On Friday (July 22), Hindus in Bangladesh held a peaceful demonstration in the Chittagong Division against the recent atrocities committed in Narail and the increase in targeted attacks by Islamists.
Bangladesh news agency, Hindu Sangbad, tweeted, “A protest march is held today in Chittagong against the barbaric attacks on Hindus in #Narail, Bangladesh and the ongoing killing of Hindu teachers and rape of Hindu women.”
In a video shared by the news agency, the Hindus were seen demanding justice for the victims of the Narail attack. They were seen marching peacefully with torches and banners and raising slogans in unison.
Amidst the targeted attacks on the Hindu community, the Bangladesh National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called upon the country’s Home Ministry to intervene and prevent persecution of religious minorities.
Despite this, none of the culprits involved in the Narail attack was arrested. “The state is responsible for failing to stop this growing communal mindset in society. When perpetrators go unpunished despite attacking the Hindu community time and again, it only encourages the fundamentalists,” read a report in The Daily Star.
Bangladesh: The Narail attack case
On July 15 this year, a Muslim mob vandalised a temple, a grocery store and several houses belonging to members of the Hindu community in the Sahapara area of Lohagara, Narail.
Following the Friday prayers (Jumma Namaz), the extremists attacked properties belonging to the Hindu community. They claimed that an 18-year-old Hindu college student named Akash Saha has hurt their religious sentiments through a Facebook post.
Under the pretext of blasphemy, the vicious mob set out to destroy the livelihood of the 108 Hindu families. According to an ex-member of Dighalia Union Parishad, Beauty Rani, a large number of Hindus have left the Sahapara village after the onslaught by Islamists.
”Almost all houses are locked. Only the elders of some families are home. They too are scared,” she informed. Rani lamented, “When we were being attacked, the police were there. They were watching from a distance and no one came to our rescue. The police can no longer be trusted and that is why people are leaving the village.”
One of the victims of the dastardly attack was 62-year-old Deepali Rani, whose house was burnt down in front of her eyes. “After one group looted all our valuables, another group came and found our door open. As there was nothing left to loot, they set our home on fire,” she told The Daily Star.
Deepali Rani is not related to Akash Saha in a way. Despite this, her shelter was not spared by the Islamist mob. “Only because the student is Hindu and I too am Hindu, my house was burnt down,” she emphasised.
The 62-year-old stated, “I don’t know how long this threat of violence will haunt us. Who will give us justice? Who will give us security? … If I were in the house while they set it on fire, I would have died. God saved me. But is this any way to survive? All I have now is the sari on my body.”