Bangladesh Govt Says Working To 'Resolve' Attacks On Minorities, Muhammad Yunus Calls Meeting With Hindu Youths
Bangladesh's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, has called for a meeting with Hindu students and youth to resolve the current crisis and ensure their protection.
Amid violence against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh, the country's interim leader and Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has called for a meeting with Hindu students and youths on Monday. According to the reports, the discussion would focus on resolving the current crisis and ensuring the protection of Hindus in the South Asian country.
Hindus are reportedly the largest minority faith in Muslim-dominated Bangladesh and are considered a steadfast support base for autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina's party, the Awami League.
On Sunday, the Muhammad Yunus-led new interim government said it was working to resolve attacks on Hindus and other religious minorities reported after the dramatic ouster of Hasina.
As per media reports, since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5, minority communities in Bangladesh, especially Hindu households, temples and businesses, have faced at least 205 incidents of violence in 52 districts.
"The attacks on religious minorities in some places have been noted with grave concern," news agency AFP reported citing the interim cabinet's first official statement.
As per the report, the cabinet said it would "immediately sit with the representative bodies and other concerned groups to find ways to resolve such heinous attacks".
Meanwhile, the Yunus-led government has also ordered "support" for the families of protesters who were killed in the weeks of demonstrations culminating in Hasina's departure. It also directed public funds to pay for those injured in the unrest, which began in July and killed more than 450 people.
The statement from the self-styled "council of advisors", tasked with steering democratic reforms in the South Asian nation of 170 million people, also said it would reopen the metro system in the capital Dhaka by the end of the week. It also promised to soon appoint a new central bank governor, replacing a Hasina loyalist forced to resign.
Hasina, 76, fled to India on Monday as protesters flooded Dhaka's streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted rule. Her government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents, during her 15-year rule.
Interim leader Yunus, 84, returned from Europe on Thursday to lead a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of ending disorder and enacting democratic reforms. He took office as "chief advisor" to a caretaker administration, comprised of fellow civilians bar one retired brigadier-general, and has said he wants to hold elections "within a few months".
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