Bangladesh Crisis: Centre Sets Up Committee To Monitor Border Situation, Ensure Safety of Hindus

The Government of India has set up a committee to monitor the current situation on the India-Bangladesh Border (IBB) amid the crisis in the neighbouring country.

In a post on X, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the committee will maintain communication channels with their counterpart authorities in Bangladesh to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals, Hindus, and other minority communities living there.

The committee will be headed by the ADG, Border Security Force, Eastern Command and will have IG, BSF Frontier HQ South Bengal, IG, BSF Frontier HQ Tripura, Member (Planning & Development), Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), and, Secretary, LPAI, as its members.

Earlier this week, neighbouring Bangladesh descended into chaos as its Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina surreptitiously resigned and fled the country in a military aircraft while the army stepped in to fill the power vacuum by announcing an interim government.

After Hasina’s departure, hundreds broke into her residence, vandalising and looting the interiors, providing dramatic expression to the anti-government protests that have killed more than 400 people in a fortnight.

Several Hindu temples, households and businesses have been vandalised, and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party have been killed in the violence since Monday, when Hasina resigned and fled to India.

Since Hasina fled the country, media reports from Bangladesh have flagged more and more cases of violence against minorities, including the massive vandalism and destruction at popular folk band Joler Gaan’s frontman Rahul Ananda’s residence on Monday, prompting the singer and his family to go into hiding.

Amid violence against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he stands against any racially based attacks or incitement to violence.

“What we’ve made clear is we want to make sure that the violence that has been occurring in Bangladesh in recent weeks is tamped down. Certainly, we stand against any racially based attacks or racially based incitement to violence,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said.

(With PTI inputs)