Bangladesh Hindus

Four people including two women were stabbed when supporters of a Jamaat-e-Islami activist attacked the house of a Hindu family in Patgram upazila of Lalmonirhat this morning. They also set the house on fire during the attack, which was made in a bid to grab the land, reports our Lalmonirhat correspondent quoting police. Later, police arrested two people for their involvement in the attack and land grabbing. At least 25 miscreants led by Abul Hossain stormed into the house of one Pushpa Rani Sen at Shafirhat village around 9:30am for grabbing her two bighas of land, said Amiruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Patgram Police Station. Being resisted by the family members, the criminals torched their house and also stabbed four family members including Pushpa, the OC added. But locals rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire, he added. The attackers left the scene before police reached there. The injured — Pushpa, 68, and her two sons Shyamol Chandra Sen, 45, and Kamol Chandr...

DHAKA: A mob of nearly 3,000 attacked Hindu households and a temple in eastern Bangladesh after two youths from the community allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.  Police on Monday arrested 17 people, including the principal of Bagmara Madrasa, for the attack on the temple and over two dozen households at Homna in Comilla district, about 100km south east of Dhaka, last week.   "We so far arrested 17 people and some of them made confessional statements regarding the attack. A manhunt is under way to arrest the rest of the culprits," police chief of Homna, Aslam Shikdar said.   He said suspected mastermind of the attack Nazrul Islam is still on the run.   The local police chief said steps were under way to put the accused on trial on charges of attacking the Hindu households and the temple under a planned manner.   A makeshift police camp was setup at the village where the incident took place on April 26 following rumours tha...

Washington, D.C. (June 11, 2014) --The plight of religious minorities in Bangladesh took center stage on Capitol Hill yesterday, as the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) marked its 11th Annual D.C. Advocacy Days.  Hindu American delegates from around the country met with nearly 80 Congressional offices, asking them to support a bipartisan Congressional letter, spearheaded by Representatives Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Aaron Schock (R-IL), that urges U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to make human rights and the protection of minorities in Bangladesh a priority in U.S. - Bangladesh relations.  Rep. Gabbard receiving HAF's Pride of the Community Award from Rishi Bhutada, Board member "Promoting a stable and democratic Bangladesh is important to U.S. economic, political and security interests in the South Asia region," wrote Reps. Gabbard and Schock in a message circulated to their colleagues earlier today. "Under domestic law, the Bangladesh government is obliged to...

On May 11, 2014, a team comprising almost 200 radical Muslim youths led by Bajlur Rahman Nayeem, local leader of Awami League at Niyamatpur sub-district within the district of Naogaon in Bangladesh, assailed a temple of the minority Hindu community located beside the crematorium there. It has been learnt, radicals came in motorbikes and also on foot and within a few minutes both temple and hallowed deity within it were defiled, destroyed and also razed to the ground sending a shudder of fear among Hindus living in the adjoining villages of Maharajpur, Kochpara, Kutubpur and Manpur. The Shiva temple was built up only a few months back and Kirtan used to happen in the temple premises daily in the evening. The attack took place while Hindus were preparing for Kirtan. The attack, as found later on, was an aggression to grab the Hindu property. As part of the attack, a few Hindus including Dayal Chandra Seal, Dwijen Chabdra Barman and Naren Karmakar were beaten mercilessly and they h...

The Daily Star, 20 April 2013 Unidentified criminals set a 200-year-old Hindu temple ablaze at Rajoir upazila in Madaripur in the wee hours [of April 19th]. Police and locals said miscreants torched the Kali Mandir at Mahendradi village sometime after midnight. Dadon Kanta, chairman of Haridashdi-Mahendradi upazila, suspects that Jamaat or BNP men are behind the attack. Police, meanwhile, arrested Haridashdi-Mahendradi union unit BNP President Abul Kalam Azad yesterday afternoon suspecting his involvement in the incident. Mofazzal Hossain, officer-in-charge of Rajoir Police Station, said they were yet to identify the attackers and that they were investigating the incident. Uttam Banerjee, president of the temple managing committee, said locals rushed to the spot on seeing the flames but the temple had been badly burnt before they could bring the flames under control. In December last year, miscreants vandalised some idols of the same temple, he added. Tem...

Lalmonirhat Hindus Shop looted by BCL, BNP men  HC orders arrest of land grabbers    Star Report Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/shop-looted-by-bcl-bnp-men-15025 A gang of local Chhatra League and BNP men attacked an electronics supply shop of a Hindu trader and looted goods worth around Tk 1 lakh at Kulaghat Bazar of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila on Sunday night. The attackers also forced the businessman to sign a blank non-judicial stamp before fleeing the scene with the loot on an easy bike (battery-run three-wheeler), reports our Lalmonirhat correspondent. Police yesterday arrested three people at Kulaghat village of the upazila in connection with the attack. They are Farooque Hossain, 25, ward unit BCL joint secretary, and Kulaghat union unit BNP members Enamul Haque, 23, and Amzad Hossain, 30. Shop owner Nayan Chandra Roy, 30, of Kulaghat village said about six to seven miscreants, with sharp weapons in their hands, stormed his ...