Japan: Protesters call for protection of Hindus in Bangladesh
Oct 24, 2021
Tokyo [Japan], October 24 : Following the series of incidents of communal violence against minorities in Bangladesh, a protest was held in Japan's capital Tokyo on Sunday, local media reported.
People from India and Bangladesh staged a protest in Tokyo and called for the safety of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, Kyodo News reported.
According to the Japanese publication, around 60 demonstrators gathered near the Bangladeshi Embassy, holding placards with messages including "Stop Communal Attack" and "Justice for Bangladesh Minority" and chanting slogans such as "We want justice."
In mid-October, communal riots broke out in Bangladesh after a mob vandalised a Hindu temple in Cumilla.
After the incident, more Hindu temples and houses were vandalised, leaving scores of people injured and some dead in the chaos that went on for around a week, Kyodo News reported.
"Similar protests took place in around 150 countries including India, Bangladesh and the United States," Kyodo News quoted Tokyo-based Rohan Agrawal, an Indian national, as saying, who was at the scene of the demonstration staged by organisations including the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
"We demand equal rights and an end to such attacks against all the religious minorities in Bangladesh," said Nandy Khokan Kumar, one of the protesters, who is originally from Bangladesh but currently resides in Japan and runs a trade firm in Tokyo.
Anil Sarkar, a Bangladeshi Hindu, said, "I am scared about my family back home."
