Most communal attacks planned

Most attacks on non-Muslim communities of the country appear to be pre-planned, speakers told a press conference yesterday, referring to an assault on Hindus in Comilla late last month.
The religious minorities are living in fear and with mistrust because of communal aggression, as the state did very little in the past to prevent such incidents, they said.
About 30 houses of Hindus were ransacked at Bakhsitarampur village in Homna upazila of Comilla on April 27 following rumours that Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) had been defamed in Facebook posts by some Hindus.
Twenty days after the attack, a team of Rukhey Darao Bangladesh (RDB), a platform of pro-liberation and progressive forces, visited the village, on May 17. The organisation shared its findings with the media at the capital's Liberation War Museum.
"The attack was not retaliatory to hurting religious sentiment. Rather, the perpetrators came simultaneously from three sides in a premeditated manner," said RDB convener Sultana Kamal.
The rights activist said it was possible that the Facebook account of the person whose post had apparently sparked the incident was hacked beforehand, and a Muslim put the post there. "Above all, the Facebook post in question does not contain anything that may hurt religious sentiments."
Sultana Kamal observed that the steps taken by the state to stop such communal atrocities were not enough.
In a similar note, Liberation War Museum Trustee Dr Sarwar Ali said, "The Facebook post was a pretext for the attack."
He, however, complimented the local union parishad member Noim Mollah and chairman Azizur Rahman Mollah for rushing to the spot to save the Hindus. "It was the prompt action of the local administration and law enforcers that prevented fatalities," he said.
Ziauddin Tariq Ali, another trustee of the museum, read out a statement, saying, "Non-Muslim communities will gain confidence once police complete the investigation and the perpetrators are punished."
Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman spoke at the event, while economist Prof MM Akash moderated it.