Fourteen Hindu temples attacked and looted in one night in Bangladesh’s Thakurgaon. 

Bangladesh temple attack:  More than  20 idols vandalized in Thakurgaon by suspected Jihadi miscreants.

Upasana Das | HENB | Dhaka | Feb 9, 2023:: A targeted attack on the Hindu community of Bangladesh was reported on the falling night of 4th February and 5th February in Thakurgaon district, a northwestern district of the Muslim majority country. Unidentified miscreants connected to Jihadi groups vandalized and looted a total of 14 Hindu temples in Baliadangi area. The miscreants came on motorbikes and vandalised the temples in a coordinated way.

According to local police sources, the incident took place at midnight. Idols of the Hindu temples were broken and thrown into the pond and other belongings of the temples were looted. Upon receiving the news, police officials have started the investigation and assured to quickly arrest the culprits. Local police sources believe that the attack was premeditated and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. The police have promised to take swift action to apprehend the culprits. Meanwhile, the situation in the area is currently calm.

The temples in Baliadangi area were all attacked one by one, with the Vigrahas (idols) and other belongings of the temple thrown into the nearby pond and looted by the miscreants. Balidangi police have already started the investigation.

As per Khairul Anam, officer-in-charge of Baliadangi Police Station, the temples are situated in Dhantala, Paria and Charul unions.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered in Baliadangi Police Station.

Baidyanath Barman, a representative of the Hindu community of Baliadangi said, “We demand immediate arrest and strict punishment of the culprits.” Since the incident of this attack, the Hindus of the local area have been living in fear.

Experts believe that such a situation is due to the culture of impunity in the repeated attacks on the Hindu community in the country. The local police are now taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of the Hindu community and bring the culprits to justice.

This is the first incident in the last 100 years in Thakurgaon which is situated near the Jalpaiguri border of India.

The Hindu community leader and union parishad chairman Samar Chatterjee said the region was always known to be an area of excellent interfaith harmony as “no such heinous incident took place here in the past, but such an unfortunate incident broke the hearts of Hindus”.

According to Thakurgaon police chief Jahangir Hossain, the incident appears to be a planned attack to disrupt the country’s peaceful situation. He went on to say that a police investigation was immediately launched to find the suspects.

Miscreants are said to have broken the idols’ arms, legs, and heads. Some idols were shattered and dumped into the pond.

Kashinath Singh, a Sindurpindi resident, stated, “We are in complete disarray. Those responsible for this incident should be apprehended as soon as possible.”

Attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh is now made a routine work of the Jihadi groups supported by many political parties to frighten the Hindu minorities to evacuate them from the country.

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__Agencies/ Video courtesy: India Today.