The religious teachers who were killed in the brutal attack inside a mosque-cum-madrasa at a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar early Friday were followers of the slain Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah, multiple sources have said.
Days after the murder of Mohib Ullah on September 29, another six people were hacked to death, including three religious tutors, during the attack on Friday.
The deceased tutors are Nur Alam alias Halim, Hamidullah and Md Idris, who taught Rohingya children at Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama Al-Islamiyah Madrasa, located at Block H-52 of Camp 18 in Balukhali, Ukhiya.
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Nur Alam’s wife, Umme Habiba, said her husband was a madrasa teacher and an imam. “He was at the madrasa that night during the incident. The terrorists entered the madrassa and killed him while he was asleep.”
“The terrorists had warned my husband more than once before that they would execute their orders. But my husband was always for repatriation,” she added.
Relatives of the deceased have claimed that the perpetrators, identifying themselves as Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) men, wanted to open a training centre at that madrasa.
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“There are many followers of Mohib Ullah in Rohingya camps who are working for repatriation. The murdered madrasa teachers were also in favour of Mohib Ullah.
File photo of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah | Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune"But they were under threat from ARSA, following Mohib Ullah’s murder as ARSA has tried to dominate all the camps,” said human rights activist Nur Khan Liton.
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“The madrasa teachers killed in the horrific attack were the supporters of Mohib Ullah,” said a resident living close to the madrasa, on condition of anonymity.
Mohib Ullah was shot dead on the night of September 29 by some unidentified gunmen at the Kutupalong camp.
His family blamed ARSA members for the murder. However, ARSA denied the attack.
Why this brutal attack
Although formal madrasa education is not allowed in the Rohingya camps, tutors teach Rohingya pupils about spiritual and basic Islamic knowledge.
Local Rohingyas allege that “Al-yakin” (local name of ARSA) wanted to set up a training centre at the madrasa. But the teachers and managing body have been opposing it as the madrasa was also a place for orphans to live.
However, the group was adamant about its decision as it was one of the biggest madrasas in the camp.
Besides, some teachers and managing body members were backed by Islami Mahaz (a Rohingya group in the camp) and another group were followers of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), led by Mohib Ullah.
Rohingya refugees offer funeral prayers for their leader Mohib Ullah at Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhiya on September 30, 2021, a day after his murder | AFP Both the groups were against the so-called ARSA. They recently helped the law enforcement agencies to arrest the murderers of Mohib Ullah.
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ARSA also offered to have orphans work with them for the betterment of their future.
“The students get non-formal education at the madrasa. But it is one of the largest settlements in the camp where some orphans also stay at night,” said Kyathowai Prue Marma, camp in charge (CIC) of Camp 18 in Balukhali.
“We are working to stabilize the law and order situation in the camp,” he added.
Besides, police have so far detained eight people over the attack on the madrasa inside a Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar.
The suspects were detained in Ukhiya late on Friday during raids in the camps, said Superintendent (SP) Shihab Kaiser, chief of the Ukhiya-based unit of the Armed Police Battalion (APBn).
“Our drives are continuing and an investigation is going on as well. We will interrogate the detainees and those injured in the attack. But it will take some time as the injured are still traumatized,” said Rafiqul Islam, additional police superintendent of Cox’s Bazar.