User:BengaliHindu/2016 Bangladesh Anti-Hindu attacks

Since February 2016, a number of ordinary Hindus have been killed or seriously injured in machete attacks by suspected Islamists. Contrary to the attacks on the atheists and secularists, the attacks on ordinary Hindus occurred without any apparent reasons like blasphemy. While the attacks on the former group have taken place mostly in Dhaka, the attacks on the latter group have taken place mostly in villages and small towns in the districts. The attacks have taken place amid growing concerns of Bangladesh becoming a hotbed of ISIL operatives.

Background
In 2012 the Hindus were subjected to attacks in isolated areas like Chirirbandar in Dinajpur District, Fatehpur in Satkhira District and Hathazari in Chittagong District. In 2013, there were widespread attacks on Hindu across the length and breadth of Bangladesh after Delwar Hossain Sayeedi was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal. In 2014, the Hindus came under attack again after the general elections which were boycotted by the main opposition party. In 2015 there were isolated cases of attacks on individuals and temples.

February
On 8 February 2016 at 6 am in the morning, unidentified assailants attacked 45-year-old Tarun Dutta, a small time Hindu businessman in hardware, while he was taking a morning walk in College Road in Gobindaganj in Gaibandha District. The attackers slit his throat and dumped him under a culvert. At 10 am, his head and his beheaded body were discovered in a ditch in Bardhankuthi area of the town. As the news spread, the members of Gobindaganj Banik Samiti, the local merchant's association shut their shops for four hours in protest. On the next day the members of Gobindaganj Banik Samiti, Gobindaganj Upazila Puja Udjapan Parishad and the aggrieved local population blocked the Rangpur-Bogra Highway for an hour in protest. On 21 February, ISIS claimed responsibility for the death of Tarun Dutta.

In early 2016, the Panchagarh district police received anonymous threats following which they beefed up security around Hindu temples and Hindu community centers. On 21 February, the International Mother Language Day, which is a national holiday in Bangladesh, the police forces were deputed for providing security where celebrations were being held, leaving the Hindu temples vulnerable to attacks. At around 7 am in the morning, five or six suspected Islamists rode in motorcycles to Sri Sri Sant Gouri Math in Debiganj Upazila of Panchagarh District where 55-year-old Jogeshwar Roy, the founder and head priest of the matha was preparing of the prayers in presence of devotees. The assailants fired and hurled grenades at the temple as they approached. Two assailants attacked Roy with a cleaver and slit his throat. Two devotees were injured. One devotee who attempted to stop the assailants was shot in the leg and wounded. The police suspected the outlawed Islamist militant group Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh in the attacks, but later in the day ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement released in Arabic through Telegram and Twitter. The police rejected the claim of ISIS and blamed the attack on Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and arrested four members of the group, suspected to be behind the attacks. According to the Indian newspaper Daily News and Analysis, this was the first direct attack on the Hindu community since October 2015 when the spate of attacks began against minority religious groups.

April
On 30 April 2016, three unidentified assailants rode in a motorcycle to 50-year-old Nikhil Chandra Joarder's house cum tailoring shop in Dubail village in Gopalpur Upazila of Tangail District. They took him to a nearby road on the pretext of some talk, where they hacked him indiscriminately in his head, neck and hands. Joarder died on the spot and the assailants left, leaving behind a bag containing objects suspected to be crude bombs. According to the police the possible cause of the attack could be the alleged blasphemous statement made by Joarder against Muhammad in 2012, for which he was jailed for three weeks, but later released because the complainants withdrew charges against him. Hours later U.S. based SITE Intelligence Group reported that ISIS had claimed responsibility of the attack through a news release made through Amaq Agency. The ISIS press release mentioned that Joarder was known for insulting Muhammad but didn't explicitly mention it as the reason for attacking him.

May
On 25 May at around 6 am in the morning, three or four unidentified assailants entered the shoe shop of 68-year-old Debesh Chandra Pramanik, a physically disabled Hindu businessman in Mahimaganj in Gobindaganj Upazila in Gaibandha District. They hacked Pramanik's neck and slashed his throat with a sharp weapon. Pramanik died on the spot while the assailants fled. The police initially rejected any Islamist angle citing use of small knife and arrested a local Hindu drug addict. Later the ISIS claimed responsibility of the attacks, as per information from U.S. based SITE Intelligence Group. The police rejected the ISIS claim and began suspecting Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh behind the attacks. The traders in Mahimaganj closed their shops for several hours in protest.