Hindus in Bangladesh attacked by 100 fundamentalists, mobs ransacked houses and temples
In Bangladesh’s Khulna district, a mob of extremists targeted the homes of more than 50 Hindus at the instigation of clerics. During this, the mob engulfed more than 10 temples and vandalized them fiercely. This incident is from Shiyali village of Rupsha Upazila of Khulna district of Bangladesh. The idols of temples were vandalized in Shiyali village. Along with this, there was fierce vandalism in shops and some houses of Hindu people. In this case, the police arrested 10 people on Sunday. It is said that hundreds of Muslim fundamentalists targeted Hindu temples and houses. At present, the police is emphasizing on maintaining peace and order in the area along with searching for the accused.
The incident took place in the afternoon, following which tension prevailed in the area and the authorities had to deploy additional police force. Locals said that at around 9 pm last night, a group of minority Hindu women devotees took out a religious pilgrimage. The journey was from Purba Para temple to Shiyali cremation ground. They had crossed a mosque on the way. During this, the Imam of the mosque protested the yatra by shouting. This led to a heated argument between Hindu devotees and Islamic clerics.
According to the police, at around 5.45 pm last evening, about a hundred attackers started sabotage with sharp weapons. During the violence, four temples were vandalized and one house was vandalized. Simultaneously, six shops belonging to the Hindu community were vandalized in Shiyali village. More than a hundred Muslims attacked with sharp weapons. They ransacked the medicine shop, grocery store, tea shop in the market.
When the Hindus tried to intervene, they were beaten up and badly injured. Before the villagers could unite, the accused youths had fled from the spot. A police team of Superintendent of Police (SP), Additional SP also reached the spot. SP (Khulna) Mehboob Hassan said that police teams have been deployed in the area and the situation in Shiyali village is under control. He said that the police is coordinating with the local people in this matter.
