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On 22 October 2021, a demonstration was done in [[Kathmandu]], Nepal to express solidarity for the victims and demanding punishment to the perpetrators. <ref>{{Cite web| title = बंगलादेशमा भएको हिन्दु धार्मिक समूहमाथिको आक्रमणविरूद्ध माइतीघरमा मैनबत्ती बालेर विरोध (तस्बिरहरू)| work = Setopati| accessdate = 2021-10-23| url = https://www.setopati.com/social/251928/}}</ref>
On 22 October 2021, a demonstration was done in [[Kathmandu]], Nepal to express solidarity for the victims and demanding punishment to the perpetrators. <ref>{{Cite web| title = बंगलादेशमा भएको हिन्दु धार्मिक समूहमाथिको आक्रमणविरूद्ध माइतीघरमा मैनबत्ती बालेर विरोध (तस्बिरहरू)| work = Setopati| accessdate = 2021-10-23| url = https://www.setopati.com/social/251928/}}</ref>

The Prime Minister of India [[Narendra Modi]] was heavily criticized by regional parties for his silence over the matter, <ref>https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/narendra-modi-bangladesh-violence-hindu-muslims-tmc-1866483-2021-10-19</ref> with [[Sheikh Hasina]] blaming India for rise of attacks against muslims in India. <ref>https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/culprits-be-hunted-down-2198516</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 12:49, 1 November 2021

From 13 to 19 October 2021, Muslim mobs instigated communal violence against Hindu communities across Bangladesh during the festival of Durga Puja festival. More than 120 temples and makeshift worship arrangements were vandalised.[1]

The Bangladesh government deployed paramilitary Bangladesh Border Guards forces in 22 of the 64 administrative districts of Bangladesh to quell violence against the Hindu community. As of 22 October 2021, at least 10 people have been killed across the country, including 7 Hindus, in the "worst communal violence in years" as termed by The New York Times.[2][3]

Background

Hindus make up 10% of Bangladesh’s 165 million population.[4]

Bangladesh prepared for the largest religious festival of the Hindu community in the second week of October 2021. Like every year, makeshift arrangements to offer worship were set up across the country. In the morning of October 13, allegations of defaming the Muslim holy book Quran emerged from a makeshift temple in Cumilla district when reports of finding a copy of Quran on the lap of an idol was circulated through the social media platforms. As an immediate reaction the government urged people to calm down and instructed the police to investigate the incident. However, soon after the report was circulated, an angry mob started attacking local temples in Cumilla due to the lack of proper resistance from government officials. The religious tension soon transcended to other districts of Bangladesh. Few days later, a Muslim man named Iqbal Hossain was arrested by police for placing the copy of Quran on the lap of the idol at Nanua Dighir Par puja mandap in Cumilla on October 13.[5]

Summary of dead, injured and attack on temples

By 22nd October at least people were reported killed, at least over 150 others were injured and at least 80 temples were damaged across Bangladesh by mobs, additionally over 100 people injured were reported from various places in several incidences. At least 4000 were charged and 400 detained by police.[4]

Attack on Hindu temples and minority communities

Reports of attacks on temples, houses, shops of minorities, looting of belongings, and murder were documented in at least a dozen districts of Bangladesh mostly in the southern area, including Cumilla, Chandpur, Noakhali, Chattogram, Bandarban, Cox's Bazar, Narshingdi and Gazipur.

