Hindus in Bangladesh have declined in population at a fast rate due to constant attacks and threats by local Islamists with little Government protection
Hindus globally are highly concerned about recurring murders of Hindus and other minority groups (LGBTs, Christians, Athiests and Buddhists) in Bangladesh; as a second Hindu temple leader was killed in a days in Bangladesh; which was the fifth such brutal murder in recent months and 3rd Hindu priest.
A Hindu ashram worker in his early 60s was hacked to death in Pabna district in north-western Bangladesh on June 10 while on his morning walk, whose body was later found lying in a pool of blood, reports suggest.
American-Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was shocking for the worldwide Hindus to observe the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful Bangladesh Hindu community (who made up about 8-9% of the country’s population) receiving such signals of hatred and intimidation. Bangladeshi Hindus had made lot of contributions to the nation and society, Zed noted. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged President Md. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of People’s Republic of Bangladesh to take this issue seriously and urgently and launch swift action to put an end to such crimes resulting in systematic brutal murders of Hindus.
Currently, it is estimated that Hindus make up around 7% of the population in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a steep decline from the 20% 50 years ago, and even steeper drop from over 30% a hundred years ago. Hindus have constantly been migrating to India or West for safety as they face ongoing threats and violent attacks from local Islamists.
Bangladesh has seen a rapid decline in Hindus while the Muslim population continued to see strong growth. source -Census of Bangladesh govt
In the 1971 ‘Liberation of Bangladesh’ war, it is estimated that anywhere from 500,000 to 2,500,000 Hindus were killed by Bengali Islamists and the Pakistan army and often called the 1971 Bangladesh Hindu Genocide. According to a study by Pew Research Organisation, Hindus will further drop and constitute 7% of the population of Bangladesh by 2050, while Muslims will continue to grow to form 92% of the population.
Adequate security measures should be put in place to protect the Bangladesh Hindu population and both Hamid and Hasina should immediately meet the Hindu community in various regions of the country to reassure them, Rajan Zed added.
According to reports, in Bangladesh, on June seven, a 69-year-old Hindu priest was found nearly decapitated in a rice field in Noldanga village in western Jhenaidah district. A Hindu shop owner was hacked to death outside his store in a northern district late last month, and a Hindu tailor was hacked to death in his shop in April. In February, another Hindu priest at a temple was stabbed to death and a devotee, who came to his aid, was shot and wounded.