News Mania Desk/Sohom Chatterjee/6th September 2024
United Nations has received a petition from a New Delhi-based rights institution who have tried to draw their attention to the recent cases of racial profiling of Hindu officers in the protest-torn Bangladesh under the governance of a temporary government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammed Yunus.
On September 5, the Rights and Risks Analysis Group urged the UN Special Rapporteurs who are in charge of handling contemporary forms of racism, freedom of religion or belief and minority issues to take action against the caretaker government of Bangladesh from racially profiling the Hindu officers.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Cotton and Jute with an order issued on August 29, directed various departments and institutions under them to submit a list of joint secretary-level Hindu officers by September 2. This order was issued to obey the instruction of an order which was issued on August 27 from the Bangladesh President’s Personnel Department to all Ministries and autonomous institutions for such a list.
Suhas Chakma, the director of the rights group, spoke on this issue, “Seeking the list of only Hindu officers by the President of Bangladesh is nothing but an act of racial profiling of the Hindus by the Bangladesh government for specific targeting of minorities based on their religious belief,” the rights group’s director.”
He added, “There is a genuine fear that senior officers belonging to the Hindu minorities will be targeted and effectively silenced. This violates the UN human rights laws relating to racial discrimination and the rights of the minorities and a fit case for the UN rapporteurs to intervene.”
The Hindu community in Bangladesh are minority among the Muslim majority population. The protests and the public unrest saw many Hindu families being attacked which led to the Hindu community of Bangladesh seeking refuge in India. The political unrest in Bangladesh is still not completely under control and the whole world has its eyes set on what may happen next.
