Over 500 Hindus reportedly flee Myanmar violence into Bangladesh

Besides Rohingya Muslims, Hindus from Rakhine are also taking shelter in Bangladesh amid a Myanmar army crackdown on insurgents.

The Hindus say their villages are also experiencing killings, torture and arson attacks like those of Rohingyas.

Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council President Rana Dasgupta visited Kutupalong of Ukhia in Cox's Bazar on Sunday and spoke to the Myanmar people who have fled the violence in Rakhine.

"It's genocide, no matter who are conducting it," he said.

Nearly 400 people have died in fighting since attacks on security posts and an army base in Rakhine by Rohingya insurgents on Aug 25.

The dead people include 13 members of the security forces and 14 civilians, Myanmar authorities said.

Since the attacks, over 68,000 Rohingyas fleeing crackdown by Myanmar Army have entered Bangladesh, according to the UN.

At least 53 bodies, purportedly victims of capsize of boats packed with the fleeing Rohingya families, washed up on the Bangladesh shore in five days.

Three Rohingyas, including a couple, died in Bangladesh after being shot in Myanmar.

Rana Dasgupta said the new refugees from Myanmar include more than 500 Hindus.

"They have said there are 86 Hindus among the dead victims in Rakhine. Their houses have been burnt, looted," he said.

Ramani Sheel, 50, a Hindu man from Rakhine, said his family have been living at Chikonchharhi village of Maungdaw for several generations.

Around 20 masked men attacked the village of Hindus with sharp weapons and hacked many to death, he said, adding that the attackers burnt down their houses before leaving.

Panicked at the attack, he fled with his wife and five children to Kutupalong, where an unregistered Rohingya refugee camp is situated.

Octogenarian Kalo Sheel from Dhenkibunia of Maungdaw said three Hindus were hacked to death in his village on the first day of the latest violence.

He and seven other members of his family have fled to Bangladesh to save their lives.

Rana Dasgupta said the Myanmar government will have to create a suitable environment to let the displaced people return home.

A prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, he also demanded proper investigation by the United Nations into the latest situation in Rakhine.

"The United Nations will have to take the responsibility of trying those involved in crimes against humanity as per the international law," he said.

The council's Chittagong division leaders Parimal Kanti Chowdhury, Tapas Horh, Dipankar Barua, and Priyatosh Sharma Chandan, among others, were present.

They distributed food and clothes among the Hindu refugees from Myanmar.