The suffering of the Hindus in Bangladesh goes on around the year. But as witnessed in the past couple of years, these cases increase when the Hindu festive season nears. With the Durga pujas nearing, the targeting of innocent and marginalized minorities by radical mobs of Islamists has started to pick momentum.

Hindu homes and shops set ablaze

As per reports dated August 23, Islamist miscreants attacked, vandalized, and set fire to Hindu homes and businesses in Bhairbe Chandib village of Kishoreganj; the incident occurred in the dead of night. According to the latest information, eight houses and shops have been charred by the riotous Islamist mob.

The four shops that were set ablaze by Islamists were the only source of income for the owners Pankaj Dhar and Montu Bhakta. These shops were located on the road junction next to the Dhaladia temple in Palash Upazila of Narsingdi. With their only source of income burnt to ashes, the victims’ families have been rendered destitute and are since living in fear of violence.

Hindu farmer’s fruit trees destroyed

Radical Islamists have taken it upon themselves to destroy the livelihood of minorities to make their survival in Bangladesh more difficult. On August 12, local miscreants in Paikgaccha, Khulna chopped off all the fruit trees of a farmer named Subrata Bhattacharya. Subrata has already complained to the local police station, but no action against the miscreants has been reported.

Hindu fisherman flogged, fishing net stolen

Right on the heels of this violence, another disturbing news of absolute barbarity on a Hindu youth that also occurred on August 12 surfaced. Though mainstream media of Bangladesh tried to shove this incident under the rug for the longest time, it finally made it to social media and was covered by several websites. 

Reports suggest that radicals named Md. Babul Mia, Helal Mia, and their gangs had tied Hindu youth Tapan Das to a tree, mercilessly punched him, and repeatedly struck him with a wand for a long duration. The horrendous incident occurred in Bhandar village of Sukhair village of Dharmapasha Upazila of Bangladesh’s Sunamganj district.

Tapan is a poor fisherman. It is alleged that Md. Babul Mia’s men had stolen his fishing net. When Tapan went to Babul Mia to enquire about his stolen net, Mia’s men tied him to a tree. The Islamists did not stop after torturing the Hindu fisherman. They even threatened Tapan with consequences if he didn’t leave his house and moved elsewhere with his family. 

Hindu man’s pond poisoned; fish killed

Hindu fishermen have become the latest target of Bangladeshi Islamists as this profession is providing some stable income to the poor in the ‘kafir’ community. Earlier this month, a pond belonging to a Hindu man was poisoned by some miscreants in Aligram of Shakhahar Union of the Upazila. The fish in the pond, worth 25 lakhs, died after consuming the contaminated water. Bottles of poison were located lying by the side of the pond.

The aggrieved fish farmer said, “My family survives by farming fish in the pond. Miscreants have poisoned all the fish in my pond. What will happen to me now? How will I repay the debt? Enemies have brought me to the road.” As per the latest reports, no action from the police has not been taken on this criminal act.