In 30 years, there will be no Hindus left in Bangladesh: Researcher

There will be no Hindus left in Bangladesh after 30 years if the current rate of exodus persists, according to a recently-published book.

"The rate of exodus over the past 49 years points to that direction," said Ajoy Roy, the author of the book titled 'Political Economy of Reforming Agriculture-Land-Water Bodies in Bangladesh', Bangladeshi newspaper Dhaka Tribune reported

Roy came to the conclusion after closely following the immigration data and patterns of the country for the last 30 years.  

Around 11.3 million Bangladeshi Hindus got out of the country from 1964 to 2013. That adds up to roughly 632 Hindus leaving the country on a daily basis.

Exodus patterns

In his three decade-long research, Roy found that most of the families left the country during military governments.

The book says that before the Liberation War in 1971, the daily rate of migration was 705. It came down to 512 during 1971-1981 and 438 during 1981-1991.

The immigration number increased to 767 persons during 1991-2001 and around 774 between 2001 and 2012.

One of the key reasons for the Hindus to leave the country was due to rampant land-grab during Pakistan's rule before 1971.  

When Pakistan was ruling Bangladesh, authorities took away the land of the Hindus by describing them as enemy property, Roy said, leaving 60 per cent of Bangladeshi Hindus landless.

Bangladeshi Hindus constitute 8.2 per cent of the country's population, according to the country's latest census.

(WION)