Minorities safer now, Bangladesh media tom-toms survey. But here's the truth

New Delhi,UPDATED: Nov 29, 2024 19:54 IST

Amid a spate of attacks on Hindus and temples after the Friday prayers in Bangladesh, Dhaka-based media outlets gloated over a survey by the Voice of America on minorities in the country. The headlines projected that minority groups in Bangladesh "felt safer under the interim government" of Muhammad Yunus. However, facts on the ground, and the sample of the survey reveal the truth.

The Voice of America survey was highlighted by the Bangladeshi media amid the arrest of a Hindu monk fighting for minority rights and the bid to ban the socio-religious organisation Iskcon.

The survey was conducted in late October and found 64.1% of respondents believed that the caretaker government was offering greater protection to minorities than the previous Sheikh Hasina regime.

This was the standard line taken by most Bangladesh-based media houses, including The Daily Star, Dhaka Tribune, Bangla News 24, and The Business Standard. Of those surveyed, 15.3% thought the situation had worsened, while 17.9% felt it was unchanged.

The poll had a sample size of 1,000 respondents, with 92.7% of them identifying as Muslim.

So, it is the perception of the overwhelming Muslim respondents that is reflected in the survey result.

However, there is a difference in the perception of minority security between Muslims and non-Muslims, the survey revealed.

Though only 13.9% of Muslim respondents believed the security of minorities had worsened under the Yunus government, 33.9% of non-Muslims believed the situation had become worse.

"Our village homes were burned down, and we still live with insecurity," Hiren Pandit, a Dhaka-based programme coordinator, told The Business Standard of Bangladesh.

Not just in rural areas, insecurity among minorities might have increased in the capital, Dhaka, too.

"In the past, I didn't hesitate to return home with my daughter at 11pm. Now, even at 8pm, I feel unsafe," Jayati Sarker, an NGO worker, told the media outlet.

A recent report by Transparancy Bangladesh (TIB), analysing the actions and missteps of Bangladesh's interim government noted that "religious and ethnic minorities, and marginalised communities", became the "victims of violence" during the first 100 days of the army-backed regime led by Muhammad Yunus.

During the late October period when the VOA survey was conducted, another VOA report, published on August 20, carried the headline: "In Bangladesh, Religious Minorities Targeted During Political Unrest".

Media outlets were tom-toming the Voice of America survey even as Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari was arrested in a month-old sedition case filed by a local Bangladesh ist Party (BNP) worker. The BNP leadership had, in fact, expelled the worker over the case.

The arrest of the Hindu leader and violence against the community has received condemnation from across the world, including neighbouring India.

On Friday, mobs attacked two temples and assaulted non-Muslims in Chattogram, forcing Hindus living in the area to flee to safer shelters, according to an India Today TV correspondent in Dhaka. Several shops were also targeted in the attacks that came after Friday prayers.

Chinmoy Krishna Das had held massive rallies in Chattogram and Rangpur, on an eight-point programme to safeguard minority rights in the Muslim-majority country.

Minorities, including Hindus, have witnessed targeted attacks and their places of worship damaged in the chaos that descended after the fall of the Hasina regime on August 5.

Then there have been attempts to get Iskcon, an international Hindu organisation, banned through a court order, which was even backed by the attorney general of Bangladesh.

Ahead of the reports of fresh violence against minorities after Friday prayers, India's Ministry of External Affairs said the increasing incidents of violence against minorities couldn't merely be dismissed as "media exaggerations".

"India has consistently and strongly raised with the Bangladesh government the threats and targeted attacks on Hindus and other minorities. We are concerned about the surge of extremist rhetoric," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

"Increasing incidents of violence and provocation cannot be dismissed merely as media exaggerations. We call upon Bangladesh to take steps for the protection of minorities," he added.

Muhammad Yunus had earlier called the reports of attacks on minorities, "an exaggerated propaganda" with political motives aimed at destabilising Bangladesh.

The media has a big role to play in such times, and highlighting parts of a survey that go against ground realities isn't wise.