IN PICS | South African Hindus protest against violence in Bangladesh

The Hindu community in South Africa is calling on the government to intervene in the ongoing attacks on their “brothers and sisters” in Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India.

A peaceful protest in solidarity with the Bangladeshi Hindu people was held in Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal, on Sunday.

Members of minority communities in violence-hit Bangladesh have faced more than 205 incidents of attacks in 52 districts since the fall of the Hasina-led government on August 5. Hundreds of Hindus are believed to have been injured in attacks on their homes and businesses.

“The international community is experiencing a genocide of Hindus who are being prosecuted just for their religion,” said activist Mervin Govender.

“We, as Hindus in South Africa, feel it is unfair to be persecuted. We understand what it means to have apartheid and genocide. The issue of being discriminated against by a Muslim-dominated Bangladesh against a Hindu minority is cowardice, an act of mutiny that is ongoing there.”

Govender said they will fight until Hindus in Bangladesh are free.

“We will not stay quiet as Hindus in South Africa. We will raise our voice to the highest office and Ronald Lamola's office has to intervene. The UN has to intervene. We cannot have apartheid; this is apartheid in reverse in Bangladesh. What started as a protest for quotas has now spiralled into attacking minorities.

“The Bangladeshi people attacking minorities are acting with cowardice. You cannot attack a temple, you cannot attack religious institutions.”

He said India has never prosecuted or taken up arms against any other country, but Bangladesh was persecuting descendants of Indians.

“This is what we are against. Even in South Africa, Hindus are peaceful. It is time we raise our voice against what is going on. This is genocide.”

Govender called on the South African government to do as it did with Palestine.

“If we can raise our voice about Palestine, why can't we raise our voice about the Hindus who have been persecuted, raped, butchered, just for being Hindu? I plead for the international community and local community and the South African government to make sure a statement is issued regarding the Hindus being persecuted. 

“We expect a response from the government or from levels of government, from provincial up to national, to say how they are going to manage the situation because there are a lot of Bangladeshi migrants coming to South Africa as refugees.”

Udesh Singh, from a Hindu business chamber of commerce, shared these sentiments.

“We haven't seen anything from our government. We have seen the government taking a stand with Palestine, but we are not seeing the government take a stand at this point. We are planning to take this to our government,” he said.

The Hindu community is also threatening to boycott the products and services of Bangladesh. 

“We do not need Bangladesh's products in this country for a simple reason: during apartheid, Bangladesh supported no form of relief to this country. We will not allow Bangladesh to trade as normal in this country.”

Activist Seelan Achary said: “I joined the organisers to show solidarity with our Hindu brothers and sisters and children in Bangladesh. What is happening in Bangladesh, ethnic cleansing, is genocide against a minority because they are Hindus, or of Hindu faith, by Islamic extremists.

“Authorities should not waste time in dealing with the perpetrators before it becomes another Rwanda or before it becomes another genocide like we witness throughout the world. It cannot be that in the year 2024 these things can happen.

“Can you imagine a family being hanged by the neck just because they identified as Hindus? People who were once neighbours are today attacking their Hindu brothers and sisters. 

“As South Africans, we want to stand with our Hindu brothers and sisters in Bangladesh and show we are giving them support, and if need be we can send material support to them as well.”

TimesLIVE