Alleged activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir launched an “inspired” attack on the houses of three Awami League men in Kurigram yesterday, following a sermon (mahfil) by a local Jamaat leader lambasting the present government.
Miscreants also cut down about 250 trees belonging to one of the victims. The incident took place at the Sarodob village of Holokhana union around 1:30am.
Locals said Jamaat had orchestrated the attack by organising a religious gathering and calling upon its supporters to wage jihad against what it called the “atheist” government.
The gathering was organised at the village’s Chhatkalua Government Primary School, in which Bhurungumari Jamaat leader Abdur Bari was the main speaker.
In his speech, he said: “The current government is a collaborator of India, an atheist. They burnt down the holy Quran. So it’s our religious duty to fight a jihad against them.”
One of the victims, Soljar Hossain, joint convenor of the union unit of Awami League, said the attack was led by local Member Mokter Hossain, joined by more than a hundred Jamaat-Shibir men.
“We ran for safety as soon as they launched the attack. They torched my two houses and cut down more than 250 of my trees,” he said.
