Vivek Ramaswamy speaks on attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

US entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday raised concerns over the “targeted violence” against Hindus in Bangladesh.

“The targeted violence against Hindus in Bangladesh is wrong, it’s concerning, and it’s a cautionary tale for victimhood-laced quota systems,” Vivek Ramaswamy wrote on X (formally Twitter).

After former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country on August 5, several incidents of attacks on Hindus, the largest minority community in Bangladesh, have been reported.

News agency PTI reported that the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad claimed that there were 205 incidents of attacks on minorities across 52 districts since the fall of the Hasina government.

Bangladesh interim government’s chief advisor Muhammad Yunus has denounced the attacks on the minorities. On Tuesday, he visited a Hindu temple, where he said that rights are equal for everyone in Bangladesh.

In his Tuesday’s post, Ramaswamy criticised the quota system in Bangladesh, saying that it has proved to be a disaster.

“In 2018, protests led Bangladesh to scrap most of the quotas, but the victim-patrons fought back…and the quota system was reinstated this year. That triggered more protests which toppled the government, and the prime minister fled. Once chaos begins, it can’t easily be reined in. Radicals are now targeting Hindu minorities,” he said.

“A quota conflict created to rectify the wrongs of rape and violence in 1971 is now leading to more rape and violence in 2024. Bloodshed is the endpoint of grievance and victimhood. It’s hard not to look at Bangladesh and wonder what lessons we would do well to learn right here at home,” he added.

Protest by Hindus in Bangladesh

Last week on Saturday, thousands of Hindus staged protests in Dhaka and Chattagram last week demanding protection from attacks on their temples, homes and businesses.

The Hindu protesters had blocked traffic for over three hours at Dhaka’s Shahbag on Saturday.

They have been demanding special courts to try those accused of persecuting minorities, 10 per cent parliamentary seats for minorities and the enactment of a minority protection law, among others.