Hindus fearful as carnage spreads to temples, households amid Bangladesh unrest

Several districts across the country saw attacks on businesses and households of religious minority groups, with at least two Hindu leaders being killed, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said.

Dhaka: A number of Hindu temples, households and businesses were vandalised, women assaulted and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with the Awami League party killed in violence in Bangladesh following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, community leaders claimed on Tuesday.

“We have compiled some incidents of the vandalisms in different parts of the country exposing the Hindu and other minority communities to anxiety,” Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council leader Kajol Debnath told PTI on the margins of a meeting of the group here.

According to the available information, two Hindu leaders, who were incidentally leaders of Hasina’s Awami League (AL) party, were killed in north-western Sirajganj and Rangpur, Debnath said, adding that the Council was still gathering more information.

Debnath said the attackers “plundered shops, temples and houses and assaulted Hindu women” while many were injured during the assaults amid the fast-paced political developments following the fall of Hasina's government.

A day after Hasina resigned and fled the country following massive protests against her government over quota in government jobs, violence that had started afresh over the weekend, continued overnight and led to a total of over 400 being killed since mid-July.

According to the Council leaders, the districts where religious minorities and their households or businesses were attacked are north-eastern Panchagarh, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bogura and Sirajganj; northern Sherpur and Kishoreganj; western Jashore, Magura and Narail, south-western Khulna, Patuakhali and Satkhira; central Narsingdi, Mymensingh and Tangail; north-western Lakkhipur, Feni and Chattogram, and north-eastern Habiganj.

“The situation is grave and Hindus are being continuously attacked across Bangladesh,” the Unity Council’s general secretary Rana Dasgupta said in a statement earlier.

“We urge the army to ensure security for the minorities and bring the perpetrators of the attack to book immediately,” he added.

Debnath, meanwhile, said they would come up with details on the attacks later Tuesday.

On Monday, an Indian cultural centre was vandalised by an unruly mob here in Dhaka and four Hindu temples suffered “minor” damages across the country.

The Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre located in Dhaka's Dhanmondi area was also damaged by the unruly mob, according to eyewitnesses. The Centre, a Cultural Centre of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations of India, has a library with over 21,000 books in the fields of Indian art, culture, politics, economics and fiction.