Radical kindness only can truly reform Bangladesh

Malaysia is a home to more than 221,000 Bangladesh workers. This week, we had seen the selective compassion among Malaysians on the recent riot in Bangladesh.

For a week, videos and cry for help by the victims of mobs believed to be instigated by the radical Jamaat e-Islami surfaces on social media platform.

The mob mercilessly have attacked, raped, lynched and murdered helpless Hindus across cities, towns and village of Bangladesh.

The alacrity with which the Gaza plight highlighted in the mainstream media in Malaysia completely disappears when Hindus and other minorities is lynched by radical Islamists in Bangladesh.

What started some months ago as a mass “student” protest against the “authoritarian and corrupt” regime of Sheikh Hasina has metamorphosed into a full-fledged attack targeting Hindus in Bangladesh.

In these polarised times, it is always wiser to take social media posts related to targeted violence and killings of any group or community with a pinch of salt. Exaggeration and misinformation are often the norm rather than the exception. So too with many social media posts on Bangladesh.

However, how can one ignore detailed and gory stories filed in mainstream media platforms of Bangladesh about the brutal and savage manner in which Hindus are being treated after Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee her country?

The global reaction on the on-going attacks on minority in Bangladesh

It is extremely rare for the United Nations to take note of and condemn any attack on the Hindu community. Yet, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has gone on record to condemn the attacks in Bangladesh. At the time of writing, there seemed no respite for the Hindu community.

Public protests against these atrocities have taken place in Toronto, Canada; New York, America and in the UK.

A new government led by Nobel Prize winner Muhammed Yunus has been formed with the backing of the army. But the media in Bangladesh is replete with stories of empty police stations, no rule of law, complete anarchy and systematic attacks on leaders of the previous ruling party, the Awami League. And of course, the continuing attacks on Hindus.

The term genocide is promptly used for this situation but there is a deafening silence from the Malaysian government to call for action to stop such atrocities.

So far among the leaders around the globe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended best wishes to the newly sworn-in head of the Bangladesh interim government, Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

He also expressed hope for a swift return to normalcy and explicitly called for the protection of Hindus in Bangladesh. The same was done by Malaysia’s Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Four days after former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India, Nobel laureate Yunus was sworn in as chief adviser of the interim government, along with a 16-member advisory council, in Dhaka on Thursday night.

On the 8th of August, the Qatar-funded portal Al Jazeera attempted to pass off the communally motivated attacks on Hindus as an act of political revenge. While denying the ongoing Hinduphobia as false, Al-Jazeera claimed that India media houses reporting the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are Islamophobic and alarmist.

Al Jazeera published an article titled “Islamophobic, alarmist’: How some India outlets covered Bangladesh crisis” by Faisal Mahmud and Saqib Sarker on 8th August. Invoking ‘Islamophobia’ looks like one of the reliable and effective tactics to downplay the crimes of terrorism against non-Muslims and guilt-trip people questioning or criticising the act.

Humanity aid and intervention is the need of the hour

Of course, what is conveniently not shown is that the temple has already been vandalised and desecrated. But there is no condemnation, no outrage, no protest; not even a few words of empathy or sympathy for women gang raped by these Islamists mobs. Every peaceful Muslim should condemn the act that could tarnish the outlook of the religion itself.

Almost everyone who considers themselves liberal seems determined to nurture and sustain the myth that the terrible attacks being faced by Hindus in Bangladesh are just an aberration.

And that it would be Islamophobic to paint an entire community in a poor light because of the misdeeds of a few hot heads.

Scores of Hindus have been raped and killed by radical Islam groups only because of their religion. The authors are very clear on this issue: every religious community—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs—harbours its share of fundamentalists and fanatics who prefer hate over mutual co-existence.

The job of a liberal is to shame and slam intolerant fanatics of all communities. The moment you start being selective, you have lost the humanity in you.

The shocking thing is that our Malaysians go ballistic when children and women raped, tortured and massacred in Gaza but chooses to keep mum for what is happening to Bangladesh Hindus.

For a moment, forget the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh.

The real problem is that our ‘tidak apa’ attitude of not bothered about minorities and their thinly veiled dislike and contempt for Hindu ethos has played a major role for the sufferings of the minorities.

Time to voice up

It is time for us as a human being to express our concerns over the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh.

There certainly need to be global action to protect vulnerable communities amid ongoing violence and protests.

Amid the turmoil, a video depicting Islamists breaking new benchmarks for savagery and hatred towards Hindus has gone viral.

In the video, Islamists can be seen encircling a dead victim lying on the ground. There’s a pool of blood beneath the deceased man’s broken head, and his hands are bound in handcuffs. Many men are gathered around him.

With the aid of a stick, one man, whose face cannot be seen in the video, strips the deceased person naked and checks the victim’s private part for circumcision.

Shouting ‘Hindu, Hindu’ over the corpse, the crowd hovering over the dead body laughs, realising that the man is a Hindu because he is not circumcised.

Notably, the video in question is being taken down from all social media platforms and disturbing, therefore we are not sharing it here.

If this type of violence is allowed to continue, it is allowing for an ethnic cleansing to happen right in front of our eyes.

Minority rights are about ensuring respect for distinctive identities while ensuring that any differential treatment towards groups or persons belonging to such groups does not mask discriminatory practices and policies.

Therefore, positive action is required to respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, and acknowledge that minorities enrich society.

A form of radical kindness is necessary where the majority protects the minority. Protection must be converted from mere words to action.

Hence there is a dire need for Malaysia’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to also voice out on this issue.

Otherwise his vision of Madani for Malaysia would ring hollow.

HEMA SUBRAMANIAM is a columnist.