The attack on the houses and temples of religious minorities in Shalla, Sunamganj, over a Facebook post of a young man, is disturbing and condemnable. The post that apparently instigated the attack did not say anything about religion, but about a person.
According to Prothom Alo, the Hindu-dominated village of Noagaon is located on the south bank of the Dharain river in Shalla. Kashipur of Shalla upazila and Nasni of Dirai upazila, Chandrapur village on the north side of the river are inhabited by Muslims. Although Hindus and Muslims have lived side by side in these villages for hundreds of years, there have never been clashes or attacks. The people of the two communities have been living in peace and harmony. Hefazat-e-Islam Shan-e-Risalat organised a rally in Dirai last Monday.
According to a speaker, the status given by a young man named Jhumon Das on social media seemed offensive to Hefazat. They also rallied the next day in protest. The administration quickly took the matter into account and arrested Jhumon Das. Hefazat leader and Habibpur union chairman Vivekananda Majumder then held a peace meeting. Both sides were satisfied with the steps taken by the government. But even then a group of 70-80 people went and attacked the village of Noagaon, destroying 90 houses and 10-12 temples. People have taken shelter elsewhere to escape the attack. The chairman's house was not even spared.
Senior officials from the district and police administration visited the scene after the attack. Police and RAB members are on guard. Freedom fighter Anil Chandra Das said, "We never thought such incidents could happen." A local Hefazat leader also condemned the attack and demanded punishment for those responsible. There is a provision to take legal action against someone for making insulting remarks about someone. The government has also taken action in the Shalla incident. Even after that, the way the attack took place on the homes of minorities is anti-civilization and anti-human. Earlier, in Ramu and Nasirnagar, there were incidents of attacks on the houses and temples of minorities on the pretext of giving fake status on social media.
No one has the right to take the law into their own hands. The government should take immediate steps to ensure that the displaced people of Shalla return to their homes at once.
