Miscreants vandalise temples, households amid unrest

Dhaka: A number of Hindu temples, households and businesses were vandalised, women assaulted and at least two Hindu leaders affiliated with the Awami League party killed in violence in Bangladesh following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, community leaders claimed on Tuesday.

“We have compiled some incidents of the vandalisms in different parts of the country exposing the Hindu and other minority communities to anxiety,” Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council leader Kajol Debnath told PTI on the margins of a meeting of the group here.

According to the available information, two Hindu leaders, who were incidentally leaders of Hasina’s Awami League (AL) party, were killed in north-western Sirajganj and Rangpur, Debnath said, adding that the Council was still gathering more information.

Debnath said the attackers “plundered shops, temples and houses and assaulted Hindu women” while many were injured during the assaults amid the fast-paced political developments following the fall of Hasina’s government.

A day after Hasina resigned and fled the country following massive protests against her government over quota in government jobs, violence that had started afresh over the weekend, continued overnight and led to a total of over 400 being killed since mid-July.

According to the Council leaders, the districts where religious minorities and their households or businesses were attacked are north-eastern Panchagarh, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Bogura and Sirajganj; northern Sherpur and Kishoreganj; western Jashore, Magura and Narail, south-western Khulna, Patuakhali and Satkhira; central Narsingdi, Mymensingh

and Tangail; north-western Lakkhipur, Feni and Chattogram, and north-eastern

Habiganj.