Religious freedom, human rights must be respected, US tells Bangladesh

The US government reiterates the call in response to a question about the persecution of the Hindu community in Bangladesh

The US government has reiterated its call to protect religious freedom and basic human rights in response to a question about the persecution of the Hindu community in Bangladesh.

When asked about the issue at a regular briefing on Tuesday, Vedant Patel, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, said: “We are consistent with every government in which we have a relationship with – we are clear that there needs to be the respect of fundamental freedoms; there needs to be respect of religious freedom, and basic human rights.”

Stressing the importance of upholding the rule of law and human rights in suppressing any protests, he said: “Any kind of protests should be and need to be peaceful.”

“And that any kind of crackdown – not even crackdown – that governments need to respect the rule of law, they need to respect basic human rights as part of that. And that’s something we’ll continue to emphasise.”

The US State Department spokesperson was responding to a question regarding two British lawmakers who raised concerns in the UK parliament over the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.

The reporter also asked whether the United States would take any diplomatic and policy measures to address the concerns.

Another question was asked at the briefing about Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a spokesperson of the Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote, or United Sanatan Awakening Alliance. Introducing Chinmoy Krishna as an ISKCON leader, US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for the US National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was also stated as a member of the organisation.

Then the reporter said, “Chinmoy Das is illegally arrested, put in jail, and no lawyer in Bangladesh is willing to stand for Chinmoy Krishna Das as his lawyer was beaten and sent to the hospital. Will you take any action on that?”

Patel replied, “I don’t have the details surrounding that case. But again, we continue to stress and emphasise that even those who are in detention need to be afforded appropriate representation and need to be treated with basic fundamental freedoms and human rights."