'30-minute violence left them completely helpless'
Some 67 Hindu families witnessed a destruction for 30 minutes on Sunday night. Houses were torched and vandalised. Cattle, money, gold, electronics and other properties were looted. Temples, grocery shops, battery-run auto-rickshaws were set ablaze.
en.prothomalo.com
'30-minute violence left them completely helpless'
Ariful Haque
Altaf Hossain
Rangpur
Published: 20 Oct 2021, 01:53
Nanda Rani wails while mob burns her house in Boro Karimpur area in Majhipara village of Rangpur’s Pirganj upazila on Sunday night. Moinul Islam
Boro Karimpur area locates to Majhipara village of Rangpur’s Pirganj upazila. Surrounded by green paddy field, there are 100 houses, and about 67 Hindu families live there. Almost everyone is fisherman. Their financial condition is nearly same. There are a few people of lower income bracket while the remaining ones are extremely poor.
These 67 families witnessed destruction for 30 minutes on Sunday night. Houses were torched and vandalised. Cattle, money, gold, electronic items and other properties were looted. Temples, grocery shops, battery-run auto-rickshaws were set ablaze.
After the attacks began on Sunday night, men, women and children narrowly escaped with their lives and took shelter in nearby paddy fields and bamboo woods and they had stayed there for whole night.
They returned home after police and Rapid Action Battalion personnel made announcement through hand mikes on Monday morning, requesting them to return. As they arrived, they found their houses turned into a pile of debris.
Temples, puja mandaps and businesses of Hindu community have come under attacks in various places of the country following the alleged desecration of holy Quran in Cumilla on 13 October.
The latest attacks on Hindus’ homes took place in Majhipara village of Pirganj upazila’s Ramnathpur union on Sunday night.
According to police, witnesses and villagers, a tension prevailed in Majhipara village on Sunday after allegations surfaced a youth from another area of the village made a defamatory post on religion in social media platform Facebook.
After that, police beefed up security to the youth’s house and its adjoining area on Sunday night. Hundreds of angry people then attacked another Hindu settlement in Boro Karimpur in other side of the village.
Following the incident, Border Guard Bangladesh along with police and RAB have been deployed in Majhipara since Monday. Tension prevailed in the area. Police on Monday evening said two cases were filed accusing more than 500 people. Nearly 45 people were arrested.
Ranagpur superintendent of police Biplab Kuram Sarkar told Prothom Alo no attacker would be spread. Like the Pakistani occupation forces, the perpetrators attacked homes, looted and set houses and properties on fire. The arrestees are being interrogated and each one of them who carried out such destruction would be brought to book, he added.
BRAC to help Pirganj Hindu families rebuild their houses
The Hindu families in Pirganj of Rangpur will get assistance from Brac to rebuild their houses torched on Sunday night by a group of miscreants over a Facebook post.
en.prothomalo.com
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