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Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has demanded a special tribunal be formed to try those involved in the recent communal attacks.
Its members protested by blocking the Shahbagh intersection in the capital on Saturday, demanding the immediate arrest and speedy trial of those involved in such attacks in different parts of the country, including Cumilla.
They ended a hunger strike and a sit-in before pressing home an eight-point demand. They also announced three programmes.
Various organisations, including cultural and rights groups, expressed solidarity with the protest.
The protesters said the hunger strike and the sit-in had started around 6am in front of the national museum as per a previous announcement.
A segment of the protesters blocked the Shahbagh intersection around 11am, creating a traffic jam in the area.
They said human rights activist Khushi Kabir made them drink water to break the hunger strike around 12:30pm. They later marched towards the National Press Club.
The organisation’s Joint General Secretary Monindra Kumar Nath presented the eight-point demand.
Among the demands was forming a judicial inquiry commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to investigate communal violence.
They demanded all the vandalised temples and houses be rebuilt, the homeless people be rehabilitated, the affected traders be properly compensated, the injured be given medical treatment, and each family that lost a member be paid a minimum of Tk 20 lakh or a member of each such family be given a job.
Another demand was to identify and take prompt punitive action against local administration officials, law enforcement agencies, and public representatives showing negligence in performing their duties in spite of clear instructions of the prime minister to prevent such attacks.
They demanded identifying communal attack instigators who had spread religious hate speech through social media and ensuring exemplary punishment for them under the Special Powers Act.
Besides, they demanded the report containing the recommendations of the Shahabuddin Commission, formed under a High Court directive to investigate the communal incidents from 2001 to 2006, be made public immediately and necessary action be taken accordingly.
The council also demanded restoring the 1972 constitution and the ruling party’s manifesto given during the 11th parliamentary elections as early as possible, formulating a minority protection act, forming a national commission for the minorities, formulating an abolition of discrimination act, and speedy enforcement of the vested property act.
Monindra also announced the three programmes. One is marching towards the Prime Minister’s Office from the remote areas of the country, including Chattogram, under the slogan “Let’s go to Dhaka” in support of the eight-point demand in February next year.
Besides, each ethnic organisation and community will exchange views with the public and hold protests separately as well as jointly to implement the eight-point demand.
The third programme is boycotting the Diwali festival of the Shyama Puja on November 4, observing silence for 15 minutes in temples by wearing black pieces of cloth in mouth from 6pm to 6:15pm, and putting up banners made of black clothes showing anti-communal violence slogans at the entrances to temples and puja mandaps.
