Hindu-Muslim violence crosses border from Bangladesh to India

Source: The Observer

Hindu-Muslim violence crosses border from Bangladesh to India

Footage shared on social media blamed for igniting violence between communities that left seven dead, buildings torched and many living in fear

Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi and Redwan Ahmed in Cumilla
Sun 31 Oct 2021 06.00 GMT

It was early morning when Achintya Das, a 55-year-old teacher in the city of Cumilla in Bangladesh, was woken by the ringing of his mobile phone. On the other end of the line was a fearful, stricken voice. Come quickly, the local told him, something very grave had happened. A Qur’an had been found in the shrine they had recently erected for the upcoming Hindu festival of Durga Puja. The Islamic holy book had been placed on a statue of the Hindu god Hanuman.

Das, a Hindu who organised the festival in Cumilla, felt dread rise up in him at the news of the desecration of Muslim holy scripture in their shrine. “It didn’t even take me a second to understand the gravity of the situation. I rushed there immediately,” he said.

The incident on the morning of 13 October set off some of the worst anti-Hindu attacks in years and left seven people dead. The violence seeped over the border into the neighbouring Indian state of Tripura, where more than a dozen retaliatory rallies by rightwing Hindu group Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and others escalated into violence and anti-Muslim attacks. Muslim residents were terrorised, Muslim shops were torched, and at least 16 mosques were vandalised – of which four were set alight – in violence that began on 21 October and continued into last week.

VHP spokesman Vinod Bansal claimed reports of violence were “fake news” spread by “jihadists” and said it had only arranged peaceful rallies. But witnesses saw upwards of 3,000 people, many carrying sticks, iron rods, swords and cans of kerosene or petrol, marching through districts across Tripura last week, attacking Muslim homes and businesses. Saffron flags, the symbols of Hindu nationalism, were planted on several mosques, and pork – which is forbidden in Islam – was placed outside another.

The subcontinent has a long history of communal tensions and violence, from the bloody partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 to the violent 1971 war which led to the formation of Bangladesh. However, regional analysts say the latest incidents are indicative of the rising tide of religious intolerance against minorities in south Asia, evident across India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/31/hindu-muslim-violence-crosses-border-from-bangladesh-to-india