Former Presidential Candidate and US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard on Friday condemned the the violence against Hindus and religious minorities in the Muslim-majority nation of Bangladesh. Gabbard also appealed to the leaders of the US and the world to combat the “Islamist exclusivist ideology”.
In a 4-minute video uploaded on Twitter, Gabbard said, “As a Member of Congress, I introduced a resolution that called for the protection of Hindus and religious minorities in Bangladesh, people who continue to be targeted and persecuted to this day.”
Hindus & religious minorities in Bangladesh continue to be targeted & persecuted, as they have been since 1971 when the Pakistani army systematically murdered, raped & drove from their homes millions of Bengali Hindus because of their religion & ethnicity. pic.twitter.com/4DVWibzrkT
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) April 2, 2021
Speaking on the persecution of Hindus, Gabbard said, “The height of this persecution actually began fifty years ago, when the Pakistani army systematically murdered, raped and drove from their homes millions of Bengali Hindus because of their religion and ethnicity.”
“March 25th, 1971 was the beginning of a systematic targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh by the Pakistani military. It began in Hindu neighborhoods and villages, first at Jagannath Hall, which was a Hindu dormitory in Dhaka University, where five to ten thousand people were killed on that first night alone”, Gabbard added.
“This genocidal campaign continued for ten months, resulting in tow to three million people killed, hundreds of thousands of women and girls raped, and more than ten million forced to flee their homes”, Gabbard said.
Tulsi Gabbard, in her video, also pointed out that US Senator Ted Kennedy had visited the Bangladeshi refugees at that time. Shook by the Hindu genocide, Kennedy had then said, “Nothing is more clear or more easily documented than the systematic campaign of terror and its genocidal consequences launched by the Pakistani army on the night of March 25th. Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked H.”
The Hindu American lawmaker said that the Islamist persecution of Hindus and other religious minorities in Bangladesh didn’t end with Bangladesh’s independence. That campaign continues to this day with horrific targeted attacks, murders, homes being burned down and families who continue to be forced to flee.
“In the early 1900s, Hindus made up roughly 33% of the Bangladeshi population. Because of the persistent Islamist campaign targeting Hindus, just 8% of Bangladesh’s population are Hindus today”, Gabbard said.
Referring to the recent attacks on Hindus by Bangladesh’s Muslims, Gabbard said, “Just a few days ago, in Bangladesh, hundreds of hardline Islamist extremists attacked Hindu temples, destroyed a train, set fire to government buildings, the press club and public buses, leaving dead and injured behind.”
Gabbard also mentioned Islam’s record of persecution of Christians in the Middle East.
She also referred to the Hindu and Buddhist past of Afghanistan before the Islamic invasions, and the persecution of these religions once Islam gained a foothold in the region. Gabbard noted that religious minorities in Afghanistan make up less than 1% of the country’s population.
“Until the leaders of the United States and the world condemn and commit to defeating the Islamist exclusivist ideology, an ideology which holds that all non-Muslims and many so-called heretical Muslims need to wiped from the face of the earth, enslaved or, at the very best, kept as second-class citizens without the right to own land, worship openly, et cetera like in Pakistan, the jihadist campaign of terror will continue throughout the world.”
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