Washington: Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Indian-descent Hindu member of the House of Representatives, has urged the US Senate to question Marco Rubio about anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh at his confirmation hearing for the post of secretary of state.
“As targeted violence against Hindus and other minorities continues amid the disorder in Bangladesh, I urge the members of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations to address this crisis directly during the upcoming hearings to confirm Senator Rubio as the next U.S. Secretary of State,” Krishnamoorthi said on Thursday.
He said that through publicly conferring on the turmoil in Bangladesh, Senator Rubio must reaffirm the incoming Administration’s position on this issue and pledge concrete action steps to combat anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh.
Rubio’s confirmation hearing will take place sometime after January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office to start his second term.
Rubio is among Trump’s cabinet nominations considered to be the safest given his long years of experience as a member US senator and foreign policy chops as a leading member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is likely to be confirmed by his fellow senators, both Republican and Democratic.
Rubio, expectedly, will have a robust position on Bangladesh given the position already taken by his boss, the incoming President, who posted on X, “I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos.”
The Hindu-American community has been concerned over reports of anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
Krishnamoorthi is one of four Hindus in the US House of Representatives, along with Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Shri Thanedar. Their number will grow when the next Congress is in place with Suhas Subramanyam, who was elected last November from Virginia.
(IANS)
