Banner Flown Over New York Sky Calls for Action on Violence Targeting Hindus In Bangladesh | Video

A massive banner featuring interim leader Muhammad Yunus’s face was flown over the New York sky on Thursday, urging the international community to take action against the violence facing Hindus in Bangladesh.

The banner, which circled the Statue of Liberty and Hudson River aimed to raise awareness about the ongoing persecution faced by the Hindu minority in the country, news agency ANI reported.

This call to protect the Hindus in the Muslim-majority country comes as the minority community has faced incidents of vandalism and destruction of temples during the student-led violence that erupted following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Anti-government protests

After unprecedented anti-government protests that peaked on August 5, Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India. In August, thousands of Hindus staged protests in Dhaka and the northeastern port city of Chattogram, demanding protection. Hindus constitute about 8 percent of the 170 million Bangladesh population.

According to the group that few the banner in the New York skyline, the Hindu minority in Bangladesh has been declining dangerously over the years as they are subjected to relentless violence, discrimination and forced conversions.

“…Hindu women and girls are being brutally gang-raped, in broad daylight while being stoned by other men, heir dignity and safety shattered in the name of religious hatred by radical Islamists. Temples—sacred spaces of worship and community gathering—are being desecrated, burnt, and looted, symbolizing the erasure of Hindu culture and spirituality,” the Hindu Genocide Organisation wrote on its website.

Earlier, several rights groups had raised concerns about how entire Hindu neighbourhoods have been razed to the grounds, with homes destroyed, possessions stolen. “The situation has deteriorated so severely that even the homes of internationally recognized Hindu musicians, athletes, and saints have not been spared,” the group said, adding that the violence on the minority population is reminiscent of the 1971 genocide where over 2 million Hindus were killed.