On October 18, Bangladeshi news media outlet Basherkella shared a video of a burning Hindu temple and accused Hindus of burning their own houses amidst violent attacks by Islamists against the minority population in several districts.
In the tweet, Basherkella wrote, “Some #Hindu of Pirganj Upazila of Rangpur ignite their own houses to malign about the non-sectarian image of #Bangladesh: locals say.” Notably, they tagged CJ Werleman, one of the most notorious anti-India and anti-Hindu fake news peddlers.
Rangpur violence
The radical Islamists in Bangladesh have continued their violence against the minority Hindu community for 5 days straight. In a fresh attack on Sunday (October 17), they carried out arson at a village and burnt 20 Hindu homes in Pirganj Upazila in the Rangpur Division of Bangladesh.
As per reports, Muslims in Jelepolli in Majipara had alleged that a Hindu man had posted ‘content dishonouring religion’ on Facebook. The frenzied mob of radical Islamists targeted three villages namely, Majhipara, Bottola and Hatibandha villages in Pirganj Upazila.
Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh
For over five days, houses and temples of the Hindu community in Bangladesh have been under the attack of radical Islamists. It started on October 12 when multiple incidents of idol vandalism took place ahead of Puja. The Durga idol of Sri Shamshaneshwar Shiva Vigraha Mandir was vandalized by Islamic extremists in the Firingibazar area in Chittagong, Bangladesh, on Sunday.
On October 14, it was reported that several other Puja pandals were vandalized. Videos of broken idols, demolished pandals and Moorti of Maa Durga being thrown in a pond emerged on social media platforms along with other videos of attacks on Hindus. On October 16, the ISKCON temple was attacked by a 400-500 strong Muslim mob. On October 17 and October 18, the attacks continued, and houses of Hindus were vandalized. Many were reported injured and some reported dead after the attacks.