UNHCR should take note of atrocities on religious minorities in Bangladesh: ISKCON Kolkata

KOLKATA: ISKCON on Tuesday called upon the UNHCR to take note of atrocities on religious minorities in Bangladesh and said such violations of human rights are deeply saddening.

The interim government in Bangladesh should take strong action against the fundamentalists fomenting trouble in that country and arrest them to build confidence among the minorities there, ISKCON spokesperson Radharamn Das said.

His comment comes on the occasion of the Human Rights Day.

"Wake up, @UNHumanRights! Wake up—at least today, on #HumanRightsDay. Your silence and blind eye toward the ongoing #Bangladesh human rights violations are deeply saddening and heartbreaking," Das said on X.

He also claimed that the MPs of countries like the US and the United Kingdom have spoken out against the atrocities in Bangladesh, but the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) is yet to come up with a response to the human rights violations in that country.

Posting a video of a fundamentalist purportedly threatening the Hindu minorities and ISKCON in Bangladesh, Das said, "Just listen to this open call of genocide against Bangladeshi minorities & wake up."

PTI could not verify the authenticity of the video independently.

Das said that the ISKCON serves and feeds all people irrespective of their religious beliefs in Bangladesh as it does in several other countries in the world.

"We only want minorities and ISKCON are safeguarded in Bangladesh," Das said.

Bangladesh's minority Hindus, who constitute only about 8 per cent of the 170 million population, have faced over 200 attacks in 50-odd districts since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5.