Violent attacks against the Hindus in Bangladesh shook the not just the Hindu communities but also the world over saw the attempt to suppress the Hindus is becoming rampant. This incident occurred following a social media post by a youth from the minority community.
Hundreds of followers of a hardline Islamist group in Bangladesh assaulted and vandalized 70 to 80 Hindu homes in the country’s North eastern Sylhet division.
On Wednesday, several thousand supporters of Hefazat-e-Islam leader Mamunul Haque attacked a Hindu village in Shalla upazila of Sunamganj district in Sylhet division, according to the Dhaka Tribune newspaper.
According to the police, Haque followers from Kashipur, Nachni, Chandipur, and other Muslim-populated villages assembled in Noagaon village and raided the homes of local Hindus with sticks and locally made weapons, vandalizing 70-80 houses.
According to the report, many local Hindus left their homes in order to save themselves, and the mob raided the village and ransacked and looted many houses. According to the report, the incident occurred after Hefazat-e-Amir Islam’s Allama Junaid Babunagari, Joint-Secretary General Mawlana Mufti Mamunul Haque, and several other central officials attended a conference in Derai upazila on Monday.
A young Hindu man reportedly made a Facebook post criticizing Haque after being enraged by his speech. On Wednesday, the mob invaded the village in response to the social media post. A vast number of police officers hurried to the scene.
According to a senior police officer, the Bangladesh Police’s elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism team, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), was also deployed.
According to Shalla Upazila Nirbahi Officer Al Muktadir Hossain, the accused youth was arrested and turned over to law enforcement for insulting Haque on Facebook. He is facing legal ramifications.
We have arrested 22 suspects and filed criminal cases against 700 others, and a manhunt for the attackers is underway,” Sunamganj district police chief Mizanur Rahman told reporters.
Obaidul Quader, General Secretary of the ruling Awami League and Road Transport Minister, said the government has requested strict action to put the perpetrators to justice.
“The government is dedicated to ensuring the safety and peaceful coexistence of people of all religious faiths,” he said.
Meanwhile, rights groups and Hindu leaders have claimed that the minority community was deliberately targeted in order to drive them away.
Separate street protests were held in Dhaka and other cities by several Hindu organizations, including the Bangladesh Hindu Parishad and the National Hindu Grand Alliance. “This country belongs to everyone we want harmony,” Hindu Parishad leader Sajan Kumar Mishra told one of the major rallies in front of the National Press Club.
Hefazat is mainly a grouping of teachers and students of hundreds of non-government madrasas across the country.