DHAKA: Bangladeshi police have arrested dozens of people after violent attacks against Hindus in the country raised concerns. It was brought to light that authorities were not doing enough to protect the region's biggest minority. Just last week, Hindu homes and temples in the Brahmanbairs district of eastern Bangladesh, was attacked after a local youth allegedly shared a post on Facebook that several claimed rebuked the Masjid al-Haram.
Muslims protested and called for action against the Hindu youth, who denied sharing the post. While the young man was arrested for hurting religious sentiment, it did little to defuse tension and pacify rioting. Officer-in-charge of Nasir Nagar police station, Abu Zafar said that so far, 53 people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in attacks and looting from Hindu homes. As the riots continue, the Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council estimated that over 100 Hindu homes and 17 temples have been vandalised and looted since the violence began on October 30.
General Secretary at the BHBCUC, Rana Dasgupta said, “The purpose of the attacks is to free this soil from the minority community and also to occupy their properties and assets.” The country's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has launched an investigation into the attacks. Head of its fact-finding committee said the violence was the result of a “pre-planned conspiracy” and criticised local authorities for allowing the demonstrations that triggered the rioting to go ahead. “The administration, including police, were negligent and callous in handling such a sensitive issue,” NHRC's Enamul Hoque Chowdhury said. The violence comes amid international concern about rising militancy in Bangladesh and the growing influence of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the country. In July, assailants carried out an attack on a cafe in an upscale district of the capital, Dhaka, in which 22 people were killed - mostly non-Muslims and foreigners, including one American.
