'CAA needs to be applied to future migrants as well': Zoho's Sridhar Vembu after Hindu leader killed in Bangladesh

Zoho founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu has strongly endorsed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the wake of the brutal killing of a Hindu community leader in Bangladesh, saying that Bharat has a duty to offer refuge to persecuted minorities from the region.

"It is Bharat's duty to protect and offer refuge to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Longer term, the only viable plan for these persecuted minorities may be to settle in Bharat," Vembu wrote in a social media post on Sunday.

"That is why the CAA exists and needs to be applied to future migrants as well. This is also in tune with our proud history of protecting Parsis and Jews who settled in Bharat," he added.

Vembu's remarks came in response to a post by spiritual leader Sadhguru, who reacted to the killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy in Bangladesh. "This savage persecution of the minority community in Bangladesh must stop. This is a blot on the subcontinent & on Humanity. Unacceptable," Sadhguru wrote on X.

Roy, 58, a prominent Hindu community leader and vice-president of the Biral unit of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, was abducted from his home in Dinajpur district on Thursday and brutally assaulted before being declared dead at a hospital. According to The Daily Star, four unidentified men arrived at his residence on motorcycles and took him away after confirming his presence via a phone call. He was later found unconscious and died shortly after being admitted to a hospital.

India's Ministry of External Affairs condemned the incident and urged the interim government in Dhaka to act. "We have noted with distress the abduction and brutal killing of Shri Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu minority leader in Bangladesh," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Saturday. "This killing follows a pattern of systematic persecution of Hindu minorities under the interim government even as the perpetrators of previous such events roam with impunity."

"We condemn this incident and once again remind the interim government to live up to its responsibility of protecting all minorities, including Hindus, without inventing excuses or making distinctions," Jaiswal added.

Tensions between India and Bangladesh have been on the rise since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government last year. The situation has worsened under the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus, which has faced criticism for failing to curb rising attacks on minorities.