Arson attacks on Hindu homes, temples at Nasirnagar reported

Hindu temples and homes in Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar have come under fresh attack despite the so-called security measures the authorities say have been taken.

Police said several houses were set on fire at Madhyaparha and Dakhshinparha in the Upazila town at dawn on Friday.

“The attackers fled after torching seven houses in four Hindu families. Locals put out the flames,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Iqbal Hossain.

Assailants torched on Friday a Jagannath temple, a nearby Durga temple belonging to Sagar Das and Keshab Chakraborty’s house at Shilparha that was filled with firewood.

Three houses owned by Fulkishore Chakraborty of Namashudraparha and a kitchen owned by Amar Deb at Banikparha were set on fire as well.

Fifteen temples and more than a hundred Hindu homes in Nasirnagar were looted and vandalised on Sunday over an alleged Facebook post purporting to insult Islam.

The attack raised a storm of criticism against the authorities, forcing them on Wednesday to withdraw the officer-in-charge of Nasirnagar police for negligence in duties.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, however, defended the police saying, ‘They did their job’, though the police were widely accused of doing nothing to prevent the attacks on minority Hindus.