Arrest attackers immediately

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council yesterday demanded that the government immediately arrest and punish persons responsible for recent “communal attacks” including that on its Faridpur unit leader, a Shia mosque in Bogra, and a priest in Pabna.

Forming human chains in front of the capital's Jatiya Press Club and on Town Club Road in Pirojpur, the council leaders also urged all democratic forces to unite to resist such attacks. 

Hacked in front of his house in the town's Ramkrishna Palli on November 24, Alok Sen, the council's Faridpur unit general secretary, was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital the next day.

The shooting at the Shia mosque on Thursday evening left the muezzin, Moazzem Hossain, dead and three others injured. Pastor Luke Sarkar escaped an attempt on his life when three suspected radicals tried to slit his throat in Pabna on October 5.

“...a dozen Christian priests recently got death threats. Such communal attacks are not isolated incidents as a vested quarter has been carrying out the attacks to destabilise the country,” said the council General Secretary Rana Dasgupta in the capital, demanding all investigations to be fair and impartial.

The council's Presidium Member Prof Nim Chandra Bhowmik said the administration has to be more sincere as the terrorists were trying to “turn Bangladesh into Afghanistan and Pakistan”.

Another presidium member, Subrata Chowdhury, said Alok was attacked for being involved in movements to ensure rights of religious minorities and that such attacks were a blow to the spirit of independence and Liberation War.

He accused police of waiting for victims' families to file cases instead of doing it themselves.

Capt (retd) Shachin Karmakar, Tapash Kumar Paul, Joyanta Kumar Deb and Manindra Kumar Nath also spoke.