New Delhi, 19 April

The Congress on Saturday condemned the killing of a prominent Hindu leader in Bangladesh and demanded that the government take up the matter with Dhaka, saying silence and inaction were not options when such targeted violence was being allowed to take root.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said religious minorities, "especially our Hindu brothers and sisters", are constantly being persecuted in Bangladesh.

"The brutal murder of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a prominent leader of the Hindu community, is proof that Narendra Modi ji's smiling meeting with the chief advisor of Bangladesh was a failure," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

In his first meeting with Muhammad Yunus -- chief advisor to the interim Bangladesh government -- on 4 April, Modi had flagged India's concerns over the safety of minorities, including Hindus, and conveyed that any rhetoric that vitiated the environment was best avoided.

India on Saturday condemned the alleged abduction and killing of Roy, a prominent Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh, and called on the interim government in Dhaka to live up to its responsibility of protecting the minorities.

Reacting to the killing, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the party stood in solidarity with the Hindu community in Bangladesh and added the government should ensure efforts were made to ensure transparent action to bring the culprits to book.

"The Indian National Congress strongly condemns the brutal killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a prominent leader of the Hindu community in Dinajpur, Bangladesh. The abduction and assault leading to his tragic death is a chilling reminder of the growing sense of insecurity among religious minorities in the region," he said in a post on X.

Noting that this was not an isolated incident, he said there had been repeated and deeply disturbing instances of attacks on minority communities in Bangladesh over the past months -- from desecration of Hindu temples to targeted attacks on the homes and businesses of minorities.

"This pattern of intimidation and brutality cannot be ignored," Ramesh said.

The Congress urges the Centre to take up the matter with the highest urgency and prevail upon the government of Bangladesh to ensure a swift, transparent investigation and bring the culprits to justice, he added.

Kharge said that according to the government's reply in Parliament, there were 76 attacks on Hindus in the previous two months, leading to the deaths of 23 Hindus.

"Recently the chief advisor of Bangladesh made a very condemnable and disappointing comment about the northeastern states of India. The atrocities against religious minorities in Bangladesh, human rights violations and the attempt to eliminate the memories of the 1971 Liberation War are efforts to weaken the relations between India and Bangladesh," Kharge said.