Sectarian violence in Bangladesh: Who will bell the cat?

SALEEM SAMAD

Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of the Hindu Christian Buddhist Unity Council lamented that for 50 years of Bangladesh‘s independence “when there is change of political scenarios, when an anti-government movement is held, 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, when an independent newspaper Prothom Alo sought his reaction to the 1068 houses and business establishments attacked during the Monsoon Revolution, he said that it is not just a matter of numbers. If one house is attacked, people from 10 other houses are in panic.

Prothom Alo in a damning investigation report on a private survey during the period from 5 to 20 August, regarding the number of Hindu homes vandalised, business establishments looted and temples desecrated all over Bangladesh.

The recent attacks on Hindu communities allegedly by radicalised Sunni Muslims who have political colours have irked the secularist, human rights and civil society groups and seriously embarrassed the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’s nascent Interim Government.

The vandalism, arson and plundering occurred hours after the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina was ousted on 5 August. There was the absence of policing as the law enforcement officers fled their posts in fear of retaliation from the angry protesters.

Well, the social media and the Indian mainstream media ran rife with misinformation, and fake news around the heart-rendering occurrences. The social media warriors and Indian media continued trumping up death figures and fake footage was shown of bloody persecution, which was trashed by several fact-checkers in both India and Bangladesh.

Well, Prothom Alo is one of the few daily newspapers which have systematically reported on the carnage of religious minorities, since Sheikh Hasina swung into power in 2009.

During the 15 years of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, every week, every month, each year, hundreds of incidents occurred which tarnished the social fabric of secularism and religious tolerance.

Previously the minority community came under a major attack during the rule of the Awami League government in 2021 during Durga Puja. The Council had protested and said that from 13 October to 1 November, 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.

Unfortunately, for not a single occurrence of sectarian violence, Hasina’s government did not punish the perpetrators. This has raised doubts about the colour of the perpetrators, who are hooligans from the Awami League, according to human rights, civil society and some newspaper reports. Therefore the perpetrators enjoyed impunity for a crime they have committed.

Why that is so, the Awami League regime has always blamed the attacks, persecution, vandalism and desecration of places of worship of not only Hindus but also Christians, Buddhists, Adivasis (ethnic communities) and even the Muslim sect Ahmadiyya were not spared.

Well, Ahmadiyya Muslims are deemed heretics by the Sunni Muslims and even liberal Muslims. Past regimes have remained silent to officially declare Ahmadiyya are not Muslims. In Pakistan, the Muslim sect is banned by the Islamic Republic nation.

On 9 August, a large number of Hindu community held banners and chanted slogans condemning the violence targeting the country’s minorities during a protest at Shahbag Square, Dhaka,

Prothom Alo correspondents meticulously conducted investigations from 5 to 20 August and found evidence of at least 1,068 houses and business establishments of the minority community being damaged and other temples being desecrated.

Most of the attacks took place in the country’s south-western region of 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.

Most attacks in Khulna region, followed by Jashore, Satkhira and Magura. The second largest attack was in the Rangpur division. The minorities in Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat and Panchagarh districts of this division came under the most attack.

The third highest amount of damage was done to houses, business establishments and houses of worship in the Mymensingh division. Most of these attacks were carried out in Netrakona and Mymensingh districts.

In the 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.

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.

Several local community leaders stated that even in the areas where there were no attacks, the people were in fear.

After the fall of the government, there has been news of two members of the minority community being killed in these attacks. 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 preliminary compilation of the Bangladesh Hindu Christian Buddhist Unity Council report on 20 August, over 200 attacks took place in over 50 districts. The attacks, vandalism and loot are much higher than understood.

However, among the 1,068 houses and business establishments attacked, at least half of those occurrences, an estimated 506 had an affiliation with the Awami League.

The findings of investigations by Prothom Alo‘s correspondents, that violence in the Hindu community occurred in 49 districts, out of 64 districts.

