Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati met a group of Bangladeshi Hindus on Wednesday (December 25, 2024) and assured to raise their concerns with the government. In Varanasi, a 12-member group of Bangladeshi Hindus met Shankaracharya and sought his intervention to ensure the safety of their religion.
There was a coup in Bangladesh after protests in August and Sheikh Hasina had to step down as Prime Minister. Since the change of government, there has been large-scale violence, including violent incidents against minority Hindus.
Swami Avimukteshwarananda assured the group of Bangladeshi Hindus that they would write a letter to the government urging them to take action on the matter. Shankaracharya said, ‘Hindus are being persecuted in Bangladesh only because of their faith. These families have shared their grievances with me and I will convey their concerns to the Government of India.
When asked by journalists about the recent comments of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, Shankaracharya accused him of making politically motivated statements. Swami Avimukteshwarananda said, ‘Mohan Bhagwat has claimed that some people raise temple-mosque issues to become leaders, but I want to clarify that common Hindus do not aspire to become leaders. Mohan Bhagwat does not truly understand the plight of common Hindus.
He said, ‘When Bhagwat and his associates were not in power, they were keen to build the Ram temple. Now that they are in power, such statements are unnecessary. Shankaracharya said, ‘Mohan Bhagwat does not understand the pain of the common Hindu.’ Recently, several cases related to temple-mosque disputes have been filed in various courts in Uttar Pradesh, from the Shahi Jama Masjid of Sambhal to the Jama Masjid Shamsi of Badaun and the Atala Masjid of Jaunpur, where Hindu petitioners have claimed that there is no right to offer prayers. Permission has been sought that in the places where mosques are now there used to be ancient temples.
On December 19, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had expressed concern over the resurgence of several temple-mosque disputes and had said that in Ayodhya Ram Mandir After the creation of , some people have started believing that they can become ‘leaders of Hindus’ by raising such issues. While delivering a lecture on ‘India – Vishwaguru’ at the Sahajeevan Lecture Series in Pune, Maharashtra, Bhagwat had advocated an inclusive society and said that there is a need to show the world that the country can live together in harmony.