Cumilla

The incident started in Cumilla district where attacks were carried out on different temples from October 13 till October 16. Durga puja venue of Nanua Dighir Par and Chandmoni Kali temple became the target for the attackers soon after the rumor of demeaning Quran spread across the area. A septuagenarian Hindu man, Dilip Das, died in a hospital, succumbing to the injuries.[6]

Chandpur

At least 4 people died in Chandpur when Police fired at an angry mob brought out a procession, and launched an attack on some Durga puja venue of the district, on October 13.[7]

Ariyan Sajjad, a member of Hajiganj municipality Chhatra League, and Hridoy Hassan Zahid, the son of local Awami League leader Shahida Begum,[8] called the local Muslims to launch an attack on temples and pandals of Hindus in protest of the "desecration of Quran" in Cumilla. A mob was gathered after the posts and swooped on the Hindu temples and pandals after a short protest.[9]

Chattogram

In Chattogram, a group of zealots from a procession brought out in the Andarkilla area started throwing brickbats targeting the Jemson Hall Puja Mandap. Witnesses said as the group threw brickbats at the temple housing the mandap and tried to vandalize it, police chased them away leading to a clash between the law enforcers and the zealots. Police fired shots in the air and lobbed tear gas canisters to disperse the attackers, who had brought out the procession after Juma prayers. Police said they detained around 50 protestors from the spot. [10]

Bandarban

Under the leadership of a local Awami League leader, a temple and establishments owned by Hindus were attacked by an angry mob on October 14 in Lama area of Bandarban. The Lama central Hari Mandir was attacked from a rally of angry mob who were protesting the "demeaning of Quran". They also attacked the shops of Hindu people in the Lama market area. Lama Upazila Awami League general secretary Zahirul Islam addressed the mob before they started attacking the temple according to the local police officials.[11]

Noakhali

Jatan Kumar Saha and Panto Das, two Hindu devotees were killed in Noakhali when angry mob attacked different temples in the district. On October 15, attackers from a procession of several thousand people stormed in Bijoya Durga Temple in Begumganj area and vandalised the temple. They also beat up Jatan Kumar Saha who died in a hospital.[12] Later, body of another 20-year-old devotee was found in a pond of an ISKCON-run temple of the district.[13]

Feni

A clash broke out on October 16 in Feni between the local Hindu community and Muslims when a group of Hindu dwellers of the district was protesting the nationwide attack on Hindu community during the Durga Puja festival. The clash left around a dozen of people from both communities injured.[14]

Rangpur

A group of mob set fire to around a dozen Hindu-owned houses in Rangpur's Pirganj Upazila on October 17 after an alleged post by a local Hindu boy on Kaaba went viral.[15] Local Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders instigated the mob alleging that the post demeaned the holy place vandalized the houses, set fire, and obstructed fire-fighters to douse the fire.[16]

It was later revealed that, Saikat Mandal, the vice-president of philosophy department Chhatra League at Rangpur's Carmichael College, had a personal conflict with a local Hindu youth Paritosh Sarkar. During the nationwide communal violence, Saikat and his followers in Bangladesh Chhatra League collaborated with the imam of a local mosque to instigate the local Muslim population to conduct the attack on Hindu villages of the area.[17]

Government action against culprits

On 17 October, Bangladesh Police filed cases against over 4,000 suspects involved in the violence.[18]

Reaction

On 16th October 2021, after Friday prayers, a crowd of over 10,000 Muslims from various Mosques in Dhaka took to streets, carrying banners of Islamist political parties and chanting, "down with the enemies of the Islam" and "hang the culprits". On the same day, nearby nearly 1,000 Hindus also protested against the attacks on temples and the killing of Hindus by Muslim mobs.[4][19][20][21]

Bangladesh Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan stated that the incidents were pre-planned: "It appears to us that it was a motivated act instigated by a vested group. Not only in Comilla, but attempts were also made to destabilize the country previously through communal violence in Ramu and Nasirnagar."[18]

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina promised to deliver justice and hunt down the culprits behind the attacks.[22]

However, Bangladesh's Minister of Foreign Affairs AK Abdul Momen downplayed the communal violence terming most of the violent attack claims as "propaganda" and claimed "not a single temple was destroyed" during the violence but "deities or goddesses were vandalized". The top Awami League leader said, "Contrary to all the ongoing propaganda, only 6 people died during recent violence of which 4 were Muslims, killed during the encounters with law enforcing authorities, and 2 were Hindus, one of whom had normal death and another when he jumped in a pond."[23]