Prothom Alo reports that the Christian and Ahmadiyya Muslim communities and ethnic minorities were also attacked. According to the Bangladesh Christian Association, there were attacks on the Church of Bangladesh in Naogaon, the Evangelica Holiness Church in Dinajpur, an office of the Christian Cooperative Credit Union in Madanpur of Narayanganj, and homes of three Christians in Gournadi of Barishal, one in Khulna city, one on Haluaghat of Mymensingh, and one in Parbatipur. A statue of Mother Mary was vandalised in the Nijpara Mission in Thakurgaon.

Archbishop Bijoy Nicephorus D’Cruze of the Roman Catholic Church in Dhaka, told Prothom Alo, “That is unfortunate. We want to live in this country peacefully regardless of caste and creed. However, the attackers are not identified and they are not punished.” He said that those involved in the attacks must be identified. The perpetrators must be tried, which will stop sectarian violence.

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.

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 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 an apolitical community and are not partisan. The hooligans had targeted Ahmadiyyas, taking advantage of the fact that the law enforcement was not active.” He said that they had come under attack during the rules of previous regimes of BNP and Awami League too.”

From 6 August, the violence significantly subsided after initiatives were taken by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as students and social organisations began to guard the houses, business establishments and places of worship of the minority community. Several political parties, rights groups and civil society issued statements condemning the attacks.

On 13 August, Dr Muhammad Yunus held a meeting with representatives of Hindu organisations including the Hindu Christian Buddhist Unity Council.

Dr Yunus visited the historic Dhakeswari Temple and 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, and the question of divisions will not arise. We are the people of Bangladesh, Bangladeshis.”

Dhaka University’s Emeritus Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury told Prothom Alo that given the chance, in Bangladesh the strong tend to persecute the weak and try to grab their property. But this time there has been a positive trend. Many have come forward to protect the minorities. This positive trend must be encouraged.

“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,” he remarked.

First published in the Northeast News, Guwahati, India on 13 September 2024

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

Chasing an uproar in Bangladesh

Rioters incinerates ISKON temple at Chowmuhani, Noakhali

SALEEM SAMAD

“To resume regular puja (prayer) for the devotees will take time, as mobsters have desecrated the temples. Only a few priests have the knowledge and wisdom to purify the holy sites.”

An outraged devotee Arun Kanti Saha with the venerated Ram Takur Ashram in Chowmuhani, Noakhali told a post-violence joint civil administration, police and ruling Awami League meeting.

When the Noakhali police chief urged upon the leaders of temple management committees and Hindi leaders, Saha declined to open up the temples for regular prayers for devotees.

The priest and committee members denied removing the debris and restoring the vandalised temples. The temple’s committee was not eager to purify the sacred places which were made unholy by armed hooligans who entered wearing sandals, shoes and deliberately spitting inside the prayer halls for their hate and anger against the Hindus.

Tons of debris of broken glass, smashed furniture, cooking utensils and of course, the vandalised deities have been kept as it is for the visiting civil society teams to witness the rage and fury of the violence.

The district civil and police administrations were desperate to return to normalcy in the towns and devotees are back to regular Puja.

It began after a Facebook post of a photo of a Quran (Holy Scripture of Islam) found on the lap (or feet) of the Hanuman deity at temporary Nanua Digirpar Durga Puja mandap (pavilion for public rituals) on Ashtami (eighth day), 13 October.

Hours later, thousands of Islamic vigilantes and bigots took to the streets in Cumilla, east of the capital Dhaka. The mobsters armed with metal bars, machetes, batons, bamboo sticks and construction hammers were hurled abuses against the Hindu religion and community – addressing them as ‘malayun’ (traitors).

Well, the Sunni Muslim’s faint interpretation of the Quran describes the Hindus [Quran names only Christians, Jews and Pagans] as Kafir’s (who has rejected the tenets of Islam).

Likewise, the Jews and Christens are also bracketed as enemies of Islam.

Middle-aged Achintya Das Tito, is secretary of the Cumilla Mahanagar (metropolitan) Puja Committee was woken up from slumber in the early morning by an officer of a police station.

He rushed to the Nanua Digirpar Puja site and was debriefed on the recovery of a copy of the Quran from the mandap. For safekeeping, the police officer kept the divine book under his armpit.

