British Hindus in Parliament Square protest against attacks in Bangladesh

London, Jan 21 (PTI): British Hindus and Bangladeshi diaspora groups gathered at Parliament Square in London on Wednesday to protest against the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, calling on the British government to ensure the Mohammad Yunus-led interim government acts to protect innocent lives.

  The ‘Stand against persecution of minorities in Bangladesh’ mass demonstration brought together a diverse set of organisations, including the Bengali Hindu Adarsha Sangha (BHAS) UK, INSIGHT UK and Hindu Council UK.  Families, including young children, gathered on a rainy evening to wave placards that read “#SaveBangladeshiHindus” and “Save Hindus in Bangladesh”, as chants of “stop killing Hindus” rang out opposite the Palace of Westminster Parliament complex.  Hindu Council UK said in a statement that Bangladesh Hindus are being “killed almost daily on false charges of blasphemy” since the Yunus regime took charge in the country.

The group appealed to UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to take action against the “heinous Islamist killings of innocent Hindus in Bangladesh as a very serious matter and at the very least leverage the British aid fund to Bangladesh to protect innocent victims there”.  INSIGHT UK said the protest at Parliament Square was organised to raise awareness of “ongoing persecution, violence, rape and killings of Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh”.  Last week, the UK government condemned “all acts of violence” in Bangladesh and called for peaceful and credible elections as the issue was raised in the House of Commons. Opposition Conservative Party MP Bob Blackman asked the Labour government to intervene to protect minorities and ensure elections scheduled for February are “free and fair”.  “We actively engage with the humanitarian situation and support the interim government on peaceful and credible elections,” said Alan Campbell, Leader of the Commons.   “We have a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, and we continue to stress this to the interim government of Bangladesh. We condemn all acts of violence, whether they are religious or ethnic based, and we welcome the commitments of the Interim Head of Government [ Yunus] to the safety of minorities, including where arrests are made,” he said.  British Hindus and Bangladeshi diaspora groups have been coordinating protests in London since the end of last year, condemning the “unethical arrest of interfaith voice Chinmaya Prabhu and public lynching of Dipu Das by Islamic extremists” and reports emanating from Dhaka of other attacks. PTI AK        RD RD RD

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