Amid Rising Attacks, Big March In Bangladesh For Hindus, Other Minorities

Hundreds marched in Bangladesh's capital Saturday to demand protections for Hindus and other minorities who say they have suffered violence and threats since the ouster of autocratic premier Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina's toppling in an August student-led uprising saw a spate of reprisals on Hindus, who were seen as disproportionate supporters of her regime.

The caretaker government that replaced her, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has acknowledged and condemned attacks on Hindus but said in many cases they were motivated by politics rather than religion.

Regular protests in the months since claim that attacks are continuing and have demanded action from Yunus' administration, an "advisory council" tasked with implementing democratic reforms and staging fresh elections.

"It's deeply regrettable that the council of advisors do not acknowledge the sufferings minorities have endured," Hindu civic leader Charu Chandra Das Brahmachari told AFP.

"I have witnessed the atrocities against them -- their temples, businesses, and homes."

Protest organisers have urged the interim government to introduce a law to protect minorities and mandate a minimum share of minority representation in government, among other demands.

Tensions have been inflamed by the filing of sedition charges this week against 19 people who participated in an earlier minority rights rally in the port city of Chittagong.

The group was accused of disrespecting the Bangladeshi national flag by hoisting a saffron flag -- the emblematic colour of the Hindu faith -- to fly above it.

"Framing our leaders with false charges, like sedition, has made us sceptical of the government's intentions," protest member Chiranjan Goswami told AFP.

Hindus are the largest minority faith in mostly Muslim Bangladesh, accounting for around eight percent of the population.

Attacks have also been reported on Sufi shrines, with suspicion falling on Islamists seeking to curb alternative expressions of the Muslim faith.

Saturday's demonstration came a day after 10,000 people attended a similar rally in Chittagong.

Minority leaders have pledged to hold more protests in the coming weeks.

Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India in August as protesters flooded Dhaka's streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted rule.

Her government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents during her 15-year rule.

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