Here is another report on the attacks on minority in BD. The picture is enough to say what went on to these families.
A sin for 'em to live here?
Hindus in Noakhali, Banskhali look for answer after attack by Jamaat
Having lost everything, Nipu Sheel wails sitting on the debris of her house that was set ablaze by Jamaat-Shibir men at Banshkhali in Chittagong. The religious fanatics looted and torched houses and temples of the Hindus in the district on Thursday, following the death sentence to Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee. Photo: Anurup Kanti DasThe minority communities witnessing an onslaught of attack and arson by anti-liberation elements wonder what protection they have in this country.
As Hindu families in some of the remote pockets of Banshkhali in Chittagong and Rajganj in Noakhali try hard to come to terms with Thursday's barbaric attacks on their homesteads and places of worships, there is no let-up in assaults in other places including Barisal, Bagerhat and Gazipur.
Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad, meanwhile, demanded the government act immediately to resist communal attacks, arrest the culprits, rehabilitate the victims and rebuild the temples.
Moments after Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee received death sentence for war crimes, his party and its student wing Shibir, in some cases allegedly aided by BNP supporters, attacked the minorities on Thursday chanting slogans decrying the verdict.
Visiting the minority neighbourhoods, ravaged by the anti-liberation elements, these correspondents encountered many helpless blank looks and despairs from among the community members.
Passing three days under the open sky, without sleep and proper food, yet the families in Rajganj do not know how long they will have to go through such harrowing situation and what lies ahead.
"It is our sin to live in this country being Hindu; it is our sin not to flee away," Minoti Rani Das was shouting. "We had a happy family. Now I have no shed, no food, no space to cook, no furniture. Now I have only some ashes."
This is not only Minoti's story. Around seventy six families have been living inhumane life since Thursday afternoon as religious bigots unleashed havoc over them after the pronouncement of Sayedee verdict.
While millions of compatriots were celebrating the victory over the verdict across the country, some families were losing everything.
Almost all the victim families and some other villagers alleged that Jamaat, Shibir and BNP were directly involved in the attacks.
At least 40 houses, six temples and several dozen shops were burnt and vandalised at Rajganj under Begumganj upazila of Noakhali. Valuables and furniture were looted from Hindu dormitories.
Police came at least one and half hours latter when it was all over.
While launching attacks, the rioters numbering around 250 to 300 were saying Sayedee was sentenced to death because of the deposition of Hindu witnesses, said most of the victim families. The number of attackers varied from spot to spot.
"Sayedee got death sentence because of you. You cannot stay in this country," Bablu Bhuiyan, whose two houses were vandalised, quoted one of the attackers as saying.
Gathered since around 10:00am, the fanatics were chanting slogans including Sayedee saheber kicchu hole, jolbe agun ghore ghore (fire will be set to each and every house, if something happens to Sayedee).
They were also chanting anti-tribunal and anti-government slogans, said almost all the victims. Many of the attackers wore masks.
Abdul Hashem, a tea-stall owner of Rajganj Bazaar, said almost all the attackers were young and he could identify at least three persons who are actively involved with Jamaat. One of them runs a pharmacy and another a grocery shop at the same bazaar.
During the attack many Hindu families took shelter in nearby houses of Muslims. "We managed to survive by hiding at our Muslim neighbour's," said Benu Ranjan Chowdhury, whose house was burnt and furniture was looted.
Seeking anonymity, some victims alleged activists of main the opposition BNP were also involved in the attacks.
Harunur Rashid, the chairman of Rajganj union parishad and also general secretary of local BNP unit, played a murky role, claimed some victims.
"Had the chairman taken immediate steps, the mayhem wouldn't have occurred in such massive scale," said Bimol Kanti Acharjee, one of the victims.
However, the chairman denied the allegations of Jamaat-BNP involvement, saying, "The attack was launched by some outsiders and street urchins."
Jamaat-e-Islami also denied the allegations. Mohammad Alauddin, acting ameer of Noakhali district Jamaat, said, "The fans of Sayedee might have resorted to violence. Besides, it is also possible that a feud over land was behind the incidents. I have also heard that there was rivalry among some victim families and others."
