Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“One of the world’s most poignant scenes in August was that of students in largely Muslim Bangladesh guarding places of worship for the country’s religious minorities, mainly Hindus. A student movement, organized to bring about equality in job hiring, had ousted a dictator Aug. 5 and then extended its embrace of civic equality by protecting Hindus from violent persecution by radicals during a period of political chaos. A new interim government also set up a hotline for people to report attacks on religious institutions. ‘Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony’, said a new religious affairs official, Dr. A.F.M. Khalid Hossain. ‘There is no problem in observing [Muslim] fasting and [Hindu] puja at the same time in this country.’ The attacks on Hindus have largely ended, but the head of the new interim government, Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, has continued a drive for peace by visiting a Hindu temple Aug. 14.” (08/28/24)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2024/0827/A-familylike-equality-in-Bangladesh