UK: House of Lords Member Baroness Verma Flags Attacks on Minorities in Bangladesh
Baroness Verma urges Prime Minister Keir Starmer to act as violence against Hindus and other minorities escalates.
- Baroness Verma writes to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer
- Raises alarm over lynchings, rapes and forced conversions in Bangladesh
- Seeks strong UK condemnation and action
- Urges UK election observers ahead of February polls
GG News Bureau
London, 6th Jan: United Kingdom House of Lords Member Baroness Verma Baroness Verma has written to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, expressing grave concern over what she described as escalating persecution of minority communities and opposition supporters in Bangladesh.
In her letter, the House of Lords member said she had repeatedly raised the issue in the Lords Chamber and through earlier correspondence but had not received a response. She warned that conditions in Bangladesh have deteriorated sharply since the removal of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, citing reported lynchings, burning of young Hindu men, rape and forced conversions of non-Muslim women, and alleged inaction by police during mob attacks.
Baroness Verma said interim leader Dr Muhammad Yunus has failed to stop or condemn the alleged atrocities, raising serious concerns about the safety of minority communities and political opponents. She urged the British government to issue strong condemnation, noting that the UK remains one of the largest donor countries supporting Bangladesh.
With elections scheduled in Bangladesh in February, the peer called for UK election observers to be deployed before and during the polls. She also expressed concern over reports of Jamaat-e-Islami’s involvement in the elections and claims that Dr Yunus’s administration may seek to remove the word “secular” from Bangladesh’s constitution.
She said these developments raise serious questions about the future of constitutional values, law enforcement accountability, and minority rights in the country.
Baroness Verma added that members of the British Bangladeshi community are closely watching the UK government’s response and urged Prime Minister Starmer to act with urgency.
