A mob has damaged 66 houses and set on fire at least 20 homes of Hindus in Bangladesh over an alleged blasphemous social media post amidst protests by the minority community against temple vandalism incidents during the Durga Puja celebrations last week, authorities
The arson attack happened late on Sunday on a village in Rangpur district’s Pirgonj upazila, about 255 km from Dhaka, the bdnews24.com reported.
The police rushed to a fishermen neighbourhood as tension mounted over a rumor that a young Hindu man of the village had ‘dishonoured religion’ in a Facebook post, assistant police superintendent Mohammad Kamruzzaman told reporters.
“The incident took place after 10 pm yesterday (Sunday) but fire fighters doused the blaze within a short period (and) the situation is now under full control,” he said.
No casualties were reported but 66 houses were damaged and 20 burnt during the attack, the officer said.
The arson incident occurred amid rising communal tension over an alleged blasphemy incident at a Durga Puja venue in Cumilla which led to attacks on Hindu temples and clashes between vandals and the police in Cumilla, Chandpur, Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Moulvibazar, Gazipur, Chapainawabganj, Feni and other districts.
Dozens of people have been arrested over the attacks and the spread of communal hatred on social media, the report said.
Four assumed Muslim bigots were killed in Haziganj, the worst scene of the violence, on Wednesday and Thursday, while the body of a Hindu devotee was found at a pond in nearby Begumbanj of Noakhali district.
Muslim and Hindu protestors took to the streets at different areas of the country, including the capital Dhaka in the past several days.
The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christial Unity Council said at least 70 puja pavilions and temples were attacked in the previous three days of violence. The council alleges that at least four Hindu devotees have died in the attacks in Chandpur and Noakhali.
Expressing shock over the recent series of violent attacks at Hindu minority in Bangladesh, the ISKCON called upon the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government to take swift action to bring an end to the violence and demanded that perpetrators of the attacks should be brought to justice.
In an official statement issued on Sunday (local time), the worldwide International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) said multiple temples, homes, shops and individuals were attacked across several districts of the country and several innocent members of the Hindu minority were killed.
A series of attacks on minority religious places in Bangladesh took place.
“The worldwide International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) community is shocked and saddened by the recent series of violent events directed against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, including our own ISKCON temples and members,” read the statement.
