145 citizens of Bangladesh have issued a statement to the people of India. The statement was sent to the media on Friday (December 6) under the title ‘Our Appeal to the People of India’.
The statement was sent to the media by Rafiquzzaman Farid, Central General Secretary of the Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (Marxist).
The statement to the people of India said, ‘We are in a critical time when the diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh are in a deplorable state and the continuous incitement of some Indian extremist communal forces is trying to erode the friendly relations between the people of this region. We never saw the people of India and the Indian government as one. We know that the people of India are also fighting against Hindutva forces and communalism. We fought against the fascist Awami League rule for a long time and brought it to its downfall. During the bloody struggle of July-August, you held programs in solidarity with us. Our democratic movement has been a long-standing tradition of expressing solidarity with you and your movement with us.’
The statement said that communalism is a major problem in the Indian subcontinent, and that communalism divides people and creates divisions on the basis of religion. Every ruling group in the subcontinent has used the tool of communalism to hide education, health, job rights and abnormal increase in the price of daily commodities, violence against women and many other pressing problems of public life. They want to ensure that both the majority and minority communities get votes by using this strategy. Especially during political changes, attacks on minority communities are seen repeatedly.
During the tenure of the previous Awami League government, there were attacks on Hindu homes, land grabbing, temple vandalism and casualties across Bangladesh, and after the August 5 mass uprising, there were attacks on Hindu homes, businesses and temples across the country, the statement said.
It said that inspired by the mass uprising, many political parties came forward to guard Hindu homes and temples and set new examples of harmony. Apart from this, the democracy-minded people of this country have also protested against the incident of the Indian national flag being trampled. But many media outlets in India have not broadcast real information about Bangladesh, and are still not doing so. An Indian media outlet broadcasted an accident on the Dhaka-Agartala-Dhaka route as a planned attack. Within a few hours of that broadcast, the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh in Agartala was attacked, and the Bangladesh flag was taken down and torn.
The Indian government expressed regret over the attack on the Assistant High Commission, but did not take any effective initiative to stop the false propaganda, stating that the statement further said, "We want the real events in Bangladesh to be shown properly. In any country, communal forces benefit from such propaganda and the ruling class benefits."
The citizens' statement mentioned that they were surprised by the role the Indian government has taken after the recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das. It is said, 'We support Chinmoy Krishna's right to justice that is what everyone has. But the way the Indian Ministry of External Affairs hastily issued a statement in his favor is surprising. On the day he was presented in court, a massive chaos was created and lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was killed. Due to the concerted efforts of the people of this country, no major untoward incident took place under the pretext of this incident.'
The statement said that the Hindu community of Bangladesh has always been in favor of establishing a non-communal state. The role of the Hindu community in this country's freedom war and all kinds of democratic movements was brilliant. Many Hindus also joined the fight and gave their lives in the July-August mass uprising.
Finally, 145 citizens of Bangladesh said to the people of India, 'We will fight against communal tendencies and forces in our country; you will also stand against communalism in your country. You will resist this conspiracy by keeping intact the dignity of the aspirations of those who gave their lives in the democratic movement of your country. This struggle is a continuous struggle of the people of both countries against the exploitation, plunder, oppression, and domination of big capital in India; our united struggle against division, hatred, and religion-centered self-interested plots. We will win this fight in the end.’
The statement was signed by Anu Muhammad, Salimullah Khan, Saeed Ferdous, Harun-or-Rashid, Swadhin Sen, Geeti Ara Nasreen, Fahmidul Haque, Kamrul Hasan Mamun, Tuhin Wadud, Samina Lutfa, Mosherefa Mishu, Seema Dutta, Altaf Parvez, Kallol Mostafa, Ashraf Kaiser, Maha Mirza, Jyotirmoy Barua, Manzoor-al-Matin, Sayan, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Qamar Ahmad Simon, Pritam Das, Sarwar Tushar, Salman Siddiqui, Meghmalla Basu and others.