When a mass uprising forced Bangladesh's longtime prime minister to step down and flee the country last week, a 65-year-old retired auditor who had worked for her political party feared for his life.
Arobinda Mohalder, who is part of Bangladesh's Hindu minority, had just learned that a Hindu official working for the Awami League party in the country's Khulna district escaped after an angry mob set his home on fire.
Mohalder and his wife quickly packed clothes and passports as they fled their home to stay with a relative nearby. Later that evening, they found out their home had been torched. The attackers looted everything, including their television, refrigerator and two air conditioners.
Ever since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India, her supporters and associates have faced retaliatory attacks by mobs who have been met by little, if any, resistance from authorities. Members of the country's Hindu minority feel the most vulnerable because they have traditionally backed the Awami League -seen as a secular party in the Muslim-majority nation- and because of a history of violence against them during previous upheavals.
In the week since Hasina was ousted on Aug. 5, there have been at least 200 attacks against Hindus and other religious minorities across 52 districts, according to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a minority rights group that has been tracking incidents.
But experts caution it is hard to establish the extent of and motivations for the violence in this South Asian country of 170 million.
"There may be an element of minorities, particularly Hindus, being targeted due to their faith. But many Hindus had links to the Awami League, because historically it has been the party that protected minorities, so they may have been targeted for their political affiliations," said Thomas Kean, a senior consultant on Bangladesh and Myanmar at the Crisis Group.
Bu hikaye Toronto Star dergisinin August 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Toronto Star dergisinin August 18, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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