Attack on bbaria hindus
Nasirnagar OC withdrawn
Indian HC official visits site
STAFF REPORTER
The officer-in-charge of Nasirnagar police station has been withdrawn on administrative grounds four days after attacks on the Hindu community in Brahmanbaria district. This move followed demands from different quarters blaming police negligence for the vandalism, which, they maintain, could have been prevented if the law enforcers and the administration had taken swift action.
Nothing can be said right now about the withdrawal of OC Abdul Kader. But he has been withdrawn on administrative grounds, Brahmanbaria police super Mizanur Rahman told TheIndependent yesterday. He said they were taking a close look at the incident to take action against those involved in the attacks on Hindu houses and the ransacking of several temples.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a group of human rights activists, the Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad and others visited the area yesterday. They said the incident was pre-planned and demanded a judicial inquiry to bring the perpetrators to justice.
A 10-member delegation of the Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad, led by its general secretary Rana Dasgupta, visited the area and later held a rally at the Nasirnagar Gour Temple.
Dasgupta said the attack in Nasirnagar was not an isolated incident but a pre-planned one. There are about 4,000 Hindu voters in this area. Where is the peoples representative, who has been elected by their votes? He did not come to the area even four days after the incident, he added.
He told local Hindu residents, If the local MP comes to you, show him black flags.
About the compensation, Dasgupta said, We refuse the compensations of Tk. 5,000, Tk. 10,000 or Tk. 20,000. We demand a judicial inquiry led by a Supreme Court judge.
Human rights activist Sultan Kamal also visited the place and demanded a judicial probe into the incident. The role of the police and the administration has been questionable. If a probe committee is formed, the truth will be revealed, she said.
The attacks were pre-planned. Those who carry out such attacks always wait for an opportunity, she added.
About the role of the police and the administration, Sultana Kamal said, Everybody knows who had given the permission to hold rallies and who had held rallies before the attack. Why is action not being taken against them?
She also said that there was corruption in every nook and corner of the police and the administration.
Besides, another team of the NHRC, led by Enamul Haque Chowdhry, visited Nasirnagar and talked to the affected Hindu families. Members of the team said that the attack on Hindu families and vandalism at Hindu temples was deliberate and aimed at grabbing land belonging to the minority community.
There is similarity between this attack on the Hindu community of Nasirnagar and those in 1971. The role of the police and the administration has been questionable. Why did they allow rallies to be held before the attack? Enamul Haque told reporters.
He said Ahle Sunnat and Touhidi Janata were behind the attack.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Indian high commission, led by its first secretary Rajesh Uike, visited the area and met the affected families.
On Sunday, several hundred people had vandalised a number of Hindu temples and ransacked nearly a hundred houses, leaving at least 20 people injured, including several Hindu priests, over the allegation that a Facebook post by a Hindu youth had insulted the holy Kaaba, the most sacred place in Islam.
