‘Burn effigy of jihadist terrorism’: Hindu Parishad to stage protest in Delhi tomorrow over Bangladesh attacks

Amid unrest in Bangladesh due to attacks on minority communities in the country, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) will stage a demonstration outside the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Wednesday, according to a press statement issued by the organisation. “Along with this, outrage demonstrations will be held at district places across Bharat,” the statement added.

The VHP said that the demonstrations will comprise burning of effigies of “jihadist terrorism and memorandum to Mahanabim.” Quoting its central joint general secretary, Surendra Jain, the statement added that the atrocities committed on Hindus by “radical Islamic jihadists and fundamentalists” can only be compared with the brutality of the Nazis. The organisation also called for the United Nations to send a peace keeping force to Bangladesh in order to put an end to the violent attacks on Hindus.

“The VHP warns the Bangladesh government that if they want to stand in the line of developing countries, they will have to break free from their radical image. Extremists will have to be dealt with in the same manner as was done in 1971,” the statement read.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) said on Tuesday that it was planning to hold a day-long global protest on October 23 over the attacks.

The attacks in the neighbouring country began last week over an alleged viral video of a Quran placed on the knee of Goddess Durga’s idol at a puja pandal in Bangladesh’s Comilla. The array of attacks continued unabated in the country with a mob torching nearly 65 houses on Sunday night, leading to at least 20 houses getting completely destroyed.

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Police in Bangladesh have booked over 4,000 people in connection to the attacks and charged them with vandalism, obstruction of government duty and assaulting security forces, Dhaka Tribune reported.

In the aftermath of the attack at the Durga Puja pandal, many Hindu temples in multiple locations were destroyed in the Muslim-majority nation. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised strict action over the attacks, saying that “nobody will be spared” and the accused will be “hunted down and punished.”