressed concern at “the unabated and planned violence, injustice and oppression faced by Hindus and other minority communities at the hands of the radical Islamist elements in Bangladesh.”

 

It said that during the recent regime change in Bangladesh, several incidents of attacks on mutts, temples, Durga puja pandals and educational institutions, destruction of deities, barbaric killings, looting of properties, abduction and molestation of women and forcible conversions are being continuously reported. 

 

“To deny the religious angle of these incidents by claiming them to be only political is negation of truth as scores of victims of such incidents belong to Hindu and other minority communities only,” it said.

 

The RSS resolution said the persecution of Hindus and other minority communities, especially Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at the hands of fanatic Islamist elements is nothing new in Bangladesh. It said the population of Hindus in Bangladesh has declined from 22 per cent in 1951 (when it was East Pakistan) to 7.95 per cent now, which is proof of the existential crisis that the community faces.

 

The difference, the resolution sought to underline, now is that the violence and persecution of Hindus and other minorities has now been receiving governmental and institutional support in Bangladesh. Along with this, the persistent anti-India rhetoric in Bangladesh can severely damage the relationship between the two countries, it said.

 

The RSS resolution stated that there “is a concerted effort on the part of some international forces to foment instability in the entire region surrounding India by creating an atmosphere of distrust and confrontation pitting one country against another”. It called upon thought leaders and scholars to be vigilant about the activities of Pakistan and “deep state” and “expose them”. 

 

The meeting stressed that the entire region has a shared culture, history and social bonds because of which any upheaval at one place raises concern throughout the region.

 

The Pratinidhi Sabha appealed to the Government of India to make all possible efforts to ensure the protection, dignity and wellbeing of the Hindu community in Bangladesh while engaging the Bangladesh government in a continuous and meaningful dialogue.

 

Kumar said Pakistan and Bangladesh have reneged on their promises, including those that Pakistan (of which Bangladesh was then a part) made during the Partition in 1947. Thus, the responsibility of ensuring the safety and security of the Hindu community has fallen on India, he said.