Md Mahbubur Rashid, Noakhali superintendent of police, said, "It is clear to us that the anti-liberation force launched the attack. Maximum punishment for perpetrators will be ensured."
Like Rajganj, Chittagong's Banshkhali also bears marks of vandalism and arson allegedly by Jamaat-Shibir men, who chanted slogans denouncing the Sayedee verdict.
The attackers torched several houses at Dhopapara. They also beat up the people living in the houses. They hacked to death 60-year-old Dayal Hari, said locals.
Dayal had come to see his daughter at her in-law's. As the armed bigots started the rampage, he took shelter at the latrine outside the house.
But they broke open the door of latrine, dragged him out and hacked him. He somehow jumped into the adjacent pond but the attackers caught him and hacked him again.
He was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital where physicians declared him dead, said Palashi Sheel, a local woman.
Sunil, another Banshkhali resident, said some one thousand attackers stormed the houses. They carried machete, sticks and other sharp weapons and used gunpowder to burn eight houses, abode for seventy people.
The families of seventy people are now passing their days in open sky.
Nipu Sheel, another woman, did not understand why her house and the cowshed were burnt to ashes on Thursday. She was seen wailing near charred remains of Loknath Temple.
"They beat us and set our houses ablaze," she said. "We didn't understand what's was wrong. They also looted all of our belongings. The cattle of the cowshed were burnt to death. We were lucky enough to have our little kids saved."
Rani Dash is one of the several injured; her right arm was broken in the attack.
Sheikh Fakhruddin Chowdhury, mayor of Banshkhali Municipality, the mayhem was carried out at the instigation of local BNP-Jamaat leaders.
In Bagerhat, a temple and houses of two Hindu Awami League men in Morelganj upazila of the district came under attack early yesterday.
Officer-in-Charge Aslam Hossain of Morelganj Police Station said miscreants set fire to Dumuria Sarbojanin Puja Mandir in Ramchandrapur union around 1:00am.
Some criminals also burned down the house of Narayanchandra Bashu Chowdhury, president of Banagram union AL unit, around the same time, the OC said.
Bashu alleged local BNP men might have set the fire for political gain.
OC Aslam said another house of a Hindu community people was torched around the same time at Baharbula village in the same union, the police official said.
Local administration imposed a ban on all sort of gathering and agitation at Failahat Bazar at Rampal upazila from 9:00am to 6:00pm yesterday as both local AL and Jamaat called programme at the spot around 2:00pm.
In Barisal, unidentified miscreants on early Saturday damaged and torched eight idols of Devi Durga and her associates at Sarabojonin Durga Mandir of Boradi-Garangal village under Nalchira union of Gaurnadi upazila in Barisal.
President of the Mandir committee lodged a case in this connection without mentioning any name of accused, said OC Abul Kalam Azad of Gaurnadi Police Station.
Unidentified people vandalised idol of Saraswati at a temple near Kashimpur Bazar in Gazipur yesterday.
In Gaibandha, police arrested three Shibir activists yesterday in connection with anarchy over the last two days in Sunderganj upazila.
The attackers destroyed 19 shops, six houses and two temples at Belka, Dhupni and Bangsher bazaar in Thursday and Friday.
With the section 144 imposed, the administration deployed two platoons of BGB and one platoon reserve force of police to avert any further untoward incident.
��" Pankaj Karmakar and Nurul Amin
from Noakhali and Arun Bikash Dey, from Banshkhali
From: subimal chakrabarty <subimal@yahoo.com>
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2013 6:56 PM
Subject: [RHYTHM-GROUP] Hindus under attack: Jamat-Shibir following same tactic as Pakistanin ocuupation army used in 1971
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2013 6:56 PM
Subject: [RHYTHM-GROUP] Hindus under attack: Jamat-Shibir following same tactic as Pakistanin ocuupation army used in 1971
The charred remains of a house burnt by Jamaat-Shibir men in Noakhali yesterday. Photo: Banglar ChokhLashing a déjà vu of 1971, Jamaat-Shibir fanatics yesterday wrecked havoc on the Hindu community across the country.
They damaged at least six temples, including one of Buddhists, and torched houses and business establishments of Hindu people in Noakhali, Gaibandha, Chittagong, Rangpur, Sylhet, Chapainawabganj and elsewhere in the country.
