‘Hindus come under attack in Bangladesh’

The minority Hindus came under attack, allegedly by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its students wing, in Patgram, northern Lalmonirhat district, for the second time in a month, major Bangladesh newspapers reported on Friday .

The attackers beat up women and children and torched and looted at least five shops and two houses at Ghoshpara village on the third day of the opposition-sponsored 71-hour blockade, said the dailies quoting police and eyewitnesses .

The incident fuelled concerns over a fresh spell of attacks on the minority members as men of the village have fled in fear.

No reason

Minority leaders alleged that the villages had come under attack for no specific reason. However, local union Parishad Chairman Ruhul Amin Babul said, taking the advantage of countrywide blockade they attacked the Hindus who do not belong to any political party. “They did so to create panic in the area and use that to their advantage,” the chairman concluded.

Another Hindu-populated village Shafinagar under the same district also came under attack allegedly by BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men on October 27, the first day of the opposition-called shutdown. The vandals beat 12 women as the males fled the scene.

Quoting police and eyewitnesses, newspapers said about 200 to 250 Jamaat-Shibir activists led by Shibir leader Rana Islam brought out a procession in the area and swooped on Hindus’ shops and houses. A number of aggrieved villagers alleged that some local Awami League men, too, were responsible for inciting the violence.