Silence not expected
Eminent rights activist Sultana Kamal yesterday expressed her shock that local lawmaker Elias Uddin Mollah had not yet visited Kurmitola Bihari Camp even three days after the gruesome arson attack on the settlement that killed nine of a family.
"He is supposed to represent all the people in his constituency. Siding against a particular section of people is an injustice," said Sultana, also the former caretaker government adviser after visiting the camp with fellow rights activist Nur Khan yesterday.
Residents of the camp, inhabited by a few thousand Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh after the 1971 Liberation War, blame the MP for Saturday's attacks that killed a total of 10 Biharis.
In the early hours of Saturday, a clash between the stranded Pakistanis, known as Biharis, and Bangalees and law enforcers led to the arson.
"The incident is a shame for our society. We are living in a society where such incidents go unhindered," Sultana Kamal told The Daily Star.
She observed that the prime minister's silence on the attack might have aggravated the grievances of the victims.
The executive director of rights body Ain O Salish Kendra also criticised the police for harassing the Biharis by filing cases against them in this connection.
A team of the US embassy in Dhaka also visited the Bihari camp yesterday.
Meanwhile, the stranded Pakistanis continued their protests yesterday demanding release of seven of their fellow community members, who are currently on police remand, and demanding Elias Mollah's arrest.
They claimed that the Bihari arrestees were innocent and they were arrested only because they had protested the attacks.
"And police are now interrogating those people who themselves were victims of the crime. Innocents are being framed in the murder case while the real culprits roam about freely,” said Shahzadi Begum of the camp.
The agitating Biharis also demanded protection from further attacks and compensation for the affected families.
In solidarity with the Bihari victims, several hundred stranded Pakistanis of Mohammadpur Bihari camp observed a daylong hunger strike yesterday, blocking roads adjacent to their settlements.
When police tried to remove them from the roads, they started pelting the law enforcers with brickbats.
Police fired blank shots to disperse the mob, according to Additional Deputy Commissioner Wahidul Islam of Tejgaon zone.
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