The interim government has strongly rebuffed claims made in a recent US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report that the violence allegedly targeting religious minorities was a consequence of the government's actions following the ousting of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Assertions in the report are both misleading and unsupported by credible evidence, said a press release by the CA's Press Wing.
The interim government points out that there is no credible or verifiable evidence connecting the Bangladesh government to the alleged violence.
According to Bangladesh Police, investigations into incidents claimed by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddha Christian Unity Council reveal that most deaths were not the result of communal violence.
Rather, they were due to personal disputes, accidents, property conflicts, and even suicides—none of which stemmed from religious hatred or government instigation.
The government highlights that these incidents were non-religious in nature, with no evidence linking them to any form of religious persecution.
The report from USCIRF suggests widespread violence against Hindu communities following the removal of Sheikh Hasina, but this claim is directly refuted.
The interim government stresses that no widespread killing of Hindus—or any other religious minorities—has taken place as part of a communal violence campaign.
Bangladesh has experienced a period of relative calm in terms of religious conflict, contrary to the narrative presented in the USCIRF report.
The Bangladesh Police have undertaken comprehensive investigations into the allegations made by religious minority groups.
These investigations have found only a handful of incidents that could be classified as organised violence, and in these cases, the motivation behind the violence was not religious. The USCIRF report fails to acknowledge the findings of these investigations, which raises concerns about the thoroughness of their research.
The report further mentions the spread of false claims through both traditional and social media following violent protests.
However, the interim government argues that these claims were often politically motivated and propagated by media outlets with an agenda to discredit the new government. The USCIRF should have independently verified the facts, rather than relying on potentially biased sources that spread misinformation and distorted narratives.
The government expresses disappointment with the USCIRF for not conducting independent, on-the-ground investigations into the situation in Bangladesh.
Instead, the report appears to rely on one-sided, unverified accounts, which do not accurately reflect the reality of the situation. Had the USCIRF performed due diligence, they would have found that the religious freedom situation in Bangladesh is not as dire as portrayed.
Many of the incidents mentioned in the report have been misinterpreted as religious violence, when in fact they are better understood as political unrest.
While some of the conflicts involved religious groups, they were primarily rooted in political affiliations and not in any attempt to persecute or harm religious communities. Understanding the political nature of the unrest is crucial to accurately assessing the situation.
The interim government has consistently expressed its commitment to the protection and well-being of minority communities, including Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, and others.
The government has taken public steps to ensure the safety of these groups and prevent any violence from escalating.
However, the USCIRF report fails to mention these positive actions, focusing instead on a narrative that suggests a worsening situation for religious minorities.
Bangladesh strongly rejects the allegations made in the USCIRF report, asserting that the violence described is unrelated to religious animus or governmental actions.
Investigations carried out by the Bangladesh Police clearly show that the violence cited in the report was caused by personal, socio-economic, or political factors, not religious hatred.
The government calls on the USCIRF to reconsider its findings and adopt a more balanced, evidence-based approach to reporting on Bangladesh's religious freedom conditions.
