‘BNP, Jamaat’ behind Maloparha attack on Hindus

Hindus are attacked after every election whether they vote or not, a community veteran has lamented.

“It has almost become a norm to attack the Hindus in Bangladesh after the general elections every five years,” said 96-year-old Adhir Pal, who lives near Jessore’s Maloparha, the site of recent communal attacks.

“They are attacked irrespective of whether they cast their vote or not. We vote for the Awami League but it can’t save us from such attacks,” Pal added.

He had given shelter to several Hindu families targeted in the post-poll aggression. The nonagenarian was shocked by the brutality of one section on another, though both were people of the same country.

Residents of Maloparha are spending their days in fear. When approached, they talked about the attacks, graphically describing how they had lost everything, but stopped short of naming their tormentors.

Bikash Biswas, like others in the community, was silent when asked who the attackers were. His house had been vandalised and ransacked.

His wife Ujjala Biswas was quick to answer on his behalf. “What would our husbands do [in the event of an attack]? They would rather protect the children than remember the faces of the attackers,” she said in apparent disgust.

“The attackers were masked,” she revealed.

According to local residents, Sheikh Abdul Wahab, the Whip in the 9th Parliament who hails from Abhoynagar, did not support the Awami League-backed candidate, Ranjit Kumar, for the Jessore-4 constituency in the recent polls.

Rather, Wahab had contested as a renegade candidate.

File Photo

A resident of Maloparha, who cannot be named for security concern, said: “Wahab has a strong influence in the local administration as he was the Whip. He also has his own henchmen.

“His henchmen had pressurised the Hindu residents of Maloparha to vote for him. I saw them mingling with Islami Chhatra Shibir activists on the day of the attack.”

Locals wanted to remain anonymous fearing for their safety.

A businessman in Sridharpur Union said Wahab had held a rally in a school near the Chapatala village on Dec 28. He had threatened the Hindus of dire consequences if he were defeated.

Maloparha’s fisherman Dulal Biswas recounted the horror: “The incident started in the morning. ‘Biswajit’ and ‘Debbrata’ (residents of Maloparha) were beaten up at the polling centre. Then several of our men went there and beat up one ‘Bakkar’. They spread rumour that Bakkar had been killed.

“A band of men armed with traditional weapons showed up hours later, attacking our houses and setting them on fire.

“We contacted everyone - the police, local Awami League leaders, leaders of the Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad. But none came,” he said with palpable dejection.

File Photo

When approached, Superintendent of Jessore Police, Joydeb Kumar, who is currently on leave, was not ready to blame the police for not showing up in time.

“It was the election day and we were busy. Moreover, we did not have enough men to send.

“We heard about the attack at around 6:30pm and immediately dispatched our force. But the miscreants had left by then.

“It won’t be correct to assume that police had neglected their duty.”

Local photojournalist Hanif Dakua said journalists had faced obstacles, mainly in the Bashundia-Rupdia area, a stronghold of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student front Islami Chhatra Shibir.

“Shibir activists have attacked journalists apart from vandalising and torching vehicles,” he said.

Bashundia and Rupdia are just over 10 kilometres from Abhoynagar. Maloparha’s Shankar Biswas, like many others, believes Jamaat-Shibir activists were behind the attack.

On the night of the onslaught, Abhoynagar Police Station Sub-Inspector Md Mohsin Hawlader filed a case, accusing 48 persons identified as Jamaat, Shibir and the BNP ‘miscreants’.

The residence of Abhoynagar unit Jamaat chief Azizur Rahman was found locked. There were signs of vandalism around the place.

Heera Begum, who identified herself as Rahman’s daughter-in-law, said the Jamaat leader had left his house on Jan 6. She claimed police and joint force personnel had ‘vandalised’ the house the next day, having failed to find Rahman.

File Photo

Selim Sikder, a local resident, said almost all the inhabitants of the area were Jamaat supporters, making them targets of the joint forces. Most of the men had gone into hiding fearing arrest.

Local Workers Party leader Iqbal Kabir Zahid, who had sought nomination from the ruling coalition, seemed convinced of the Jamaat’s involvement in the communal violence.

“There’s no doubt that the Jamaat-Shibir activists had taken part in the attacks but there were Awami League activists, too, who were supporters of Wahab,” he said.

Zahid said Wahab was upset with Ranjit Sarker ever since the latter got his party’s backing to contest the polls. To queer the pitch, Wahab had contested the polls as a renegade candidate.

“The attacks were planned. Otherwise, how could a number of people show up within several hours and the police did not respond?”

He said the voters of Maloparha had been supporters of the Awami League since independence. “Mr Wahab knew that they (Maloparha residents) would vote for the Awami League. He (Wahab) had orchestrated the attack using the Jamaat-Shibir activists,” he claimed.

“It must be planned,” Zahid said.

Wahab was at his Singar Bazar residence when approached.

Asked about his reaction to allegations that the attacks on Maloparha were planned, he retorted: “Do you think it takes a mastermind to manage 2/3 human haulers full of men [to attack]?”

File Photo

He turned to his personal assistant next to him as if for an endorsement of his argument.

“It takes an hour to mobilise cadres for attacks. It’s obvious that the Jamaat-Shibir and BNP activists had been involved. Didn’t you see the case details?” he asked.

Those primarily named have been described as activists of Jamaat, Shibir and the BNP, Wahab told this reporter.

Responding to allegations that he had orchestrated the attacks using the Jamaat and Shibir henchmen, he said: “Who is saying such things? It must be Ranjit (the Awami League-backed candidate). He has no manners.

“We met at the DC office recently. I had tried to exchange pleasantries but he simply walked away while talking on the phone.

“He is making this allegation out of political vengeance, for he considers me an enemy.

“Tell me,” he asked, “has the election been fair? I grew up in Abhoynagar, it’s my birthplace. But he (Ranjit) isn’t from around here. How can he understand the Hindus!

“It is easy to blame me now. Anyway, it is clear that the attack is the work of the Jamaat, Shibir and the BNP,” Wahab insisted.