Chandpur correspondent

On the 10th September a group Muslim fundamentalists violently attacked a Hindu community residing within the quaint little area of Puran Bazaar, Chandpur.

This coordinated assault on the minority Hindu community at Chandpur, had been allegedly orchestrated by local Awami League and some Jamaat-E-Islami members in the area. It is estimated that the attack took place sometime after midnight on Saturday.

Apart from demolishing Hindu idols in temples, Puja mantles and even some attacking Hindu residences in and around the area, it is reported that the perpetrators also grievously injured some civilians who tried to stop them. The locals reported hearing the culprits shout chanting ’Naraye Takbir’ vigorously during the whole incident, and that ‘everything will burn’ if anyone ‘hurts’ Islam.

At the very centre of this unrest is one Miltan Kumar Dey, son of Mr Shombhunath Dey  and Mrs Momota Rani who used to live in Chandpur. Upon inquiring about him in and around Chandpur, we came to learn that Mr Kumar Dey is Hindu blogger and online activist currently residing in London, United Kingdom as a student. We came to learn that the fundamentalists group which attacked the Hindu community in Puran Bazaar, discovered Mr Kumar Dey writing grossly blasphemous articles about some of Islam’s most prominent individuals on his personal blog. It was later revealed that some local Awami League members surrounded Mr Kumar Dey’s residence and that the area’s local chairman publicly summoned Mr Kumar Dey’s parents, before warning them to make sure that their son stops populating his blog with such blasphemous writings.

When we made our rounds in the area’s Hindu community and questioned some of the Hindu locals about this, they claimed that the Muslim fundamentalists were already riled well before Mr Kumar Dey allegedly published any blasphemous writings. The locals claimed that the fundamentalists took serious offence to the “ruckus” that emanates from the various regular Puja (Hindu prayer) sessions, kirtans, spritiual singing sessions etc. They claimed that the commotion prevents them from performing ‘namaaz’ (Islamic prayers) properly. They also informed us that they have been attacked by their Muslim counterparts in the past regarding this, but never with such ferocity or ruthlessness.

Mr Kumar Dey of course was out of the country when his house was infiltrated, so he was unavailable for any comments on the incident. We did reach out to our contacts in London but they were unable to trace him. However we were surprised to find his house uninhabited, expecting at least his parents to be there. Once we spoke to the neighbours about that we learned that Mr Kumar Dey’s parents, namely Mr Shombhunath Dey and Mrs Momota Rani had vacated the premises quite a while ago. One of the neighbours also informed us that they might have left this place out of fear of being persecuted, once they were warned of their son’s activities as a blogger and activist.

We spoke to the Chandpur Police Station’s officer in charge next, one Mr Shahidul Islam Shahin. The gentleman informed us that a few ‘uncivilised’ Muslim men apparently converged upon the Hindu community in the area at the dead of the night, and attacked everything in their sights including some Hindu residences, temples, idols and statues. They also grievously injured some civilians in the process. The gentleman concluded by stating that he did not file any court cases regarding this matter, because he expects both parties involved to eventually come to a resolution.

We were surprised to learn that no criminal law suits, indeed not even any charges had been filed with the police whatsoever regarding this incident. We spoke to some of the Hindu locals there asking them why that is the case. They confirmed that one Mr Gopal Chandra Dey did visit the local police station to press charges and then subsequently file a lawsuit on behalf of their community. But he was rebuffed, with the police telling him to ‘sort it out amongst yourselves’ (meaning between them and their Muslim counterparts). Thus no charges were filed in the end.

There is an air of anxiousness and tension currently gripping Puran Bazaar at the moment. It is possible things might escalate again in this current climate.