Author: Reuters
Publication: www.expressindia.com
Date: December 18, 2002
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=4725
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
said on Tuesday India has taken a serious view of attacks on minority Hindus
in Bangladesh and asked authorities in Dhaka to guard their safety.
"The Prime Minister expressed concern
over atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh and said we've taken serious
note of it," BJP leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra told reporters after a closed-door
meeting of party MPs.
Dozens of Hindus have fled to India
from Bangladesh in recent weeks, alleging intimidation, violence and torture
by Muslims since Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia's new government was
sworn in last month. Women's group activists have also alleged rape.
Police in Bangladesh acknowledge
a few incidents but the Dhaka government has dismissed allegations of atrocities
as political propaganda.
"We're in constant touch with the
Bangladesh government... to find out what exactly happened and asked the
Bangladesh authorities to stop the atrocities," Malhotra quoted Vajpayee
as saying.
