India Post News Service
“STOP HINDU GENOCIDE,” “ALL EYES ON BANGLADESH,” and “HINDU LIVES MATTRESS” were the slogans protesters chanted at Sunset Boulevard in front of the CNN office in Los Angeles, on Friday last week. It was hot weather, but more than 200 protesters from LA, Orange, Ventura and Riverside counties came together to protest against the atrocities committed in Bangladesh in the last two weeks.
The student protest turned into large-scale riots all across Bangladesh, and reports received it turned religious, targeting Hindus and other minorities. Several Hindu Temples, businesses and homes were identified based on owners’ religion and then targeted and burned. Reports and brutal videos showed how Hindu women were chased and raped, and killed. In some of the confirmed social media videos, law and enforcement agencies were participating in the violence and not protecting Hindu victims. Bangladesh was never a safe country for minorities. Though these riots focused on the Hindu community, Sikh, Jain, Baudh and Christian minorities were also victims of this violence.
The Hindu community in California was very disturbed due to anti-Hindu violence, and mainstream media like CNN, FOX, ABC News, and CNBC completely ignored the fact of anti-Hindu violence and selectively reported the news to the American people. Hindu community decided to protest against the violence and came together at Sunset Blvd. Geeta and Subhash Bhat brought the seniors from Orange County, while Mahendra Garg made efforts to bring protesters from Placencia.
Anaya, a college student, and Aradhya, a high schooler, passionately talked about situational issues and requested that youths speak up. Shivaraj, a university student, was seen waving the Bhagawa flag and shouting slogans, and another student, Sohila from New Jersey, made several posters for this protest.
Vijay Patil, who took the initiative to arrange this protest. Sanmay Mukhopadhyay from Bengal, who is following the situation closely, while addressing protesters, said, “The crime against innocent minorities must stop right now. Also, the new Bangladesh Government must take full responsibility for the losses incurred by minority businesses and people. At the very minimum, appropriate compensation needs to be offered.
The criminals need to be promptly punished as per law.” Amit Desai from Voice of India said, “It is Ironic to see the silence of the MSM and the White House, said Dr. Amit Desai, a Hindu community activist. He also called upon the Hindu community not to support media, politicians, or an organization that does not support Hindu causes/concerns.”
Vijay Telkikar, founder of the American Hindu Federation, passionately talked about the horrifying situation of Hindus. Vijay Telkikar said, ” Rapes and killings of Hindus and other minorities is a shame for the entire Humanity” Kamalesh Chaouhan, a Kashmiri Hindu and a writer, was emotional about the situation and compared it with her memories of genocide in Kashmir. Sudhindra Sharma quickly covered the situation in Bangladesh. American for Hindus California President Neeraj Kashalkar said, ” A4H is already working with members of Hindu Caucas on this issue, and A4H sent a letter to all congressmen and senators about this crisis and requested everyone to talk to their representatives.”
Keshav Patel, President of VHPA LA, addressed the gathering. Several leaders joined the event, including Vasant Rathi, Amrit Nehru, Vijaya and Suresh Lohiya, Geeta Sikand, Rajesh Shah, Pravin Patel, Madhu Hebbar, Arun Dutt, Vaibhav Aradhe, Umakant Joshi, Vishal Sharma, Bala Palaniswami, Raju Gutula, Subodha Sharma, Gulshan Bhatiya, Dev Goel, Madhur Shrivastav, Venu Madhav. More than 20 organizations supported the protest.
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