Discrimination against minorities

Indian subcontinent. They are not united to the extent Muslims are in India, neither they have an elite clique like the Christians and Sindhi Hindus in Pakistan. Religious minorities whether we would like to face it or not, are shelved in the lowest strata of our social hierarchy. Yet, they had remained in Bangladesh, bearing repression, persecution, communal violence, neglect, and worst of all institutional discrimination against them in their daily lives. Their numbers, though, are in decline. Thus Bangladesh, as a country that proclaims to be the 'most tolerant' amongst the Muslim nations, is not merely a disgrace but an outright failure.

A mere constitutional proclamation saying all religions have the right to practice freely will never ever achieve anything for the long repressed minorities.

More needs to be done and I suggest the first step should be creating a statutory agency which will oversee the recruitment issues like discrimination against minorities in public and private sectors with wide ranging powers such as fining the agency which fails to maintain a minimum healthy balance, and which discriminates. They will have the power to 'black list' organisations and force them to act appropriately.

I have nothing to ask from the ruling regime, which's dubious nationalism blended with right wing opportunism. So I urge the fourteen party alliance which claims to be 'the progressive' side, to include the concept of such an agenda into their manifesto.