Locals guard temples, houses after attack on Bidyadharpur Hindu community

The Bidyadharpur village is in Baksimoil Union of Mohonpur upazila, Rajshahi and the Mohanpur upazila central temple is located in this village. 95 Hindu families live around this temple. Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August, a group of people from a victory procession carried out attacks on this neighbourhood.

Members of the Hindu community said attacks carried out on 25 of their houses. The attackers struck everything with sticks during their march.

As the violence erupted, the village women fled to nearby fields in fear, while those who could not escape locked themselves inside their homes.

Since the incident, the residents of Vidyadharpur have been living in constant fear. Young men from the neighborhood have been remaining awake at night, guarding the temple, homes, and shops. In response to the situation, the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) accompanied by law enforcement officials visited the area on 14 August. The UNO assured the frightened Hindu community that there would be no further attacks.

Vidyadharpur village is located on the eastern side of the Rajshahi-Naogaon highway, about one kilometer south from the Mohonpur police station. A road leads into the village from the highway. The road of the Hindu community leads to the south.

The road of the east leads to the Muslim community.

While visiting the Hindu neighborhood on Wednesday, Prothom Alo correspondent spoke to two young men at the entrance to the village. When asked whether attacks were carried out on 5 August, Rakibul Islam, 20 and Akash, 18, claimed that nothing had happened in this village. Pointing to a broken shop, when asked when it was damaged, they said they did not know. However, a man sitting nearby quietly said, "It was broken on the day of the vandalism."

Residents of the Hindu neighborhood recounted that on the evening of 5 August at around 7:30 PM, a group of people armed with sticks entered their homes and began attacking. There was no electricity at the time. The attackers did not chant any slogans. They entered from one side of the Hindu neighborhood, vandalised for half an hour, and then left from the other side.

Sukumar Pramanik, 45, a teacher at Amrail High School in the upazila, was beaten up by the attackers when he tried to stop the attackers. One of his arms was broken. He underwent a surgery on his hand on Tuesday and was resting at home today, with a bandage on his left arm.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said, "In the evening of 5 August, after 7:30 PM, some boys from the village came to attack my house with sticks. I couldn't believe that these boys would attack me. The Hindu and Muslim villagers all respect me as a teacher. Whenever they see me, they greet me with salaam. I have good relations with everyone, and I help them in any way I can. It was my courage that led me to try to stop the attack."

"I asked them, 'Why are you doing this?' Two of my close friends were also in the procession. While they were trying to stop them, the boys attacked me with sticks. When I tried to defend myself with my hand, I received strike on my left arm. An X-ray at the hospital revealed that my arm was broken," Sukumar lamented.

The home of Shyamal Kumar, a teacher at Bhimnagar High School, was also attacked that day. The tin roof of his house was vandalized. Shyamal Kumar was not at home.

But his wife, Suchitra Rani, said, "When they tried to break the gate of our house, we were so scared inside that it felt like we were about to have a stroke."

The tin roof of the house belonging to Bobin Kumar Sarkar, a teacher at Mohonpur College, and his brother, Bipul Kumar Sarkar, was also vandalised. Two windows of the house and the pipes of the toilet were broken by sticks. Bipul Kumar Sarkar's wife, Poppy Rani Sarkar, said that they had locked the outer gate and stayed inside. The attackers tried but failed to break the door.

The glass windows of the house belonging to Bishwajit Pramanik were shattered, and their water tank was also destroyed. Two glass windows of Ashutosh Pramanik's house were also broken, one of which has been repaired. His wife said it cost them Tk 3,300 to repair just one window.

The roof of Upendra Pramanik's cattle shed was also vandalized. He made a shop by the side of the road, which was also attacked. Upendra’s wife, Arati Pramanik, said that the shop had not yet been stocked with goods when the attack occurred, leaving it damaged. They do not have courage to run the shop.

The attackers vandalised the glass windows of the house of Sudarshan Chandra Sarker. Sudarshan said that there were no men at home that day. The women locked themselves inside, and the attackers tried to break the door. When they failed, they smashed the glass windows and the electricity meter before leaving. Additionally, the glass windows of three of the houses belonging to Deepak Sarker were broken, and they remain unrepaired.

The veranda roof of Narayan Sarker's house, Ajit Sarker's shop, the veranda roofs of two houses belonging to Parshuram Pramanik, the veranda roof of Narayan Pramanik's house, the tin roof and toilet pipes of Sushen Pramanik's house, the window of Asit Kumar Sarker's house, and the window of Ratan Pramanik's house were all damaged by sticks. Some were broken, while others were bent and twisted.

The veranda roof of the house belonging to Binoy Pramanik was also damaged, and they have now covered it with plastic to keep out the rain.

The glass windows, kitchen roof, and ventilator of Avinash Saha's house were also broken. Avinash’s wife, Molina Saha, said that half of the house belongs to her brother-in-law, Nitai Chandra Saha. The glass windows of both houses were broken. During the attack, they locked themselves inside, and the attackers tried to break the door as well.

Ajit Sarkar’s tea shop, which was located by the roadside, was completely vandalized, with the roof and goods all destroyed.

At the Mohonpur police station, it was learned that none of the residents of Vidyadharpur's Hindu neighborhood had filed a case regarding the attack.

The officer-in-charge of the station, Haridas Mandal, visited the village and met Yunus Ali, the general secretary of the BNP's Maugachi union.

He said, "This is the manifestation of people's long-standing grievances."

When asked about the situation, Mohonpur's UNO Ayesha Siddika told Prothom Alo, "Around midnight on 14 August, I went to the central temple of Vidyadharpur village with law enforcement. The villagers were guarding the temple that night. I assured them that no such incident would occur in the village again.

"Later, in the afternoon on 16 August, I held a meeting with local leaders of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. Members of the Hindu community of Vidyadharpur village were also present. In front of them, the local leaders assured them that no such incident would occur again. They promised to take care of the matter. Since then, no such incidents have occurred in the village," the UNO added.