Islamist fundamentalists in Bangladesh continue to attack the Hindu religious establishment with absolute impunity. In continuation to the ongoing attacks on Hindu temples, two temples were vandalized in Shibganj Upazila of Bogura district on Sunday, August 21. Soon, it was discovered that the murti at the Hari Mandir situated at the end of the village was also vandalized.

Led by Officer-in-charge Shri Deepak Kumar, a team of police officials from the Shibganj police station reached the spot after receiving the information. The OIC inspected the area and assured speedy arrest of the miscreants.

Later, the Police arrested Rabiul Islam, a resident of the nearby village, who is the prime accused in the vandalism of both the Hindu temples. He has been charged with breaking, desecrating, and crushing multiple murtis in the temple. The Police further stated, “we are interrogating the accused. In the cross-examination, he confessed to vandalizing the idol of the temple.”

Meanwhile, the local Hindu residents have been living in fear since the attack on their temples. The Rahbal village of Shibganj Upazila has a dense Hindu population. Therefore the village had temples dedicated to Maa Lakshmi and Bhagwan Shri Vishnu, locally referred to as Shri Hari.

Nityaranjan Sarkar, President of Maa Lakshmi Temple Committee, stated, “On Sunday night, I closed the door of the temple and went home. The next morning I found that the head of Maa Lakshmi’s murti was broken. Other Murtis in the temples were also smashed to pieces. I immediately called the police station and informed them of the incident.”

The persecution of the minority community is happening in various ways in Bangladesh. Besides the routine act of destroying temples, Hindu educators are also repeatedly harassed and assaulted. On August 13, Islamist miscreants attacked Ratan Kumar Das, a Hindu professor from Nurul Islam College in Manikganj. Professor Das teaches Accountancy and was at the college when a group of miscreants entered the college shouting Joy Bangla slogans. They dragged the professor out of the college and severely beat him up.

Allegedly, Awami League leader and Upazila chairman Dewan Saidur Rahman has been issuing murderous threats for quite some time. The professor had also approached the police for security. Ironically, the police were also present in the college when he was assaulted.

There was outrage among social media users after the video of this assault went viral. Many have condemned the ruling party for supporting these misdeeds. College students had also protested against this incident and came out in support of the professor with banners. They demanded immediate arrest of the culprits and Dewan Saidur Rahman. However, despite the incident taking place in front of the police, they have not arrested anyone yet.