Why are minority communities not being protected?
It is most unfortunate that religious and ethnic minorities across the country have been coming under regular attacks when the party in power always takes pride in upholding the rights of people, irrespective of their religious and ethnic identities. The increasing incidents of communal attacks on the minority communities during the lockdown and the recent arson attack on Hindu houses in Muradnagar of Cumilla expose the incapacity of the government to protect minority communities and uphold the fundamental principles of the 1972 constitution. In May, 16 noted citizens demanded legal action against the perpetrators involved in the torture, harassment and human rights deprivation of the country's minority communities. And now leaders of the Bangladesh Hindu, Bouddha, Christian Oikya Parishad have demanded intervention of the prime minister to stop such heinous attacks.
According to media reports, at least 30 incidents of violence against people of minority communities took place in April and May in the country. On May 15, houses of 10 Hindu families were vandalised and a Hindu youth was arrested on allegations of demeaning religion in Bhola's Monpura. Two days after the incident, miscreants torched the homestead of Baul Ronesh Thakur, a prominent disciple of Baul Shah Abdul Karim in Sunamganj's Derai. The atrocities against the minorities did not stop in torture and attacks, a shocking number of people have also been murdered during the last few months. According to the Hindu, Bouddha, Christian Oikya Parishad, at least 17 people have been killed between March and September as communal attacks continued amid the pandemic.
Needless to say, such incidents are on the rise because the perpetrators of previous crimes have hardly faced any justice. It is most unfortunate that four years after the violent attacks on the Hindu communities of Brahmanbaria's Nasirnagar upazila, police are yet to find the perpetrators. As unbelievable as this might seem, police have not completed the investigation yet in the case. This culture of impunity enjoyed by the attackers only emboldens them and others to carry out further attacks.
The government must take stern legal action against the perpetrators of such crimes because it is their constitutional duty to protect minority communities across the country. It should form a commission to investigate all the attacks since 2012, as demanded by the Oikya Parishad leaders. Such crimes can only be stopped if those responsible face justice.
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