Togadia makes fervent appeal to President to save Hindus in Bangladesh, Pak

NEW DELHI, April 3: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) International Working President Dr Pravin Togadia has made a passionate appeal to the President of India seeking his intervention to save millions of Hindus from the brutal attacks of fundamentalists in neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indian states of West Bengal and Assam.

In a memorandum addressed to the President Pranab Mukerjee the copy of which was released to the press here, Dr Togadia drew his attention to the pitiable plight of the Hindus in these two neighbouring countries and the Indian Border States also.

Referring to the recent attacks on Hindus’ in Bangladesh by the Islamic fundamentalists the VHP leader said that the attacks came as a part of the design against the Hindus. The population of Hindus in these two countries in 1947 which was almost 45 per cent has now been reduced to less than 1 percent today.

Dr Togadia said that similar designs were visible in the recent attacks on Hindus in West Bengal’s Canning, Naliakhali, North 24 Parganas and Assam’s Kokrajhar and Dhubri areas. The Government instead of taking action against the attackers arrested the hapless Hindus slapping extreme cases against them.

The VHP leader sighted the Amnesty International report to substantiate his claims on death and killings of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Dr Togadia urged the President to direct the Prime Minister, Home Minister and External Affairs Minister to study the provisions of the 1950 Nehru-Liyaquat pact which makes it compulsory on Pakistan (including the West and East, now Bangladesh) to protect the lives and properties, religious dignity and human rights of the minority communities living there. The pact was agreed upon and signed by the former Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan – Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Liyaquat Ali Khan respectively and was still binding for both the countries.

The VHP leader urged the president to intervene as “your intervention in seeing to it that the clauses of the said accord are implemented to protect Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh (and in Pakistan too) will save at least the rest of Hindus there. It is your duty as a President of India to ensure the full implementation of such International Treaties between Bharat and other countries especially when lives of millions of people are at risk there”, Togadia had said.

Similarly, the VHP also sought President’s intervention in West Bengal to ensure safety and security of Hindus in West Bengal and Assam as there seemed to be a dangerous, planned and systematic design by the Islamist fundamentalists to wipe out the Hindus in that states.

Reminding the President of the strong resolve of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who initiated military action in erstwhile East Pakistan and freed Bangladesh in 1971 in the hope that the new independent nation would protect the Hindus and Buddhist minorities there. But this did not happen. Dr Togadia said that peace talks, cricket, trade or art exhibitions would not solve the issues. Only strong military action against the erring neighbours would restore the honor, dignity, safety and security of the minority Hindus and Buddhists in these countries.

Agreeing that there could be diplomatic channels to resolve the bi-lateral issues, the VHP leaders felt that it was too late to try these channels now. Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan were facing the worst ever human rights violations at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists, he said. Dr Togadia even urged the President to direct the government of India to stop the supply of rice, salt and water to Bangladesh from India so that a pressure to resolve the issues of welfare, security and safety of the minority communities.

Reminding the President that he was awaiting response and action to his September 26, 2012 letter, Dr Togadia urged the President to initiate action to save Hindus keeping aside the ‘your ideologies’. The VHP leader also urged the President to spare some time to read the book by Dr Sachi Ghosh Dastidar titled “Empire’s Last Casualty” which dwells on the horrible state of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan.  

He said that the book revealed the systematic designs by the Jamaat and other fundamentalist forces to wipe out the Hindus and Buddhists from their soil. “You should spare some time to read the shocking truth, leaving aside the ideological differences as the book clearly explains with proofs the genocidal plans of Jamaat and their followers vis-à-vis Hindus in Bangladesh”.