At least a dozen people have died in the anti-Modi, anti-Hindu riots which have engulfed Bangladesh since Indian prime minister Narendra Modi left the country after his two-day visit on Saturday—and it seems more is coming.
The Qawmi madrasa-based organised Hefajat-e-Islam has been carrying out violent attacks all over Bangladesh and so far 500 persons, besides a dozen dead, have been injured.
Further, Hefajat-e-Islam has called for nationwide rallies on April 2.
According to Daily Star, the Islamist mob ransacked Brahmanbaria’s biggest temple Sree Sree Anandamayee Kali Mandir; trashed and broke the idols of Sri Krishna and Goddess Kali.
The donation box for the temple was looted, while the artifacts used for ceremonies were ransacked and thrown away.
“We were performing prayers for Dol Purnima, when 200-300 armed men broke the temple gate and barged into our ceremony. We tried to protect the idol of Goddess Kali, but they shoved us aside and vandalised the idol,” Ashis Paul, president of Anandamoyee Kalibari Temple Festival Celebration Committee, was quoted as saying.
The mob also clashed with police officers, burnt police stations, blockaded the roads, and also injured innocent bystanders; Ustad Alauddin Khan Music Academy was set on fire, and the Shaheed Dhirendra Nath Bhasha Chattar reportedly lay completely vandalised and burnt.
Several Hindu temples were desecrated and destroyed.
The outfit’s protesters attacked a train in the district of Brahmanbaria on Saturday, damaging the engine room and almost all the coaches, while injuring about ten people. Meanwhile, the radical protesters are also said to have set various government offices in Brahmanbaria to fire.
These brainwashed madrasa students in the name of protesting against Modijis visit in Bangladesh, destroyed & burned down public libraries, music schools, cultural centers,monuments,non-Muslims temples,because it’s their war against democracy,secularism,science,culture,knowledge. pic.twitter.com/wxYvEetZEx
— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) March 29, 2021
They also reportedly set fire to Muktijoddha Sangsad Bhaban, Ubaidul Muktadir Chowdhury Women’s College, and many other establishments, including the office of a local MP, the public library, press club, the homes of the Awami League (the ruling party) leaders.
On Friday, dozens of people were injured in the densely-populated capital Dhaka as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters. Thousands of Islamist activists marched down streets across Bangladesh on Sunday.
Activists with the Hefazat-e-Islam group attacked a train in the eastern district of Brahmanbaria, resulting in ten people being injured, a police official said.
“They attacked the train and damaged its engine room and almost all the coaches,” the official told Reuters, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Several government offices, including the land office and a government-sponsored music academy, were set on fire and several Hindu temples were also attacked, said Javed Rahim, a journalist in Brahmanbaria town.
Islamist activists also set alight two buses in the western district of Rajshahi on Sunday, while hundreds of protesters clashed with police in several places, pelting them with stones, three police sources in three districts said.
Protesters used electric poles, timber and sand bags to block roads and police retaliated with rubber bullets and tear gas, leaving dozens injured in Narayanganj, just outside the capital, Dhaka, one police official said. Several crude bombs were also used.
Protesters also vandalised and burned several buses in Dhaka as they blocked many roads, a police official said.
A series of rallies, demonstrations, and blockades opposing the visit of the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi were held in Bangladesh from March 19 to 27, on the celebration of the birth centenary and the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan. Protesters demanded the cancellation of the Bangladesh government’s invitation to the Indian prime minister.
The protests went violent and resulted in deadly clashes and attacks on public properties throughout the last week of March 2021 in Bangladesh. Initially launched by progressive students, the demonstrations were later joined by Islamic groups. The main groups behind the protests are Bangladesh Students Union, Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Songrokkhon Parishad, Socialst Students’ Front and Hefazat-e-Islam, Bangladesh.