Moments later the copy of the Quran found at Hanuman deity’s lap or feet and photos of the holy book under the armpit of the officer became viral on Facebook, describing that the Hindus have committed blasphemy and insulted the sentiment of the Muslims. Muslims were urged to protest and punish the Hindus.

After five days the perpetrator was arrested for posting on Facebook. Within a few hours, hundreds of frenzy mobsters ransacked the mandap, smashed the Durga and Hanuman deities. The vigilantes paraded the streets and attacked several temples and business centres owned by Hindus for several hours while the police and administrator remained mute bystanders. Often scores of Islamic evangelists in ‘Waz-Mehfil’ spewed hatred against the Hindus, not to speak of disparagement the Christians, Buddhists and Ahmadiyya Muslims [like in Pakistan, the Mullahs term the sect as a heretic].

Also in the line of fire were the millions of liberal Muslims who remain defenders of secularism, pluralism, freedom of expression, religious freedom and gender equality are bracketed as ‘Murtad’ (apostate). The hate-mongers have millions of followers on their YouTube channels and term the Hindus as enemies of Islam.

Maulana Abdul Awal Khan Chowdhury, National Amir of Ahmadiyya Jamaat, Bangladesh argues that blasphemy was not practised during Prophet Muhammad’s tenure. The Quran prohibits hatred against other religions, faith or ethnicity, Chowdhury said. But Sunni Muslims cite the controversial Sharia law that has sanctioned action against the infidel. Videos by Islamic evangelists vomiting unlimited hate speech were never prosecuted and the channels in YouTube were not blocked by telecom watchdog.

Hardly were they charged under the repressive Digital Security Act, 2018, when thousands of netizens (social media citizens), journalists, opposition and critics were slammed with the draconian cybercrime law and many are languishing in prison.

On 30 October 2016, after a Facebook post attributed to an illiterate Hindu fisherman, hundreds of religious zealots launched a coordinated attack on six villages inhabited by Hindus in Nasirnagar, Brahmanbaria. Several  Hindus were often arrested for fake Facebook posts and hurting the feelings of Muslims. Fake posts on social media are often engineered by Islamic bigots backed by masterminds who have a political colour of the ruling party launch sectarian violence.

The phenomenon of the majoritarian Sunni Muslim is to dominate the society, religious minorities and Adivasis (ethnic communities). Besides the Muslims, 12.73 million of the population are Hindus (8.5%), the rest are Buddhists, Christians and ethnic communities.

The Hindus are visible minorities in cities and towns in Bangladesh. In the villages, they are mainly artisans, fisherfolk and traders. The zealot’s soft targets are the temples, Hindu neighbourhoods and their businesses in commercial districts and markets. The onus of the security and welfare of the minorities obviously rests upon the majoritarian. The Muslims take a large slice of the state and politics. Thus, the state governed by the ruling party will have to shield the minorities and provide protection, security and safety.

Several human rights and citizen’s groups, after visiting the recent spate of racial violence in Cumilla, Noakhali, Chandpur, Bhola and Dinajpur, concluded that it was a failure of civil administration, police, political parties (including opposition) and civil society to protect the Hindus.

But Prof Robaet Ferdous of Dhaka University, an outspoken defender of religious freedom after touring the strife-torn areas, differs. “It’s not only the local administration, police and ruling party’s failure to protect the Hindus, but I see the collapse of the society during a national crisis, which contradicts the legacy of the glorious liberation war in 1971 which promised to establish secularism, pluralism and freedom of expression in Bangladesh.” On its 50th independence anniversary Bangladesh transgressed from the pledge, he lamented.

Sangita Ghosh, a filmmaker and defender of secularism said the scars from the wounds of racial hatred will not heal unless the perpetrators are brought to justice. Unfortunately, in 20 years none of the perpetrators was prosecuted for hate crime. The victims never received adequate compensation for breaking their hearts and trusts, she bemoaned.

The sectarian violence has caused a global uproar, including in the international media and has dented the image of Bangladesh. This, rather sadly, comes at a time when the country has made significant strides in economic development, women’s empowerment and gained an international appreciation for achievements in SDG Goals.

First published in the International Affairs Review, 20 November 2021

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist and columnist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter: @saleemsamad