Communal violence: 1068 houses and business establishments attacked

After the fall of the Awami League government, there have been several incidents of attacks on the minority communities all over the country, particularly on the Hindu community. In many areas houses, business establishments and places of worship have come under attack, damaged extensively and even set on fire in certain instances.

The attacks basically began from the afternoon of 5 August. There were more attacks on the first two days. Prothom Alo correspondents carried out investigations from 5 to 20 August and found evidence of at least 1,068 houses and business establishments of the minority community being damaged. Outside of that, 22 houses of worship came under attack.

Most of the attacks took place in the country’s southwestern division Khulna. At least 295 homes and business establishments of the minority community were destroyed in the division. Also 219 houses and business establishments were destroyed in Rangpur, 183 in Mymensingh, 155 in Rajshahi, 79 in Dhaka, 68 in Barishal, 45 in Chattogram and 25 in Sylhet. In some places the damage to buildings was extensive, in some place less.

After the fall of the government, there has been news of two members of the minority community being killed in these attacked. One of the deceased persons was Mrinal Kanti Chatterjee. He was a retired schoolteacher. He was beaten and hacked to death on the night of 5 August in the village Chhoto Paikpara of Rakhalgachhi union in Bagerhat Sadar. His wife and daughter were injured in the attack. The other person was Swapan Kumar Biswas of Paikgachha, Khulna. On 8 August, while on his way home, he was beaten up, tortured and killed.

According to the primary figures of the Bangladesh Hindu Christian Bouddha Oikya Parishad (provided on 20 August), over 200 attacks took place in over 50 districts. They are now gathering further details and will soon present the full picture at a press conference.

General secretary of the Hindu Christian Bouddha Oikya Parishad, Rana Dasgupta, told Prothom Alo that it is not just a matter of numbers. If one house is attacked, people of 10 other houses are in panic. He said, for 50 years now , when political scenarios change, when there are anti-government movements and in other circumstances, the minority community is targeted. The aim is to rid Bangladesh of the minorities. He feels this is a political target too.

Previously the minority community came under a major attack during the rule of the Awami League government in 2021 during Durga Puja. Bangladesh Hindu Christian Bouddha Oikya Parishad at the time had said, on from 13 October to 1 November that year 117 temples and puja pavilions in 27 districts had been damaged. Also 301 business establishments and houses had been damaged and looted. Nine persons were killed.

Of the 1,068 houses and business establishments that were attacked, the owners of at least 506 were involved in Awami League politics.

According to the findings of investigations carried out by Prothom Alo’s correspondents all over the country (64 districts and 67 upazilas), attacks on the minority community took place in 49 districts. They saw 546 of the damaged houses and business establishments, that is, 51 per cent of the total damaged structures. Information on the rest was gathered from various sources. In several districts the attacks were extensive. In some districts it was comparatively less. There are 49 districts were at least one such incident occurred.

Attacks were also launched on the Christian and Ahmadiyya Muslim community and on members of the ethnic minority. According to Bangladesh Christian Association, there were attacks on the Church of Bangladesh in Naogaon, the Evangelica Holiness Church in Dinajpur, the collection booth of the Christian Cooperative Credit Union in Madanpur of Narayanganj, and three Christian houses in Gournadi of Barishal, one in Khulna city, one on Halwaghat of Mymensingh, and one in Parbatipur. A statue of Mother Mary was damaged in the Nijpara Mission in Thakurgaon and threats and attempts were made to attack a number of missionary schools and colleges.

Archbishop Bejoy Nicephorus D’Cruze of the Roman Catholic Church in Dhaka, told Prothom Alo, “There have been attacks on the minority community in various places of the country. That is unfortunate. We want to live in this country peacefully regardless of caste and creed. But there are attacks on the minorities at various times. However, the attackers are not identified and they are not punished.” He said that those involved in the attacks must be identified. They must be tried. Only then will such attacks stop.

According to the Kapaeeng Foundation, a human rights organisation for the ethnic minority community, there have been at least 10 attacks on the ethnic minority communities in Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Chapainawabganj and Thakurgaon.

It was said that houses were damaged in two of the attacks, though no figures were mentioned. There were also two incidents where land was grabbed and fish were stolen from ponds. Kapaeeng Foundation also said that the statues of Sidhu Murmu and Kanhu Murmu, two historical characters of the Santal rebellion against the British, were damaged.

The Ahmadiyya community has said 137 of houses and six Ahmadiyya mosques were damaged in attacks in Panchagarh, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Nilphamari, Madartek in Dhaka, Sherpur and Mymensingh.

Public relations office of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Congregation Ahmad Tabsir Chowdhury told Prothom Alo, "We are not in politics, we are not involved with any party. I feel the attack was made upon us this time, taking advantage of the fact that the law enforcement was not active." He said that they had come under attack during the rules of BNP and Awami League too

Members of the minority community say that most of the attacks were from the 'victory processions' after the fall of the government. The attackers included certain local extremists and supporters of  BNP, Jamaat and of some religious groups.

However, from 6 August initiative was taken by BNP and Jamaat as well as students and social organisations to guard the houses, business establishments and places of worship of the minority community. Political parties issued statements against the attacks.

