Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday conveyed New Delhi’s concerns about the safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh to Mohammad Jashim Uddin, his counterpart in the country, said the Ministry of External Affairs.
Misri arrived in Dhaka earlier in the day, marking the first high-level diplomatic meeting between India and Bangladesh after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League government in August. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was instated in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Hasina-led government.
Misri also met Yunus on Monday evening.
The diplomatic relations between New Delhi and Dhaka have been strained since Hasina fled to India, following which incidents of violence against religious minorities were reported in several parts of Bangladesh.
Tensions escalated in the past few weeks after three Hindu monks were arrested on charges of sedition and several Hindu temples came under attack.
The Indian external affairs ministry stated on Monday that Misri had communicated to Uddin New Delhi’s “support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh”.
“He reiterated India’s willingness to build a positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh, based on mutual trust and respect and mutual sensitivity to each other’s concerns and interests,” the ministry said.
It added that Misri had also conveyed “India’s concerns, especially those related to the safety and welfare of minorities” to his Bangladeshi counterparts.
“He also raised some regrettable incidents of attacks on cultural, religious and diplomatic properties,” said the external affairs ministry.
Misri’s visit to Dhaka came two weeks after Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, was arrested on sedition charges after he allegedly insulted Bangladesh’s national flag during a rally in Chittagong on October 25.
Das is the spokesperson of the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaron Jote, an organisation that advocates for the rights of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. He was formerly associated with the West Bengal-based International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
Following his arrest, New Delhi had urged Dhaka to “ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including their right of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression”.
In August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged Yunus to ensure the safety of Hindus and other minorities. Yunus had claimed at the time that reports of attacks on religious minorities in Bangladesh had been exaggerated.
Despite this, nearly 35 attacks on minorities were reported in Bangladesh during the Durga Puja celebrations in October. Following this, the Ministry of External Affairs had asked the country’s interim government to ensure the security of Hindus and their places of worship.
After Das’s arrest, Shafiqul Alam, the press secretary of the Yunus-led government, had said that Hindus were “well protected” in Bangladesh, India Today reported. He alleged that Indian media outlets were running an “industrial scale misinformation campaign” about the state of minorities in his country.
“They [Hindus] are more protected than they were during Sheikh Hasina’s regime,” the official had told India Today.
Also read: How cross-border tensions are taking a toll on Bangladeshi patients and Indian hospitals
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