Hate spiral must end
Protests denouncing the communal attacks on Hindu temples, idols and properties during the Durga Puja celebrations gained momentum as the call for punishing the perpetrators got louder yesterday.
People, including members of the Hindu community, demonstrated in different parts of the country, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits. The protesters enforced a half-day hartal in Chattogram and defied section 144 -- ban on gatherings -- in Noakhali.
Different political and social organisations also joined the chorus in seeking justice for the victims.
Social media was flooded with posts slamming the communal attacks as many netizens said hatred must stop and called for maintaining religious harmony.
The protests were organised following the recent spate of violence in several districts after words spread that "the Holy Quran was demeaned" in Cumilla.
Zealots ran amok, vandalising Hindu idols, temples and shops in Chandpur, Chattogram, Noakhali, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Kurigram and other districts.
Idols were vandalised in Munshiganj and Kishoreganj even on Friday and early yesterday.
AFP news agency reported quoting a Hindu community leader, Gobinda Chandra Pramanik, that at least 80 makeshift temples had been attacked. The authorities, however, did not confirm the figures.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad President Milon Kanti Datta said at a rally in the capital that this violence continued as those who carried out the earlier attacks on the minorities were not punished.
The government should take the responsibility for its failure to take proper steps, he added.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader reiterated that the government was determined to identify and punish those behind the communal attacks that were launched to disturb the country's religious harmony.
Quader, also general secretary of the ruling Awami League, said the culprits would be brought to book through an impartial investigation.
"The attacks were pre-planned and evil communal forces are behind them," he said while addressing the triennial council of Rajbari AL yesterday.
Dhaka city unit of Workers Party of Bangladesh, at a rally in the capital, demanded the attackers be held right away while senior BNP leader Mirza Abbas blamed police for failing to ensure safety of the minority people.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Awami League-backed Blue Panel teachers' association of Dhaka University in separate statements yesterday condemned the recent incidents of vandalism and attack on Durga Puja mandaps across the country.
Noted filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki on his verified Facebook page wrote: "Efforts should be taken to punish all involved in the attacks."
He also said steps should be taken to stop recurrence of such incidents. "What is needed the most now is that all should condemn the incidents. All should tell their Hindu friends and neighbours that you are not alone…."
PROTESTS
Defying section 144, several thousand people demonstrated in Chowmuhoni area of Noakhali yesterday, protesting attacks on temples and people of the Hindu community in the district.
Hindu devotees brought out a procession carrying the body of Pranta Das, which they said was found in a pond next to an Iskcon temple in Chowmuhoni. They later staged a sit-in blocking the Chowmuhoni-Feni Road, reported our Noakhali correspondent.
The demonstrators demanded punishment of the killers and those who attacked Hindu temples. They also sought removal of the district's deputy commissioner, superintendent of police, Chowmuhoni upazila nirbahi officer and the officer-in-charge of Begumganj Police Station for their failure to stop the attacks.
They left around 4:30pm after Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Chattogram Range Anwar Hossain, in presence of local politicians, assured them of looking into the matter.
"We will hold a fair investigation. If we find anyone's negligence, we will take action against them following consultation with our higher officials," Anwar told the protesters.
Noakhali district member secretary of Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad, Pappu Chowdhury, said, "We gave the authorities two days' time to meet our demands. We will announce a shutdown for an indefinite period if those are not met within the deadline."
On Friday night, the authorities had imposed section 144 in Chowmuhoni area for an indefinite period following an attack on the Bijoya Durga Temple on College Road in Begumganj area. The attack left Jatan Kumar Saha, a member of the temple management committee, dead.
Yesterday's protests began after devotees of the Iskcon temple found the body of Pranta Das floating in an adjacent pond.
The devotees said Pranta had been missing since Friday when zealots attacked a temple, vandalised idols and shops of the local Hindu community.
"We were not able to trace him anywhere. We thought he had escaped to save his life. After we spotted his body, we informed police," a devotee of the temple told The Daily Star over phone.
Pranta was last seen before the attack meditating by the pond, he said.
Md Shah Imran, additional superintendent of police (Begumganj Circle), said police recovered the body from the pond. "He was a devotee of the temple," he said.
Meanwhile, the district administration formed a three-member committee to investigate the attacks and asked the committee to submit its report within seven working days.
Noakhali Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Khurshed Alam Khan said he was not aware why the protesters were seeking his or any other's removal from their posts.
In Chattogram, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist and Christian Oikya Parishad yesterday enforced a half-day hartal protesting the attacks.
A rally was held in the Anderkilla intersection area and the demonstrators marched to Chattogram Press Club after the end of the hartal around noon.
Around 1:00pm, the Oikya Parishad held a press conference at Chattogram Press Club where the platform's General Secretary Rana Dasgupta announced a countrywide protest programme, including mass fasting and mass congregation, on October 23.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad organised a protest rally in the capital's Shahbagh condemning the attacks. It was participated in by hundreds of people.
The organisers said a team of leaders from the minority communities would visit Noakhali today.
A group of Iskcon members, who attended the rally, blocked the intersection for 15 minutes.
In Tangail, the district unit of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad yesterday afternoon staged a demonstration on Central Kalibari premises in the town.
In Patuakhali, two organisations of Hindu community members demonstrated and held a rally on the town's Sarbajanin Puja Mandir premises.
Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mahajote formed a human chain in front of Bagerhat Press Club yesterday morning.
In Feni, at least 30 people, including a police member, were injured in a clash yesterday.
The incident happened after a group of Hindu people brought out a procession from a temple on Trunk Road in the town in the afternoon. At that time, they came face to face with some youths who were inside a nearby mosque, reports our correspondent quoting locals.
The two groups hurled brickbats at each other. On information, police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. The Hindu people left.
Later, a group of pro-AL men went there and clashed with those inside the mosque. The groups threw brickbats at each other.
Police fire shots in the air to calm the situation.
The clashes took place for around three hours in phases from 5:00pm to 8:00pm, the witnesses added.
Contacted, Feni's superintendent of police Khandaker Nurunnabi said the situation was under control. Additional members of law enforcers were deployed to avoid any further untoward situation, he said.
IDOLS VANDALISED IN 2 DISTS
Criminals vandalised six idols at Daniapara Maha Shoshan Kali Mandir in Sirajdikhan upazila of Munshiganj yesterday, reported our district correspondent.
The temple's caretaker, Ram Nair, lodged a case with Sirajdikhan Police Station, said OC (investigation) Ajgar Hossain.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (Sirajdikhan Circle) Rasedul Islam said that the idols were vandalised between 3:00am and 4:00am.
"The criminals went in by cutting the fence of the tin-shed temple," he said.
Bigots vandalised idols at a Kali Mandir in Karimganj upazila of Kishoreganj on Friday.
Police arrested four, including imam of a local mosque Mamunur Rashid, yesterday in connection with the incident, Karimganj Police Station Md Shamsul Alam Siddiquee said, reported our Kishoreganj correspondent.
Birendra Chandra Bormon, the vice-president of the temple, lodged a case naming eight persons and some 35 unnamed persons on Friday night.
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