After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on 8 August. On 10 August members of the minority community gathered in large numbers in Dhaka, Chattogram and other districts to protest. They demanded that measures be taken within three days for legal action regarding the attacks and that their eight-point demand be met. They demonstrated the next day too in Dhaka and other districts.

On 13 August Dr Yunus held a meeting with 40 representatives of various minority community organisations including the Hindu Christian Bouddha Oikya Parishad.

He inspected the Dhakeswari Mandir too on that day. At the temple he said, “We want to build up a Bangladesh that is just one family. That is the basic premise. There will be no differences within this family, the question of divisions will not arise. We are the people of Bangladesh, Bangladeshis.”

The most attacks took place in Khulna division. The findings of Prothom Alo’s correspondents reveal that incidents of attacks on the minority community took place in all 10 districts of the division. The most houses and business establishments were damaged in Khulna district (74). The next highest numbers of minorities were attacked in Jashore, Satkhira and Magura.

Before the attacks took place in Khulna, many members of the Hindu community had left their homes. Sujit Roy of Koyra said that they heard in the evening of 5 August that their house would come under attack and so they shifted to a different house. As they were on their way to the other house, they could hear noise of things being broken. He said that their furniture and even the roof of their house had been destroyed.

On the night of 5 August an attack was launched on Bejpara in Jashore town. At least 200 Hindu families live there. Local residents say at around 9:15 that night 20 to 25 persons carrying cleavers and sticks launched an attack there. They damaged and looted houses.

Lakshmi Rani Paul lives with her parents at the ground floor of Paresh Basu’s house in Banani Road of Bejpara. Her sewing machine is her only means of earning. Eye-witnesses way the attackers broke open the front door of the house and snatched away her sewing machine, their stove, the gas cylinder and the jewelry of her brother’s newly-wed bride from the wardrobe.

A visit to Lakshmi Rani’s house on 6 August saw no one was home. Lakshmi Basu, wife of the homeowner Paresh Basu, told Prothom Alo, after the incident Lakshmi Rani Pal and members of their family went away from there.

The second largest attack was in Rangpur division. The minorities in Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat and Panchagarh districts of this division came under the most attack.

In various areas of Thakurgaon district 78 houses and business establishments of the minority were vandalized and set on fire. The Prothom Alo correspondent visited Thakurgaon Sadar and Baliadangi upazilas on 19 to 21 August and spoke to the affected people there. Speaking to Prothom Alo, Kamal Barman of the village Lauthuti in Shukanpukuri union of the Sadar upazila said suddenly some strangers launched an attack with sticks and crude firearms. They looted whatever they found in the houses.

The third highest amount of damage was done to houses, business establishments and houses of worship in Mymensingh division. Most of these attacks were carried out in Netrakona and Mymensingh districts. There were comparatively a lower number of attacks in Sherpur and Jamalpur.

At least 19 shops of the Hindu community, including Gayanath Mishtanna Bhandar, Durga Mishtanna Bhandar and Uttara Hotel, were looted and vandalised in Netrakona town.

A visit there on 23 August saw that the shops had resumed business. Before that, the local BNP leaders helped in recovering the stolen refrigerators, furniture and other goods. Owner of Uttara Hotel, Debshankar Roy, told Prothom Alo they opened up their shops again two days later after being reassured that there would be no further attacks.

In Rajshahi division, there were attacks on houses and business establishments, this being the fourth highest number of attacks. The most attacks in this division were in Rajshahi, Bogura and Naogaon districts.

In Rajshahi, members of the ethnic community came under attack too. On 5 August an attack was launched on the Pyarpur village of Mohanpur upazila in the district. Visiting the hill community village on 17 August, the Prothom Alo correspondent saw the roofs of many of the houses had been damaged. Three houses had been set on fire. A temple had been vandalised too.

Wiping away her tears, resident of the village Surji Rani told Prothom Alo, she, her husband and their daughter had jumped into the river to save themselves.

The attacks in Dhaka, Chattogram, Barishal and Sylhet were comparatively less. The attacks took place in Narsingdi, Faridpur, Rajbari and Tangail of Dhaka division; Barguna and Pirojpur of Barishal division; Chattogram, Noakhali and Khagrachhari of Chattogram division; and Maulvibazar and Sylhet of Sylhet division.

On 5 August a temple of Dhanuka Monsha Bari in Shariatpur of Dhaka district had been vandalized. The attack carried on for two to three hours. Later army personnel arrived on the spot and the attackers ran away.

General secretary of the Dhanuka Monsha Bari temple Gobinda Chakrabarty told Prothom Alo on 6 August, “We could not leave our homes in fear during the attack. The attackers had laid siege to our homes on all sides to attack, but the army personnel saved us.”

The members of the minority community say even in the areas where there were no attacks, the people were in fear. The fear has not abated.

 When asked about the attacks on the minority communities, Dhaka University's Emeritus Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury told Prothom Alo that given the chance, in Bangladesh the strong tend to persecute the weak, try to grab their property. But this time there was been a positive trend. Many have come forward to protect the minorities. This positive trend must be encouraged.

He said, "If a new Bangladesh is to be built, equal rights must be ensured for all, where there will be no differentiation based on religious or ethnic identity."

[Prothom Alo’s correspondents in the relevant districts and upazilas provided information for this report.]