As reported in Dhaka Tribune, an English daily of Bangladesh, five Hindu households have been attacked in Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar under the pretext of a trivial incident, leaving nine people injured.

The attack took place on Tuesday, 12th June 2018, morning. After being notified, police went to the spot immediately and brought the situation under control.

On Tuesday morning, a man named Md Rafiq Mia, who was traveling with his cow, came by the shore of Langor river and asked a fisherman to take him on his boat across the river.

The fisherman, Naresh Das, expressed his inability to take Rafiq on his boat with the cow. An angry Rafiq started to verbally abuse Naresh and disparage the fishermen community. Meanwhile locals from Naresh’s village Gongkulpara – where a community of fishermen reside – started to gather around Rafiq. When they demanded an answer from Rafiq as to why he was abusive, Rafiq retorted dismissively which started a brawl between the two sides.

Later, Rafiq and his cohorts – a group of miscreants under the leadership of Ayet Ali – went to Gongkulpara and attacked five households. 

Eyewitnesses, Prodip Das and Porimol Das, said the attackers used locally-made weapons: machetes, rods and daggers, and they attacked the households of Suresh Das, Lal Mohan Das, Jantu Das, Mantu Das, and Shonar Chand Das.

During the attack, nine people were injured due to bricks hurled at them. They are: Moni Rani Das, Anjana Das, Bipula Rani Das, Maloti Rani Das, Samir Das, Jitu Das, Opira Rani Das, Dulu Das, and Jantu Das. Among them, Moni Rani Das was critically injured and admitted to Nasirnagar Health Complex. The on-duty doctors said she has lost a lot of blood due to a head injury.

Additional Superintendent of police in Brahmanbaria Mohammad Iqbal Hossain and Nasirnagar police station’s Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abu Zafar confirmed the matter – saying police have brought the situation under control. All the parties involved in the incident have been called to the police station, they further said – adding that they have alerted both parties to end the matter right away.

Police have also confirmed that peace has been restored in the area.

The 2016 attack in same locality

On October 30, 2016, at least 17 Hindu temples and more than 50 houses were attacked and vandalized by an Islamist mob in Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar, as part of what the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh said was a well orchestrated plan aimed at grabbing lands of the minority Hindu community. More than 100 people were injured in the attack, said to be triggered by a Facebook post defaming Islam allegedly posted from the account of an illiterate fisherman. Eight cases were filed against up to 3,000 people over the attack. A total of 124 accused were arrested but all of them were later freed on bail.

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