Bangladesh Hindu body calls for quotas for minorities in parliament

DHAKA: Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajote demanded at the Jatiya Sangsad on Friday that 42 of the 350 parliamentary seats be reserved for minority communities and also sought a separate electoral system for all tiers of governance to establish "real representative democracy" and to "end deprivation of minorities" in the country. The demand of the Mahajote, an alliance of Hindu organisations, comes as the chorus for holding national elections grows, and a day after the president appointed a new election commission to hold the polls.

If the Muhammad Yunus-led interim govt does not accept the demand, the Hindu community will not participate in any election, Mahajote secretary general Gobinda Chandra Pramanik said at a press conference. "We will not even go to polling stations," he added. Pramanik said 12% Bangladeshis are from minority communities (Hindu 10% and Buddhists and Christians 2%). Pramanik said out of the 42 seats, 38 should be for Hindus, three for Buddhists, and one for Christians.

Mahajote president Dinabandhu Roy said, "Being a minority, we are deprived of our rights and our demands are not heard. We hope govt and people of other religions look at us with a sympathetic eye."