The interim government has dismissed claims made by India's Ministry of External Affairs regarding violence against Hindus in the country, calling the information “misleading and exaggerated.”
The Chief Advisor's Press Wing responded on Facebook to reports in Indian media on Friday night.
Several Indian media outlets, including India Today, Anadabazar, citing the country’s Ministry of External Affairs, today reported that in Bangladesh, 47 incidents of violence against Hindus occurred in the year 2022, 302 in 2023, and 2,200 in 2024.
The figure is misleading and highly exaggerated. According to the independent human rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra, the number of violent incidents against religious minorities in Bangladesh between January and November 2024 is 138, in which 368 houses were attacked and 82 people were injured.
The Interim Government of Bangladesh is investigating every reported incident and is committed to taking the perpetrators to book. At least 97 cases have been filed between August 4 and December 10, and 75 people were arrested for alleged attacks on religious minorities since August, according to police headquarters.
Many of these incidents happened between August 5 and August 8 when there was no government. Most of these attacks were political in nature. We request all to refrain from providing misleading information regarding such hate crimes.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
