How Dare They Point Fingers? The Audacity of Bangladesh and the Forgotten Plight of Hindus

By Poonam Sharma

As Bangladesh’s highest authorities recently showed “concern” over reports of communal violence in West Bengal, a tsunami of incredulity washed over India’s diplomatic and strategic communities. The audacity! A nation that has systematically failed its own minorities, especially Hindus, having the temerity to lecture India — a plural democracy with an unyielding constitutional commitment to secularism?

The irony is not merely thick — it’s repulsive.In a blunt riposte, Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Randhir Jaiswal properly castigated Dhaka’s statement as “unwarranted” and a “barely disguised and disingenuous” move to try and create false parity. He called to mind the reality Bangladesh keeps ignoring: the continued, unabated persecution of minorities — most notably Hindus — on its own soil.

This is not a diplomatic row over semantics. This is about moral inversion, historical memory, and an effort by a state to absolve its own guilt by pointing fingers in another direction.

Let us turn the clock back. It is 1971. The sky reverberates with the sound of war cries, as Pakistan’s genocidal government unleashes “Operation Searchlight” to destroy the Bengali freedom struggle. What ensued was not merely a war — it was a massacre. More than 3 million were massacred. Hindus were specifically targeted. Their houses were set ablaze, women were raped, temples violated.

And to which direction did the leaders of this newly hatching nation rush for asylum? India.

In their number was a young Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who found asylum in India as West Bengal — the very province currently at the core of Dhaka’s unwanted solicitude — took the brunt of accommodating nearly 10 million Bangladeshi refugees, of whom most were Hindus.

India, poor and still recovering from wars and domestic crises, did not bat an eyelid. It opened its doors, its homes, its hearts.

And now, the same nation whose independence itself was born by India, has the temerity to inquire about India’s domestic affairs?

The tragedy of the Hindus of Bangladesh did not end in 1971. It merely transformed.

Since independence, Hindu numbers in Bangladesh have fallen steeply — from around 22% in 1951 to below 8% now. The reasons are chillingly known: forced conversion, land acquisitions under the still-in-place Vested Property Act (a reminder of the Pakistani period), acts of vandalism of temples, communal violence, and a state willing to turn the other cheek, or worse, be an abettor.

Thousands of Hindus have migrated to India over the last half-century, escaping discrimination, violence, and a gradual feeling of erasure. Temples are attacked as a matter of course during Hindu festivals in much of rural Bangladesh. Desecrations of murtis (idols) go unpunished. Minor girls are kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam.

And yet, the Hasina regime — which boasts secular credentials overseas — will not recognize this creeping genocide.

Let us be clear. Violence in West Bengal — or anywhere in India — is a matter of concern for Indians. And India, through its democratic institutions and constitutional mechanisms, investigates, prosecutes, and publicly debates such incidents.

Bangladesh is different, though. When Hindus were attacked during the 2021 Durga Puja violence, Comilla and Chandpur temples were looted, houses burnt down, and several individuals murdered — but justice was tardy, subdued, and partial. Global media attention was transient. The government reaction? Denial coupled with lip-service.

India’s treatment of its minorities is not ideal — but it is responsible. Bangladesh’s record, on the other hand, is one of denial, selective indignation, and state-sanctioned impunity.

Bangladesh’s increasing geopolitical importance — because of its economic emergence, strategic position, and balancing act between China and India — might have given its politicians a sense of confidence. But this new confidence should not be mistaken for moral high ground.

India has stood by Bangladesh at every critical juncture — from infrastructural assistance to vaccine diplomacy, from water-sharing negotiations to border accords. Even when Dhaka plays footsie with Beijing from time to time, Delhi has preferred dialogue over confrontation. But this new provocation is a step too far.

A question arises: is this a simple diplomatic gaffe? Or an intentional message from a government going further and further in the direction of Islamic majoritarian appeasement?

Latest reports indicate an alarming rise in Islamist voices within Bangladesh’s political landscape. Institutions such as the Hefazat-e-Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami, and other ultra-conservative elements are gaining traction again. Under such a climate, Hindus become often the collateral damage — the “other” to be scapegoated, intimidated, or wiped out.

The killing of Hindu teacher Debnath Ray in Khulna, the mob lynching of a Hindu youth on suspicion of blasphemy, the burning of villages en masse over Facebook posts — all indicate a shaky and worsening fate for non-Muslims.

Where is the concern of the Bangladeshi government for such victims? Where are the declarations of solidarity? Where are the apologies?

India has always taken the high road. It took in refugees without rancor. It provided refuge to Sheikh Hasina. It has not responded with mass expulsions or trade embargoes, even when Dhaka did not return good faith.

But patience wears thin. Respect, also, is a two-way street.

If Bangladesh desires to be the good neighbor, it has to clean its house first. Forgotten Hindus’ blood taints its soil. The bones of partition and 1971 are buried under decades of deliberate amnesia.

India cannot let false moral equivalency take root. It cannot let those who stood by in silence when temples were burning in Dhaka protest loudly when a communal riot erupts in West Bengal — a state whose citizens once bled for Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s government needs to remember its past — not only on India’s behalf, but in order to survive as a secular, tolerant country. The direction of Hindus in Bangladesh today serves as a warning of what transpires when cowardice, majoritarianism, and state indifference are partners.

India, as imperfect as it is, remains the most secure home for South Asia’s minorities. And Bangladesh would be smart to learn its neighbor’s diversity — rather than taunt it with trivial, ill-considered statements.

At times, silence is preferable to hypocrisy.