In a fresh violent attack on minorities, over 80 houses of Hindu in the village of Sunamganj, Bangladesh were attacked and vandalized by the supporters of Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam. The attack was planned after a young Hindu man criticized Joint-Secretary General Mawlana Mufti Mamunul Haque in a Facebook post as reported by Dhaka Tribune.
The report details, a conference held at Derai upazila on Monday hosted Hefazat-e-Islam’s (Islamist Advocacy group of madrassah teachers and students) Amir Allama Junaid Babunagari, Joint-Secretary General Mawlana Mufti Mamunul Haque and several other central leaders. A young Hindu man from Noagaon, Shalla Upazila was enraged by Mawlana Mamunul Haque’s speech and made a Facebook post criticizing it which he uploaded on Tuesday.
Upon discovering the post, Hefazat leaders staged a protest on Tuesday night alleging attempts to incite communal violence. The police had arrested the boy the same evening to bring the situation under control. Yet several thousand members of Hefazat-e-Islam attacked the boy’s village with makeshift weapons on Wednesday morning.
Many local Hindus had to flee their homes fearing for life which gave the attackers an opportunity to ransack and loot their homes.
Upon receiving the information of attack, a large number of police from Shalla police station and Derai upazila were deployed to bring the situation under control.
The boy is still under custody and Shalla Upazila Nirbahi Officer Al Muktadir Hossain, in a public statement clarified that the accused youth has been handed over to the law enforcement for ‘insulting’ Mawlana Mamunul Haque on Facebook. He claimed the situation is calm and some who had fled their homes had returned.
Bangladesh continues to be infamous for its failure to protect the Hindus, which are in a minority. A 2020 report revealed Hindus in Bangladesh were under attack over 30 times by violent Islamists mobs in just one month.