JAMSHEDPUR:
A sizeable population of the Bengali-speaking people in East Singhbhum district under the banner of the Jharkhand Bangla Bhasi Unayan Samiti submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the East Singhbhum DC appealing to protect the minority community in trouble-torn Bangladesh.
Samarpita Sinha, of East Bengal Colony here, said, “My uncle, Krishno Roy (42), who is a priest of a local temple at Khulna in Bangladesh and a supporter of Sheikh Hasina, has been traceless for the past week.
I am not sure but I was told that he was abducted by a mob to some unknown place and they might have lynched him there. My uncle’s friend, who is a co-priest at the same temple, managed to escape, contacted us from an undisclosed location and narrated the trauma.”
Another Bengali, Mampi Basak, said, “My friends from the minority community, who are studying in an engineering college and living in different parts of Bangladesh, are in constant fear.”
Bangla Samiti secretary Rajesh Roy said, “The torture of the minorities in Bangladesh is a complete violation of human rights and needs to be condemned at the highest level. Hence, one of our delegations also met state health minister, Banna Gupta, who is also the local MLA, to take steps to ensure the safety of our relatives in Bangladesh.”
Roy further said, “A section of people vandalized the statue of Kaviguru Rabindra Nath Tagore, who is our national pride and icon of Bengali asmita. The Centre should take cognizance of the issue and lodge a protest with the current interim govt there. We mentioned this point in our memorandum to PM.”
A section of Hindi-speaking youths from the trading hub of Jugsalai in the city, also took out a silent march with black bands tied around their mouths as a mark of protest and to express solidarity with the minorities in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, a complaint was filed at the Sakchi police station on Saturday by senior BJP functionary Abhay Singh against Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Sajjan Verma for their statement “The way a coup has happened in Bangladesh, it could also happen in India”.