Temple set on fire, 3 others vandalised

Section 144 clamped on Hathazari upazila

Staff Correspondent . Chittagong

Miscreants set a Hindu temple on fire and vandalised eight others at Nandirhat and Hathazari in Chittagong on Friday.

About 50 houses of Hindus were also allegedly set on fire, vandalised and looted.

The district administration clamped section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on Hathazari upazila banning rallies or processions with effect from 5:00pm on Friday.

At least 50 people, including an assistant superintendent of police, were injured during the trouble.

Leaders of the local Hindu community and affected temples at a meeting Saturday evening failed to decide whether to file a case for the violence.

Most of them refused comments fearing further attacks.

The situation turned violent Thursday evening, when Loknath Sebashram Temple at Nandirhat was vandalised after a minor clash that took place after some motorbikes ran through a procession of Loknath Sebashram when it was passing by Hazipara mosque, local sources said.

Imam of the mosque Mohammad Habibullah said the Hindu processionists had assaulted a youth when he asked them to stop beating drums as zohr prayers was on.

‘When we came out after the prayers, some people threw stones at the mosque smashing its windowpanes. Immediately, the administration was informed of the matter and a meeting was convened in the mosque after maghrib prayers with the administration, local elite and representatives of Ulama Parishad from Al Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Muinul Islam madrassah at Hathazari to maintain order,’ he told New Age.

The police and local sources said students of Darul Ulum Muinul Islam madrassah had blocked the Chittagong-Khagrachari Road blaming the Hindu community for the situation.

Friday’s violence began with the attack on the Raksha Kali Mandir at Hathazari and torching the temple after the madrassah students had said their juma prayers on the road.

The miscreants also vandalised seven temples out of eight at Nandirhat, including the Jalakumari Bari Mandir and Jagannath Bigraha Mandir, and Sita Kalibari temple at Hathazari.

Sources also said the attackers also vandalised about 50 houses of Hindu people, including Satya Saha, Sudarshan Chowdhury and Bishwanath Chowdhury, in the locality, said Loknath Sebashram secretary Ashesh Purahit and Satya Saha’s nephew Rana Saha.

Nazrul Islam, duty officer at the Hathazari police station, told New Age that at least 50 persons, including circle ASP Babul Akter and six policemen, were injured during the violence.

Chittagong deputy commissioner Fayez Ahmed told New Age that section 144 was clamped on the entire upazila for an indefinite period with effect from 5:00pm to avert further trouble.

Local lawmaker Anisul Islam Mahmud, also Jatiya Party presidium member, along with local officials visited the area to calm the situation.

He talked to the Hindu community leaders, but none from the other party attended a meeting he convened, local sources said, adding that Anisul Islam himself had come under attack from the troublemakers.

Anisul Islam, however, told New Age in the evening that the situation had calmed.

Asked about the reported attack on him, Anisul said, ‘I ran into a situation like that.’

Chittagong district administrator MA Salam said Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student organisation Islami Chhatra Shibir had instigated the attacks.

Chittagong University, some three kilometres from Nandirhat, was closed on February 8 following a clash between Shibir and ruling Awami League-backed student organisation Bangladesh Chhatra League.

Two activists of Shibir were killed in the clash at Chittagong University, known to be a bulwark of Shibir.

The Hindu community leaders said that the attackers were not locals.

The attackers were madrassah students, they said.

Police superintendent ZA Morshed said 500 policemen and four platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh personnel had been deployed in the area to maintain law and order.

Primary and mass education minister Absarul Amin Chowdhury, who visited the spot after the trouble, told reporters at 6:00pm that the situation was under control adding that security had been beefed up at different temples and minority populated areas.

The central committee of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Dhaka University unit of Loknath Seba Sangha on Friday organised a rally in front of the National Press Club in the capital protesting at the arson attacks on temples in Chittagong.

They demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment to the miscreants involved in the crime and reconstruction of the damaged temples.

The rally was also addressed by the parishad chief adviser CR Dutta, general secretary Mangal Ghosh, joint secretary Nirmal Chatarjee, organising secretary Rabindranath Basu and Prakash Majumdar, DU unit president of the sangha, chaired by its vice-president Kajal Devnath.

Newagebd