Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday highlighted the attacks on Hindus in the region, questioning the “deafening silence” of “so-called moral preachers.”
“They are mercenaries of something which is totally antithetical to human rights,” PTI quoted Dhankhar while addressing the foundation day celebrations
“We are too tolerant and being too tolerant to such transgressions is not appropriate. Think if you were one of those,” the vice president said.
“Look at the kind of barbarity, torture, traumatised experience of boys, girls, and women,” he said, adding look at our religious places being subjected to sacrilege.
Dhankhar’s comments are linked to reports of increasing attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ousting in August. According to a PTI report, at least 17 individuals have been arrested and around a dozen cases filed following “untoward incidents” during the Durga Puja celebrations in Bangladesh.
Hindus make up approximately 8 percent of Bangladesh’s population of 170 million. They have experienced vandalism of their businesses and properties, as well as the destruction of temples, during the student-led violence that resulted in Hasina’s ousting.
The situation for Hindus in Pakistan is similarly dire. In September, ANI referenced a Gatestone report indicating that religious minorities, particularly Hindu and Christian women and children, continue to face oppression and persecution. They are at risk of kidnapping, forced conversions, rape, and being coerced into “marriages” with older men.
In his address, Dhankhar stated, “There are pernicious forces that, in a systematic way, aim to unjustly tarnish our reputation, and these forces have a sinister agenda to use international platforms to question our human rights record.”
He also emphasized that India does not appreciate being lectured or sermonized on human rights.
