Delegation
of Human Rights Groups met President of India to stop atrocities on
BD Minorities.
Members of BHBCUC, BDMW, BDMF and CAAMB met
President of India over the issues of Hindus and other minorities in
Bangladesh.
New Delhi | 22 April
2014:: The President of
India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee met the delegation from Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist
Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), USA led by Shri Sitangshu Guha at Rashtrapati
Bhavan in New Delhi on April 21, 2014.
A
15 member delegate team from India and aboard met Shri
Pranab Mukherjee, President of India at Rashtrapti Bhavan, New Delhi on
21 April, 2014. The team constituted of Shri Sitangshu Guha
and Shri Nabendu Dutta of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council
(BHBCUC), New York; Shri Swadesh Barua and Shri Udayan Barua, BHBCUC, France;
Shri Tarun Chowdhury and Smt. Chitra Paul, BHBCUC, Sweden;
Shri Dilip Karmakar, BHBCUC, Canada; Shri Arun Barua, Bangladesh Minority
Council, Switzerland; Shri Rabindra Ghosh (Advocate), Bangladesh Minority Watch
(BDMW), Dhaka; Shri B B Chowdhury, Bangladesh Minority Forum (BDMF), UK and
Shri Mohit Ray, Canpaign Against Atrocities on Minorities in Bangladesh
(CAAMB), Kolkata, India. The team was also accompanied by Smt Alpana
Guha, Smt Snigdha Ghosh, Smt Parboti Dutta and Smt Shilpi Chowdhury.
In
the 40 minute meeting, Hon’ble President heard the experiences in brief from
all the delegates. A number of delegates described in tears about the existence
of the minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh. The delegates requested
President to take special concern to save the minority
Hindu-Buddhist-Christians in Bangladesh. They remembered the great role played
by India during the liberation war in 1971. They highlighted the facts that
Hindus in Bangladesh have reduced from nearly 30 percent to 8 percent of the
population. All appealed to the President of India to do something about it.
The delegates presented memorandums, documents and some gifts to the Hon’ble
President of India.
Prof.
Mohit Ray, representative of CAAMB highlighted the issues of the
persecuted Bangladeshi Hindus after they have been forced to leave the country.
They are refugees by the criteria promulgated by United Nations. However they
are now treated as illegal migrants in India and are deprived of citizenship.
He appealed to President to look into this matter and amend 2003 Citizenship
Act to facilitate granting citizenship to the persecuted minority refugees from
Bangladesh.
The Hon President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee heard the
delegation meticulously and expressed his deep concern about the information on
Bangladesh minorities. He assured to convey the message and reports of the
delegation to the Office of Prime Minister of India so that Govt of India may
pursue BD Govt for taking appropriate action to ensure the interest of
Bangladesh minorities in its true terms.
The
matters of upsurging Jehadi force and the plight of non-Muslim minorities in
Bangladesh under an adopted State religion of Islam by violating the norms of
Constitution of 1971 in Bangladesh, greatly attracted the attention of
Hon’ble President of India.
Advocate
Rabibdra Ghosh of BDMW handed over a printed a book of fact-finding report on
the continuous atrocities, torture, abduction, eviction, rape, murder of
Bangladesh Hindus and other minorities in the span of 2011-2014 to Hon’ble
President of India and Mr. Sitangshu Guha of BHBCUC New York handed over a Memorandum
of Appeal urging protection of rights of minorities of Bangladesh.
The
delegation team as above expressed their pleasure and satisfaction over the
warm hospitality at the end of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Incidentally,
CAAMB invited Ms Taslima Nasrin, Bangladeshi writer in exile now living in
Delhi, in the evening. She met the delegates of various rights groups present
in Delhi and had detailed discussion about the pity condition of Bangladesh
minorities and the threat of Radical Islam in the sphere of art, culture,
literature and human society as a whole, with them over a cup of tea.
Courtesy:
CAAMB | BDMW.
