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HomeNewsDhaka: Hindu family emigrates to escape from Islamist attacks

Dhaka: Hindu family emigrates to escape from Islamist attacks

Violence against Hindus in Bangladesh is not new. However, the number of Islamist hate attacks on the Hindu community has increased recently in Bangladesh. The family of Pintu Lal Das, a minority Hindu, has been forced to leave their residential address in the face of direct and indirect threats and attacks for the past 7 years. It is believed that they were forced to take refuge in India. The family of Pintu Lal Das has reportedly been subjected to hate attacks by Islamists several times.

This intense violence towards Pintu Lal Das started in 2013, when Islamists started attacking free-thinking bloggers in Bangladesh. At that time, Pintu Lal Das protested against this attack by writing against it. As a result, he became a target for the Islamists. On August 5, 2016, Pintu Lal Das was attacked by a maulabi on his way back to his residence from Dhakeshwari Temple. A few days later, on August 10, a masked man tried to enter Pintu Das’s house through the roof of a neighbouring house to attack. At that time Pintu Das’ wife screamed, and the assailant fled as the neighbours came.

Pintu Das’s son was also not spared from this hate attack. This little boy, a student in class 2, was constantly subjected to verbal bullying by fellow Muslim students. Kush Kaushik Das, son of Pintu Das, was not accepted by his Muslim classmates as he was a Hindu. Kaushik’s religious identity was often ridiculed by them. 

On February 5, 2019, Kaushik’s Muslim classmates forced him to remove the red thread from his hands. They took away his eraser and told Kaushik, “If you are not a Muslim, we will not give you back your eraser; you become a Muslim first.” Later, Pintu Das’s son Kaushik was forced to leave the school.

On April 29, 2019, Pintu Das’s wife was attacked while climbing the stairs of the building. The attackers started punching and kicking her. The assailants fled when the neighbours came forward on the screams of Pintu Das’s wife. On August 23, 2022, the family of Pintu Das faced the anger of a maulabi while going to have dinner at a restaurant in the Farmgate area of Dhaka.

At that time, the assailant Maulvi came forward to beat Pintu Das’s wife with a stick because she had no clothes on her head. The family of Pintu Das immediately left the place in fear. The family of Pintu Das was not spared despite several demands for safety. Pintu Das’ family left their residence in Dhaka due to continuous hate attacks by Islamists. It is believed that they may be secretly taking shelter in India. If the situation of the minorities of Bangladesh is not brought up on the world stage soon, Bangladesh will become Hinduless in silence like Pintu Das’ family. 

Previously in Dhaka, Communal incitement was promoted through HSC question paper. Controversy arose over the question paper of the HSC Bangla First Paper exam in Bangladesh. Allegations were made that the designed question paper hurt religious sensitivities. Prominent people said that this was a form of religious incitement. One of the questions in this paper was, “Nepal and Gopal are two brothers. They have been in dispute over land for a long time. Despite many arbitrations, no one could resolve their dispute. No one is willing to make concessions. Now the case regarding the distribution of the land is going on in court. The younger brother, Nepal, sells a part of the land of Bhit to a Muslim named Abdul to discipline the elder brother. Abdul built a house there and started living there permanently. He sacrifices a cow in front of Nepal’s house on Eid al-Adha. This incident broke the heart of Nepal. After a few days, he went to India with his family without telling anyone.”

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