Post Aug 5 violence politically motivated, not sectarian, Bangladesh to UN

Bangladesh told the UN that the post August 5 violence in Bangladesh was rooted in political and personal factors, not sectarian.
“The violence affected people mostly with partisan political affiliations, almost all of them being Muslims and only a few from other religious minority groups,” said Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam at the 17th Session of UN Forum on Minority Issues on November 28.
He said there was no systematic attack on minorities. Rather, following the mass uprising in July, the world has witnessed how the entire society of Bangladesh came forward to protect its minorities following our long tradition of communal harmony.
Ariful said Bangladesh reaffirms that every Bangladeshi, regardless of religious identity, has the right to practice respective religion or express views freely.
“Ensuring safety and security of every citizen, including from the minority community, remains the cornerstone of the interim Government of Bangladesh.”
This has been repeatedly reassured to minority religious leaders by Bangladesh’s top leadership and proved time and again in the first 100 days of the government.
Two advisers have been appointed from the minority communities. The interim government led by Prof Yunus enjoys overwhelming and unprecedented mandate from the people across all faiths.
“Unfortunately, when the people of Bangladesh were setting glorious examples of religious harmony, we observe a flurry of exaggerated, unfounded and fake reports and deliberate spread of misinformation and disinformation by vested quarters regarding minority persecution.”
“Sadly, we saw it at this forum too. Many such propaganda have been debunked by global media. Our government remains open to welcome foreign journalists to visit Bangladesh to see the ground situations.”
With utter dismay, Ariful Islam said, “We note that the arrest of Mr Chinmoy Das has been misconstrued by some speakers, he was actually arrested on specific charges.”
The matter is being dealt with by the court of law. Despite the recent brutal killing of a Muslim lawyer, Bangladesh government’s immediate intervention and support from leaders of all faiths helped maintain calm and avert untoward incident, the Bangladesh envoy said.”Our government remains vigilant and will continue to act promptly to maintain religious harmony at any cost and thwart any attempt to undermine rights of minorities.”