Members of the Ahmadiyya community in Panchagarh have been in despair as hate campaigns and rumours targeting them are making rounds in the area as well as on social media.
They have questioned the inaction on the part of law enforcers in identifying the instigators behind Friday's attacks on their annual event in Ahmednagar area. They allege that the police and local administration did not take adequate measures to prevent the attacks.
However, the police claim that they had taken adequate measures.
Amid a tense situation in the town, another round of rumours was spread on Saturday that the Ahmadiyyas had killed two protesters by slitting their throats. This triggered local people to take to the streets with sticks and sharp weapons in their hands.
They torched a truck and a microbus and the entire town was out of internet coverage. At around 1am yesterday, Deputy Commissioner Zahurul Islam called on the people through a loudspeaker not to panic as the situation was beginning to turn normal.
Dhaka TribuneAfter the Friday prayers, protesters and police clashed for nearly six hours in the town over the annual event of the Ahmadiyyas. Two youths named Arifur Rahman, 28, and Zahid Hasan, 23, were killed while dozens of others were injured.
So far, three cases have been filed over the attack. But the local administration has yet to form a probe committee over the incident.
Police have arrested 19 people including a BNP leader from different areas in the district allegedly for spreading rumours about the Ahmadiyya community.
Fazle Rabbi, 30, joint convener of Panchagarh municipality unit BNP and also a leader of the municipality unit Jubo Dal, was among the arrestees.
Campaigns on Twitter
A series of tweets from Basherkella has left the minority community shocked and bewildered.
Since Friday's violence, at least eight tweets were posted from the Basherkella account with “police brutality” and “boycott Qadiani (Ahmadiyya)” in the hashtags.
One of the tweets from the verified Basherkella account lists some renowned local brands, calling them “Qadiani owned” and asks all to boycott their products.
Another tweet condemns law enforcers: “Taking the Qadianis' side, Awami-backed police opened fire on anti-Qadiani protest.”
Basherkella, earned notoriety as a “Jamaat mouthpiece” for staunchly supporting war criminals, propagating religious extremism, and often attacking the state machinery through its posts on social media, according to media reports.
How the attacks happened
Several Islamic groups and organizations submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner on Thursday, demanding a suspension of the three-day “Salana Jalsa”. On the same day, two houses of the Ahmadis were set on fire and vandalized.
Ahmed Tabshir Chowdhury, convener of the event organizing committee, from a press conference on Saturday said they had organized the Jalsa after discussions with different government bodies and the local administration.
On the night before the Jalsa, miscreants threatened and asked them not to hold the event. The deputy commissioner and the SP had assured the organizers that the administration was ready to deal with any situation.
But the event came under attack eventually.
Men behind the attack
On Thursday, Islami Andolan Bangladesh's Panchagarh unit, Iman-Aqeedah Raksha Committee, Imam-Moazzin Welfare Association, Panchagarh Qaumi Ulama Parishad and Jatiya Ulama Mashaikh Aimma Parishad submitted the memorandum to the deputy commissioner, demanding a closure of the event.
On Friday, the leaders of Sammilito Khatme Nabuwat Shongrokkhon Parishad asked the Muslim devotees to wait outside the mosque after the Jummah prayers for a procession.
The procession went to the MR College intersection where a few more processions came and merged. Then all the men went towards the Chowrangi intersection, and this is when the clash began.
Muhammad Abdullah, general secretary of Sammilito Khatme Nabuwat Shongrokkhon Parishad, was present at the procession.
Dhaka TribuneSeveral people present at the scene said that those who came with the processions were wearing Punjabi and caps. But most of the people who attacked the houses of the Ahmadis were in plain clothes.
Ahmed Tabshir Chowdhury, convener of the Jalsa, said that some people had come across the river and attacked them. The attackers were hiding their faces. They were mostly young.
He alleged that the protestors took Jahid Hasan of the Ahmadiyya community from Natore to the Karatoya River and hacked him to death.
On the other hand, police said the other deceased, Arifur Rahman, had been an activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir.
