Women Protest Against ‘Injustices’ Inflicted Upon Bangladeshi Hindus

New Delhi: In the backdrop of a raging political drama in neighbouring Bangladesh, thousands of women took to the city streets on Friday to protest against the injustices inflicted upon Hindus in that country. A diverse crowd — from 11-year-olds to septuagenarians, mothers with children in their arms to professors and students — marched in the sun, with placards saying, “Muh par patti, mann mein shakti (With the mouth gagged, but strength in the heart)”.The Naari Shakti March, stretching from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar, denounced the communal violence in Bangladesh, which began soon after the mob invaded the PM’s residence, forcing Sheikh Hasina to flee on Aug 5. With banners declaring ‘Stop persecution of minorities in Bangladesh’, ‘Hindus believe in sarva dharma sambhav’, ‘Minorities in Bangladesh are our family’, and ‘Stop violence against Buddhists’, the protestors took care not to disrupt the traffic. There were delegations from Shalimar Bagh, Tilak Nagar, Moti Nagar, Khichripur and many other localities.Pramod, a water vendor and a native of Bihar, said, “I've been handing out free glasses to the protesters. Today, the water is on the house because their courage deserves a salute. As a family man myself, I get that everyone here seeks safety and protection for their loved ones.”Delhi University professors turned the protest into a classroom of conscience, vocally championing the protection of minority rights. AK Bhagi, president of Delhi University Teachers’ Association, led the academic brigade. Dr Antara Chaudhari, Bengali literature professor at Deshbandhu College, suggested the role of a puppet master behind the chaos in Bangladesh. “In times like these, humanity must take precedence over all other affiliations,” she said.Sameer Pratap Singh, a 21-year-old student at Swami Shraddhanand College, joined the protest with his peers. He was emphatic that it wasn't about politics, but all about humanity. “What’s happening to minorities there is a human issue, plain and simple,” Singh said. In a similar vein, Chetan Arora, 45, an organiser of the march, added, “Our protest aims to highlight the international community’s deafening silence on the persecution of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. The global response has been woefully inadequate.”Kanishka Kharbanda, a 32-year-old lawyer at Delhi High Court, explained that the black bands on their arms and mouths symbolised the silencing of minorities. “This gesture is our way of illustrating how human voices are being muffled by extremist forces, both in Bangladesh and globally,” he said.Reiterating that the march had to be conducted in the most peaceful manner to put the spotlight on the value that humanity places on peace above everything, Parveen Monga, district president, Seva Bharti, claimed, “This march isn’t just about Hindu unity. It’s also about unity among all citizens. Hinduism, after all, champions Sarva Dharma Sambhav — respect for all religions — and insists that humanity must reigns supreme.”Aware that the political whirlwind began as a protest by students against job reservations and descended into a regime change, 17-year-old Janak Amliyar said, “It’s disheartening to see how such a focused agitation ignited such widespread social turmoil.”
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