Hundreds of Bangladeshi Hindus try to cross into India

Dhaka: Hundreds of Hindus in Bangladesh were gathered along the Indian border hoping to cross, security officials said on Thursday, days after a student-led uprising toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Some businesses and homes owned by Hindus were attacked following Hasina’s ousting, and the group is seen by some in Muslim-majority Bangladesh as having been close to her.

“Several hundred Bangladeshi nationals, mostly Hindus, gathered at different points along India’s border with Bangladesh,” Amit Kumar Tyagi, India’s Border Security Force (BSF) deputy inspector general, told AFP.

More than 200 people were “standing close” to the frontier with India’s border in West Bengal state.

In the state’s Jalpaiguri district, more than 600 Bangladeshis gathered in no-man’s land, Tyagi added.

“As there is no fence here, BSF personnel formed a human shield to keep them at bay,” he said.

Officers fired a blank shot into the air to disperse crowds, he added. Hasina, 76, who had been in power since 2009, quit on Monday after more than a month of deadly protests.

The security situation in Bangladesh has since dramatically improved but there have been reports of revenge attacks on her supporters and party officials.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said earlier this week that at least 10 Hindu temples were attacked by “miscreants” on Monday.

A hospital official, on condition of anonymity, told AFP that one man from the community was beaten to death in the country’s southern Bagerhat district.

In India, where Hasina is now taking shelter, foreign minister S. Jaishankar said Tuesday his government was “monitoring the situation” with regard to minorities.

SOURCE: AFP