TOI correspondent from London: Groups representing minorities in Bangladesh have criticised British Labour MP Rupa Huq for visiting Dhaka this month and not meeting with Hindus, other minorities, or the sites and families impacted by recent violence.
BHAS (Bengali Hindu Adarsha Sangh) UK, a grassroots organisation that represents Bengali Hindus, has collated letters from the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, its associate the Bangladesh Youth Unity Council, Bangladesh United Santani Awakening Alliance, and Sammilita Sanatan Parishad (alliance of 40 Hindu groups in Bangladesh), all criticising her trip for not meeting minorities and not going to areas impacted by violence.
Huq wrote on X in response to criticism: “How do they know what I did?”
The MP has just returned from Dhaka where she went as guest of honour of a trade delegation organised by UKBCII (UK Bangladesh Catalysts of Commerce and Industry).
Huq wrote on X: “As the only diaspora UK MP to experience Bangladesh 2.0 was asked by students of ADUST in Dhaka about observations. Clearly as BBC News Bangla has fact-checked, much misinformation about minorities and need to repatriate looted funds.”
In a statement, BHAS said that in the BBC interview “she admitted that she visited Bangladesh in May 2024. She further stated that Hindus are in trouble but the troubles are for political reasons and purposefully ignored that minorities are being attacked due to religious extremism.” Is Rupa Huq deliberately ignoring the persecution of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh, it asked.
The Unity Council said in its letter, that it was “deeply concerned the visit did not include meeting with members of our community or visiting impacted people or sites”. “Instead we learned that MP Rupa Huq met with Muhammad Yunus and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. We are concerned that the true narrative was not portrayed to the MP.” It said being a British MP of Bangladeshi descent, the council had expected her, as part of her duty of care, to visit the victims, including Chinmoy Krishna Das, the family of Utsav Mandal, Bagerhat and Sunamganj’s burnt Hindu villages, and other impacted families.
The Alliance, in its letter, wrote that she did not meet with students protesting under their banner since Aug 5, nor any of the Alliance leaders, or victims. “Unfortunately it appears that her visit was restricted and influenced by the Bangladesh govt and the Jamaat-e-Islami organisation,” they wrote.
