Bengaluru: RSS leader Ram Madhav on Friday said every Hindu in Bangladesh is committed 100 per cent to that country's identity and has as much pride in their Bengali identity and culture as any other Bangladeshi Muslim. Hence, the treatment that is meted out to them should be taken very seriously, he said.
Citing reports of destruction of some temples and Hindus being subjected to persecution or other minorities facing problems in Bangladesh, he said, it is very concerning.
Madhav was giving a lecture on India's neighbouring countries at an event here.
According to him, religion could not hold Pakistan as one nation and was divided into Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"Right from the day Pakistan was created in 1947, people of east Bengal, which became a part of Pakistan in 1947, were subjected to enormous oppression and humiliations...Bangladesh is the first nation in Asia created on the identity of a language," he said.
He also said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, known as "bangabandhu" and the leader of the resistance movement in east Bengal, was put in jail in 1969 itself.
"There was no leader for this movement after that and all the major countries in the world were supporting Pakistan for their own reasons. There was nobody to stand up for the rights of Bengalis, whether it was Muslims or Hindus. At that time, India was the only country who stood by them," he added.
Given that India played a role in the forming of the country (Bangladesh), Madhav said India has a right to be concerned about what is happening there today and that it cannot be called interference.
He also said the head of the interim administration, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, following his Independence Day speech in which he talked about the issues being faced in Bangladesh.
"Yunus assured that Hindus and other minorities will be protected," he added.
Published 17 August 2024, 01:09 IST