Dhaka, Dec 5: Already pushed on the backfoot internationally for targeting minorities, especially Hindus, the interim government in Bangladesh led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus on Thursday tried to extend a hand of friendship to the incoming administration in Washington, asserting that the five-decade relationship will remain unchanged after Donald Trump begins his second innings as the US President, next month.
“Our bilateral relationship with the United States is longstanding and multifaceted. The US is one of our key trade and investment partners and both countries share many mutual interests. Bangladesh has worked with both Democratic and Republican governments for over five decades,” Bangladesh Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said during a weekly media briefing in Dhaka.
The local media quoted Alam as saying that there is “little chance of conflict” between the two countries on issues of mutual interest since Bangladesh has worked with the Trump administration earlier.
The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry’s fresh stance is being seen as an attempt by the interim government to allay popular fears of Dhaka facing a major backlash from Washington over several incidents of persecution of members of minority communities that have been reported from across the country since the resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, this year.
Last month, during his Presidential election campaign, Trump had condemned the growing attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. In a strongly-worded post on X, Trump had extended Diwali greetings to Hindu Americans and slammed Bangladesh, which he said “remains in a total state of chaos”.
“I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos,” he said while accusing his Democratic Party rival Kamala Harris and US President Joe Biden of ignoring the plight of Hindus around the world. “It would have never happened on my watch,” Trump wrote.
“Kamala and Joe have ignored Hindus across the world and in America… We will also protect Hindu Americans against the anti-religion agenda of the radical left. We will fight for your freedom,” he added. In the same message, the US President-elect had spoken about strengthening the “great partnership” with India and “good friend, Prime Minister Modi”.
Ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, President of the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) and daughter of the ‘Father of the Nation’ Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, would also be watching the developments closely over the next few weeks.
Earlier this week, while addressing an Awami League event in New York virtually, Hasina had severely criticised the interim government in Dhaka and Yunus for allegedly targeting Hindu temples, including ISKCON sites, and other religious places of the minorities in Bangladesh.
“Today, I have been accused of mass killings. In reality, it is Muhammad Yunus who is responsible for mass killings through a deliberate plan along with his student coordinators. They are the masterminds,” she had asserted during her speech that went viral on social media. Last week, after the Bangladeshi authorities arrested and jailed Chinmoy Krishna Das, a spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote who is also associated with Iskcon Bangladesh, Hasina had strongly condemned the “tortures” inflicted on common people by the interim government in Bangladesh and called for “immediate release” of the Hindu priest.
“A top leader of the Sanatan religious community has been unjustly arrested, he must be released immediately,” said Hasina while highlighting the crimes being committed against minorities in Bangladesh since August 2024. “A temple has been burnt in Chittagong. Previously, mosques, shrines, churches, monasteries and houses of the Ahmadiyya community were attacked, vandalized and looted and set on fire.
Religious freedom and security of life and property of people of all communities should be ensured,” she stated. “After the killing of innumerable Awami League leaders and workers, students and members of the law and order forces, harassment is going on through assaults and arrests. I strongly condemn and protest against these anarchist activities,” Hasina stated.
IANS