You loved, however we …: Hindu leaders of Khaleda Zia’s social gathering after beef served at iftar dinner

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is on the centre of an argument for internet hosting an iftar meal in Sylhet for Hindu members with a plater together with beef. The iftar relishes supplied on the venue didn’t have any various to beef, thereby sparking uproar on social media.

The Iftar social gathering hosted by BNP’s Sylhet unit was attended by at the least 20 social gathering leaders and Hindu activists on Thursday, in keeping with experiences in nationwide dailies in Bangladesh. The occasion is often attended by Muslims and members of different communities, however when all plates had beef together with different dishes, it triggered indignant reactions.

Even invited journalists from Hindu communities have been reportedly supplied beef. Following the incident, BNP’s native Hindu members took to Facebook to sentence the organisers.

“In the absence of any alternative to beef, I along with 20 other Hindu colleagues had to watch all the Muslim leaders and activists breaking their fasts,” wrote Mantu Nath, a neighborhood BNP member, expressing his anger over the invite.

Describing the association as a farce, Kanak Kanti Das, a neighborhood chief of BNP’s scholar physique, mentioned, “ You enjoyed your iftar and we [Hindu invitees] were just left gazing”.

Without providing any apology, BNP Sylhet district leaders later acknowledged the fake pas . This has led some to rewind BNP and Jamaat’s confirmed observe file of systematic assaults on minorities.

Columnist and Ekushey Padak awardee Ajoy Das Gupta mentioned the army rulers who had taken over and dominated Bangladesh for 15 years legitimised the pro-Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami. They additionally launched constitutional amendments that undermined the nation’s secular democratic polity and at last declared Islam because the state faith of Bangladesh.

He mentioned some events like BNP and its ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, have tried to revive the “Pakistan military-fundamentalist model of radical Islam” however failed.

Even through the 2001-2006 tenure of the BNP, the emergence of Tarique Rahman because the de facto chief of the social gathering was adopted by a scientific pogrom towards Hindus that led to large-scale systematic land grabbing, assaults on temples and companies and rape of ladies belonging to Hindu neighborhood.

While in opposition, BNP has been accused of aiding Jamaat in perpetrating assaults on Hindus through the battle crime trials. Involvement of BNP and Jamaat parts has been discovered through the latest assaults through the 2021 Durga puja violence.