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of Bangladesh Nationalist Party condemned the violence against "Hindu brothers", and alleged a government conspiracy behind the attacks. He called for a non-partisan government to take power before the next elections.[24]

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council observed a half-day strike in Chattagram in protest of the attacks on Durga Puja venue in Chattagram.[25] The General Secretary of the organization in an interview claimed, "It is unfortunate that a majority of the grassroots leaders of the ruling Awami League are also seen joining them in conducting the attacks."[26] He called for the "self-purification" of Awami League to prevent future attacks on minority community.[27]

On 22 October 2021, a demonstration was done in Kathmandu, Nepal to express solidarity for the victims and demanding punishment to the perpetrators. [28]

The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi was heavily criticized by regional parties for his silence over the matter, [29] with Sheikh Hasina blaming India for rise of attacks against muslims in India. [30]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Seven dead after violence erupts during Hindu festival in Bangladesh". The Guardian. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Bangladesh Strengthens Security as Violence Targets Hindu Festival". The New York Times. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Cumilla Hindu temple attack victim dies in Dhaka". 22 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Two Hindu men killed, temples vandalised in Bangladesh violence, Al Jazeera, 18 Oct 2021.
  5. ^ "Police: Comilla resident Iqbal placed the Quran on a Puja idol". Dhaka Tribune. 20 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Cumilla Hindu temple attack victim dies in Dhaka". 22 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  7. ^ [www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/ফেসবুকে-আন্দোলনের-ডাক-এরপর-মিছিলহামলা "ফেসবুকে 'আন্দোলনের' ডাক, এরপর মিছিল–হামলা"]. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  8. ^ "Hajiganj mayhem began with Facebook post like previous incidents of communal violence". 20 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Hajiganj mayhem began with Facebook post like previous incidents of communal violence". 20 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Violence, vandalism in districts: Man killed in Noakhali; home minister warns perpetrators". The Daily Star. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Attack, Vandalism in Bandarban". The Daily Star. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Violence, vandalism in districts: Man killed in Noakhali". The Daily Star. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Violence, vandalism in districts: Man killed in Noakhali". Dhaka Tribune. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  14. ^ "Violent clashes leave scores injured in Feni amid communal tension". BD News 24. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Hindu houses set on fire in Rangpur following Facebook post". New Age. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  16. ^ "Pirganj Communal Violence: BCL man sparked the blaze". The Daily Star. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Pirganj Communal Violence: BCL man sparked the blaze". The Daily Star. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  18. ^ a b 'Attacks on Durga Puja pandals pre-planned': Bangladesh home minister, Hindustan Times, 18 Oct 22021.
  19. ^ "Bangladesh PM Hasina's assurance to Hindus has lessons for India's leaders". Deccan Herald. 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  20. ^ Team, WION Web (2021-10-18). "Islam is not our state religion, will revert to 1972 constitution: Bangladesh Minister after attack on Hindus, South Asia News". WION. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  21. ^ "Don't think of yourself as a minority, Sheikh Hasina tells Hindu community". Sify. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  22. ^ "Those Who Attacked Hindu Temples "Will Be Hunted Down": Bangladesh PM". NDTV. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  23. ^ "Statement of Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, MP, About Recent Communal Violence". Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Govt plot behind attack". UNB. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  25. ^ "Half Day hartal on Saturday". UNB. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  26. ^ "Attacks on minorities part of a blueprint". The Daily Star. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  27. ^ "We want self-purification in the ruling party: Rana Dasgupta". Prothom Alo. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  28. ^ "बंगलादेशमा भएको हिन्दु धार्मिक समूहमाथिको आक्रमणविरूद्ध माइतीघरमा मैनबत्ती बालेर विरोध (तस्बिरहरू)". Setopati. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  29. ^ https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/narendra-modi-bangladesh-violence-hindu-muslims-tmc-1866483-2021-10-19
  30. ^ https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/culprits-be-hunted-down-2198516