There is clearly no sign that attacks on the Hindu community have come to a stop or that adequate measures have been taken to provide it with security. As our front-page report yesterday has shown, seven homes belonging to Hindus were torched in Satkania on Thursday. On the same day, in Netrokona, four idols in a Hindu temple were subjected to desecration. Our question, which we believe is also that of the nation as a whole, is simple: how much longer must our Hindu citizens be victimized before we as a society call a halt to such criminal acts?
We have said earlier and we say it again that it is the solemn duty of the government to come to the aid of the minority community and ensure that its members feel safe enough to go about their normal business. Alongside this assertion of conviction, we believe that unless measures are taken speedily to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice, our reputation for communal harmony will be tainted. Such criminality does not go with our socio-cultural ethos.
It is time for platitudes to be cast aside and for real action to take over. While citizens on the whole must rise and resist this menace of communalism perpetrated by a few, it remains, now and always, the business of the powers that be to govern to the satisfaction of all classes of citizens. That governance must begin through ensuring the safety of the minority community.