Communal violence in a secular country such as Bangladesh is not acceptable under any circumstances, says the National Human Rights Commission.
The commission made the remarks in a Suo Moto order regarding the recent vandalizing of temples in Narail.
In its order, the commission directed the home ministry to probe whether there was any negligence in the attack on the temples and whether the police did its duty accordingly.
The Public Security Division of the ministry has been asked to submit the report within August 17 and take legal steps accordingly.
On Friday, a mob vandalized a temple, grocery stores and several homes of the Hindu community in the Dighalia Bazar area of Lohagara upazila of Narail.
Angry villagers became violent in the afternoon, alleging that a Hindu boy named Akash Saha had made a post on Facebook hurting their religious sentiments.
After learning of the Facebook post, the mob attacked and vandalized several homes, including that of the boy’s family.
They also broke into Sahapara temple and broke the furniture inside and vandalized several shops.
Additional forces were deployed in the area to prevent further violence.
Police also detained Akash from Khulna’s Dumuria on Saturday night.
While no one has the right to hurt religious sentiments in the name of freedom of speech, no one has the right to take the law in their own hands and carry out attack on temples, the commission said.
The commission observed that such heinous crimes were being carried out time and again and said if someone did hurt religious sentiments, they should be brought to book.
