Priya Saha, a Bangladeshi Hindu woman with US President Donald Trump |
Bangladeshi Hindu woman was burnt to the ground. Her lands were subsequently occupied by radical Muslims |
So many powerful people in Bangladesh are ganging up on Priya Saha due to her courageous stance. However, because she believes that justice is on her side, she is determined to stand up to the Sheikh Hasina government and to defend her right to live peacefully in her home in the international arena. Shanti Datta, President of Shiv Sena of West Bengal, India and Pradip Ghosh, Secretary-General of Shiv Sena of West Bengal, India and President of the West Bengal Region of the World Hindu Struggle Committee, related that all of Saha’s statements to US President Donald Trump are 100 percent true and that they will always be on the side of Priya Saha.
Every day, the Hindu community of Bangladesh is suffering. Congressman Bob Dold said in the US Congress that “since 1947, 4.9 million Hindus have disappeared from Bangladesh. Hindus are being tortured. Dangerous incidents of murder, rape, abduction, physical abuse and the destruction of the temples are happening every day in Bangladesh.” In 2016, Professor Abul Barkat of the Economics Department at the University of Dhaka wrote in his book ‘The Political Economy of Reforming Agriculture – Land-Water Bodies in Bangladesh’, 626 Bangladeshi Hindus are leaving the country on average daily. According to him, if this situation continues, the Hindu religion will not exist within the country within three decades.
According to the research performed by Dr. Subodh Biswas, President of the Nikhil Bharat Bangali Udbastu Samanway Samiti, “55 million Bangladeshi Hindus are still living as refugees in India. Priya Saha, you are not alone.” Shree Malin Borman, who works for the Chopra Refugee Rehabilitation Health and Education Welfare Organization (Shiliguri Region), said, “I have been working with Bangladeshi Hindu refugees for about 15-20 years. I know that millions of Bangladeshi migrants in this region are living as refugees.”
Shipan Kumer Basu, President of the World Hindu Struggle Committee, added: “Since the partition of India in 1947, many Hindus from Bangladesh have taken shelter in India. Most Hindus could not sell their land when they came. Now, these lands are being seized by the leaders of different political parties. Actually, they have no valid documents for this land. On July 19, Priya Saha complained to Trump. We also complain about this allegation. Immediately after Priya Saha’s speech, the fundamentalists of Bangladesh became enraged about her because she exposed the daily torture that Hindus are exposed to in Bangladesh. Priya Saha went to America to complain to Donald Trump for not getting justice for the atrocity that was done to her by the Sheikh Hasina government. For that, the World Hindu Struggle Committee thanked her.” And for this reason, many Bangladeshi Hindus recognize her as a woman of valor, who stood up and spoke truth to power, despite the dangers involved in doing so.
By: Rachel Avraham
A political analyst working at the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations, and Human Rights