Labour MP Barry Gardiner tabled an “Urgent Question” in the House of Commons this week to ask the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, David Lammy, if he will make a statement on the situation in Bangladesh and recent attacks on the Hindu community there.
Catherine West, Foreign Office Minister in charge of the Indo-Pacific, responded on behalf of the government to highlight that she had been given assurances by the interim government in Bangladesh that support was available for minority communities during her recent visit to the region. The minister said she had raised the issue with the interim government’s Chief Adviser Professor Yunus during her visit to Bangladesh in November.
She said: “We are aware of the statement of concern from the Indian government following the arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das, a well-known Hindu leader, on sedition charges. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) desk is closely monitoring those developments.
“The UK government will continue to monitor the situation, including making representations from this House, and will engage with the interim government in Bangladesh on the importance of freedom of religion or belief specifically as it affects the Hindu community.”
Gardiner, member of Parliament for Brent West in London, described the situation as being “clearly on a knife edge” and raised concerns on behalf of the “large diaspora populations in the UK and large Hindu communities with strong links to the community in Bangladesh”.
During the cross-party interventions, shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel noted that the degree of escalation in the violence as "deeply, deeply concerning".
Patel said: "What we are witnessing now is uncontrolled violence in many quarters. We are watching with horror and shock as further violence spreads in Bangladesh. The thoughts of all of us in the House are with the diaspora community here and those affected in Bangladesh. These are deeply disturbing reports.”
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The chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Hindus, Tory MP Bob Blackman, who had previously raised the issue in Parliament stated that “Hindus are suffering with their houses being burned and their businesses ransacked”.
He said: “Priests have been arrested, and I understand that two more were arrested over the weekend, and 63 monks have been denied access to the country. The clear issue is an attempt at the ethnic cleansing of Hindus from Bangladesh… We want to hear not just words of piety, but absolute condemnation of what is going on. Religious minorities are being deliberately persecuted because of their religion.”