Nasirnagar FB Post: Rasraj freed but worries about security
Rasraj Das was released on bail yesterday after he languished in jail for more than two and a half months in connection with a Facebook post, which, according to evidence, had not been uploaded by him.
A fisherman with little educational background, Rasraj was arrested in October last year under article-57 (2) of the Information and Communication Technology Act allegedly for posting on Facebook an anti-Islamic picture that hurt religious sentiments.
He was granted bail as his lawyer Nasir Mia submitted a forensic report in court, in which it is stated that there is no proof of him uploading any such image.
Having been freed, the 27-year old said, “I asked my cousin Hridoy to create a Facebook ID [of him] using my mobile phone. But then I didn't use the ID.”
He kept the phone at home and went for fishing. “I had been fishing in Balinga Beel for a week. As soon as I came back some people started beating me. They didn't give me any scope to say anything.
“The mob dragged me to the bazaar. Many people gathered there at the time. They then handed me over to police.”
Narrating his days filled with trauma, he said he was now happy that he would meet his parents.
In jail, he was kept in a condemned cell on the pretext of ensuring his security.
“I was not allowed to meet my parents [in jail]. Now I will go home and meet my parents,” said Rasraj who still has difficulty in walking because of the pain in the legs inflicted by the mob beating.
Expressing concern over his safety, he demanded that the administration provide him with security.
He wants to go on fishing like he did before.
“But I am scared. What if our house and I come under attack again?
Indrajit Das, maternal uncle of Rasraj, said the family would consult village leaders and elders about whether he should stay in the village.
“If they give us assurance of his security, Rasraj will live in the village”.
On October 30 last year, around 200 religious bigots attacked at least five temples and vandalised and looted about 100 Hindu houses at several localities of Nasirnagar.
Jahangir Alam, owner of Al-Amin Cyber Point and Studio, shared the anti-Islamic post on Facebook the previous day alleging that Rasraj had posted it. Alam made copies of it and distributed those to mobilise people against the youth from the minority community.
Now in police custody, Jahangir confessed to his involvement. He told the police during interrogations that he had done it on instructions of Haripur Union Parishad Chairman Dewan Atiqur Rahman Akhi.
Police on January 4 arrested Akhi, one of the alleged masterminds of the attack.
According to two police probes -- one by the police headquarters in Dhaka and the other by the Brahmanbaria district police, internal conflicts of the local Awami League led to the Nasirnagar attacks on the Hindus, while an investigation by the Brahmanbaria district administration found no such link.
The administration found no negligence either on the part of the local police and the administration.
The police probe reports, however, mention negligence of duty by the UNO and the OC in preventing the attacks.