Bangladesh violence: The violence on post-unrest Bangladesh's Hindu minorities continues unabated as a house belonging to a Hindu family was burnt down by arsonists on Tuesday night in Farabari Mandirpara village located in Thakurgaon district. This comes as at least 278 attacks on Hindus have been reported since Sheikh Hasina's ouster on August 5.
Subrata Kumar Barman, chairman of Akcha Union Parishad, told The Daily Star that unidentified individuals set fire to Kaleshwar Barman's house around 7:30 pm on Tuesday. Fortunately, locals quickly responded and managed to control the fire, and the house's occupants were able to escape unharmed.
"Police visited the spot the same night, and an investigation is ongoing to identify the perpetrators," said ABM Firoz Waheed, Officer-in-Charge of Thakurgaon Police Station. A similar incident happened a few days earlier in Nimbari Kamarpara village of the same union, where Ananta Barman's house was burned down, leaving all valuables destroyed.
Hindu families living in fear
Rabin Roy, a resident of Farabari, said people from the Hindu community are living in fear after these incidents started following the fall of the former government. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance claimed that the minority community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5 and termed it as an “assault on the Hindu religion.”
Thakurgaon district is the same place from where hundreds of Hindus had tried to unsuccessfully cross over to India – the India-Bangladesh border running along the northwestern edge – on August 6 and 7 after the fall of Sheikh Hasina. Hindus, who make up about 8% of Bangladesh's population of 170 million, have traditionally supported Hasina's Awami League party.
Several protests have been held across Bangladesh, demanding a halt in attacks on Hindus. Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus paid a visit to the historic Dhakeshwari Temple in the capital on Tuesday, where he assured minorities in Bangladesh of their safety and security in the country.
What did Yunus say about attacks on Hindus?
"Rights are equal for everyone. We are all one people with one right. Do not make any distinctions among us. Please, assist us. Exercise patience, and later judge -- what we were able to do and not. If we fail, then criticise us," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Star. "In our democratic aspirations, we should not be seen as Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, but as human beings. Our rights should be ensured. The root of all problems lies in the decay of institutional arrangements."
The rampant attacks on the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh following massive protests over government job quotas has evoked global concern. A number of Hindu temples, households and businesses were vandalised, women assaulted and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with the Awami League party headed by Hasina were killed in the violence in Bangladesh after she fled the country, according to community leaders in Dhaka.
Yunus had earlier called the attacks on the minority communities 'heinous' and urged the protesting students to protect all Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist families from harm. He reached out to the agitating and urged them not to let their efforts be sabotaged by those seeking to undermine their progress.
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