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According to reports from local media and functionaries of Hindu minority groups in Dhaka, almost 97 places have been attacked. (AFP)
Top Intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that the attacks are likely to increase in the coming days and the ongoing communal violence after Sheikh Hasina’s departure is not spontaneous but deliberate and well-orchestrated
The attacks on Hindus in strife-torn Bangladesh are on the rise, with the police and army refusing to respond to the situation, top Intelligence sources have told CNN-News18.
“Sculptures, idols and temples have been destroyed. Despite assurances from the army, no attempts have been made to save Hindus in Bangladesh. In fact, reports indicate that the army and police are robbing and looting houses too. Hindu families are being assaulted and beaten. A Hindu professor was brutally killed with a hammer. Hindu families have lost everything in Bangladesh and even now, Hindu organisations are afraid to speak openly,” they said.
The sources said the attacks were not by radicals but the protest was becoming a terror movement. “No leadership can control them because this has been going on for many years. There have been more than 4,000 attacks on Hindus since 2013. Saudi money and return of old Bangladeshis from the Gulf with huge money is giving a boost to Islamist groups. The free run to these Islamists by army and police is a clear indication that they are endorsing these goons,” they said.
The attacks on Hindus are a major cause of concern for the Indian government. According to reports from local media and functionaries of Hindu minority groups in Dhaka, almost 97 places have been attacked.
“ISKCON temple and Kali Mandir have been attacked and houses of Hindus damaged. Hindu councillor Haradhan Roy was murdered by protesters in these attacks. The house of celebrated musician Rahul Ananda was vandalised and just a piece of cloth was left behind. In a very systematic way, radicals have burned down the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre and Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.”
Bangladesh has seen nearly 4,000 attacks against the Hindu community since January 2013. “These are systematic attacks. The ongoing communal violence after Sheikh Hasina’s departure is not spontaneous but deliberate and well-orchestrated. Multiple factors have played an important role in these constant attacks. The inaction of state agencies is because they have decided to let this continue for some time. Now, the Islamist groups have found a reason to attack Hindus, terming Indian policies as anti-Muslim.”
Top Intelligence sources say the acts of terror were controlled by Hasina so far but now, the attackers have an open agenda which the state will also sponsor so that the international community can be given a handle.
“This will increase in the days to come because of Saudi pumping in money for radical Islam. Also, a majority of Bangladeshis wenr to Middle East after the oil boom. They are doing good in the Gulf and want radical Islam in Bangladesh. Many of them have come back in old age with huge sums of money and now want religion to spread through radicals,” they said.
In the past 15 years, many radical political parties and groups like Ansarullah Bangla Team, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have emerged. “These groups have attacked secular intellectuals, terrorised the Hindu community, and launched dramatic terrorist attacks, including in Dhaka. The Hasina government wanted a crackdown on them but it was not sufficient to hold them,” they said.
THE LATEST IN BANGLADESH
Chaos reigned supreme in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on Monday, with police absent from their duty to keep law and order or manage traffic, local media reports said.
Bodies of at least 29 supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party were recovered across the country through Tuesday, taking the overall death toll to 469 in almost three weeks since the protest first started in July over a quota system in government jobs.
Meanwhile, Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus was flying back to Bangladesh on Thursday to lead a caretaker government after the student-led uprising ended the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina.
Yunus, 84, could be sworn in as the country’s new leader as soon as Thursday evening to begin what the army chief has vowed will be a “beautiful democratic process”.
Hasina, 76, who had been in power since 2009, quit on Monday as hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Dhaka. Jubilant crowds later stormed and looted her palace.
Monday’s events were the culmination of more than a month of unrest, which began as protests against a plan for quotas in government jobs but morphed into an anti-Hasina movement.
Hasina, who was accused of rigging January elections and widespread human rights abuses, deployed security forces to quash the protests.
Catch the latest developments on Bangladesh Unrest with our live blog.