In Rajganj of Noakhali, Jamaat-Shibir men set ablaze a temple and eight houses of the Hindu community.
They also traded bullets with law enforcers in Datterhat under Sadar Police Station and in Rajganj under Begumganj Police Station, leaving two people killed. The deceased were identified as Khokon, 17, a pickup van assistant, and Liton (28), a fish monger, reports our Noakhali correspondent.
The Jamaat-Shibir men also looted a jewellery shop owned by one Biplob Sarkar at Chandraganj Purbo Bazar in Begumganj.
Witnesses and police said hours after top Jamaat leaders Delawar Hossain Sayedee had been sentenced to death, the marauding activists equipped with firearms, iron rods and kerosene set fire to Harishiva temple in Rajganj market area at 3:30pm.
"They returned an hour later and this time we had no choice but to flee the area. They set eight houses on fire with kerosene," schoolteacher Shankar Chandra, who lost his house in the attack, told The Daily Star over the phone.
Some 50 Hindu people used to live in the houses burnt down, he said, adding that all but a few people had managed to escape to safety. Those left behind had been beaten up and kicked out of their houses by the Jamaat-Shibir attackers.
"We ran for our lives leaving everything behind. I was only seven during the Liberation War in 1971, but it didn't feel this insecure even then," said Shankar Chandra.
During the attack, the Jamaat-Shibir men also threatened newsmen to keep from covering the incident and took away cameras of photojournalists. They also forcefully picked up television crew Mohtasim Billah Sabuj. Locals later rescued Sabuj and took him to safety.
Assistant Police Superintendent (ASP) of Begumganj circle Mahbub Alam told The Daily Star that informed of the arson, police and firefighters had reached Rajganj around 5:00pm. Police had a hard time containing the violence in the area, as Jamaat-Shibir men had outnumbered the law enforcers.
When police tried to bring the situation under control, an exchange of gunshots between the attackers and law enforcers took place. Fish monger Liton died in the incident, said the ASP.
Almost at the same time, another group of Jamaat-Shibir men clashed and traded gunfire with police at Datterhat area leaving Khokon bullet-hit. He was declared dead when taken to Sadar hospital.
CHITTAGONG
Jamaat-Shibir men attacked two Hindu dominated localities at Jaldi union of Banshkhali upazila and set ablaze a Buddhist temple at Satkania upazila of the district yesterday.
Jamaat-Shibir men attacked two Hindu dominated localities at Jaldi union of Banshkhali upazila and set ablaze a Buddhist temple at Satkania upazila of the district yesterday.
They set fire to houses at Dhopapara and Mohajonpara of the union and attacked people with sticks, iron rods and sharp weapons, said Inspector Md Shahjahan of Banshkhali Police Station.
Two people had been critically wounded in the attack, said the inspector, adding that the injured had been undergoing treatment at upazila health complex.
Jamaat-Shibir men also set ablaze three shops belonging to Hindu people at Kaliaish union of Satkania upazila, Additional Superintendent (South) Md Iltutmish of Chittagong Metropolitan Police.
GAIBANDHA
Rioters of Jamaat-e-Islami and student body Islamic Chhatra Shibir attacked a temple and business establishments belonging to Hindus at Bhelkobazar in Sundarganj upazila of the district yesterday afternoon.
Rioters of Jamaat-e-Islami and student body Islamic Chhatra Shibir attacked a temple and business establishments belonging to Hindus at Bhelkobazar in Sundarganj upazila of the district yesterday afternoon.
Later in the evening, they swooped on and vandalised some houses in Shovaganj union.
Meanwhile, Hindu community leaders last night told The Daily Star that vandalism, arson and looting took place in temples, houses and business establishments of Hindu people in Sylhet, Rangpur, Thakurgaon, Laxmipur and Chapainawabganj.
According to them, attackers had vandalised the central Kali temple at Mithapukur upazila in Rangpur and another at Kansat in Chapainawabganj.
"We are observing the situation. So far we have heard they had attacked and vandalised temples, houses and business establishments belonged to Hindu people at least in 10 districts," said Nirmal Chatterjee, secretary general of Dhaka Mahanagar Puja Committee.
"We have informed law enforcers of the situation and sought security to the Hindu community," he added.
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