Agartala, Oct 21: Viswa Hindu Parishad took out rallies here and in other districts of Tripura on Thursday as a mark of protest against the alleged persecution of Hindus and vandalisation of Durga puja pandals and idols in Bangladesh recently and demanded immediate steps by the neighbouring country to book the perpetrators and protect minority Hindus in the neighbouring country.
A procession by about 10,000 activists of the outfit was taken out in Agartala which joined a public meeting held to protest against the occurences in the neighbouring country outside the Assistant High Commission of Bangladesh here. A six-member delegation of VHP, headed by its Tripura unit president Chandrasekhar Kar submitted a memorandum to Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina through that country's Assistant High Commissioner Jobaid Hossain.
West Tripura district VHP secretary Shankar Sarkar, who was a member of the delegation, said "The recent attacks on the Hindus in Bangladesh were designed to reduce their number in that country. We have observed that ever since the inception of Bangladesh the Hindus have been persecuted and it still continues".
On Sunday political parties and civil society organisations in Tripura had condemned the recent vandalisation of Durga Puja temples and marquees and attack on Hindus in Bangladesh, with which the state shares an 856-km-long border. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had expressed hope that appropriate action would be taken against the miscreants behind such acts by the Hasina government. Officials said that Deb had on Saturday telephoned the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Vikram K Doraiswami to know what exactly happened in the neighbouring country and the measures that have been taken to protect the members of the Hindu community.
Deb had on Tuesday expressed concern over the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and said he felt that the attacks are 'part of a concerted conspiracy to damage Indo-Bangla relations' ' .
"Indo-Bangla friendship is an example of good bi-lateral relations in the world. A group with vested interest is playing an active role to destroy the good neighbourly relations between the two countries.
"I am sure those who have hatched the conspiracy will not be successful. We sternly condemn these incidents", he told reporters.
The government of Bangladesh as well as its people should take appropriate actions to foil the conspiracy, he had said.