"In Bangladesh, discrimination and deadly violence against atheists, secularists, Hindus, Buddhists, and other religious minorities has unfortunately become a regular occurrence," Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement on the House Floor.
The two-term Democratic lawmaker from Hawaii, Gabbard is the first Hindu to be elected to the US House of Representatives.
"This underscores the absolute necessity of not only defeating this global wave of intolerance, but standing up and fighting for the right of others to freely express their views regardless of whether you agree with those views or not," she said.
Just two weeks ago, 28 year old Nazimuddin Samad was hacked to death in Dhaka, Bangladesh after speaking out against the persecution of religious minorities on social media, she noted.