When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
visits Ramu today, she can expect to see some happy faces, as the government
has rebuilt 19 Buddhist temples that were torched and vandalised in Ramu and
Ukhia in September last year.
But the question remains how safe do
the victims feel when the main culprits behind the attacks on the Buddhist
community are moving freely. Ramu’s roads and alleyways are swarmed
with huge banners and festoons showing portraits of several of the men, whose
involvement in the attacks was confirmed by two probe bodies, to welcome the
prime minister.
Banners in Stadium Gate area of Ramu to welcome Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina carry names and photos of Nurul Islam Selim, president of local Press
Club and ex-chief of the upazila unit BCL, and Yunus Rana Chowdhury, general
secretary of local Sramik League. Circled red, they are among the 12 persons
whom two probe bodies found to have been involved in last year’s attacks on
Buddhist community.
“The very sight of the main culprits
walking free stokes our fears,” Tarun Barua, leader of local Buddhist community
and general secretary of Ramu Sima Bihar told The Daily Star on Saturday,
nearly a year after the attacks.
Islamist fanatics vandalised and
torched Buddhist temples and houses in Ramu and Ukhia of Cox’s Bazar on
September 29 and 30 last year, following a fake Facebook post that demeaned the
Quran.
The locals, who are still haunted by
the horrors of the mayhem, have expressed their gratitude to the prime minister
and the administration for the rehabilitation of the victims and reconstruction
of the temples. They say the mayhem ripped apart a
communal harmony built over centuries and left a deep wound that would take
more time to heal.
“It was more important to get to the
bottom of the incident than the rehabilitation of the victims. Otherwise, how
such attacks can be stopped?” said Proggamitra Bhikkhu of Sima Bihar.
Pandit Satyapriyo Mahathero, a leader
of the Buddhist community, said, “Nothing can make up for the damage and
torching of historical and rare objects, the Tripitak and other valuable books
on religion.”
Alok Barua, a bank official, told The
Daily Star that the peace-loving Buddhists still pass their days in utter
insecurity, as the masterminds and instigators of the attacks have not been
arrested yet. The local Buddhist community provided
the superintendent of police in Cox’s Bazar with a list of 12 key perpetrators
of the attacks, but they are still at large, he said.
A judicial enquiry led by Chittagong
District and Sessions Judge Abdul Quddus Miah found 298 people involved in the
attacks, while a government committee headed by Additional Divisional
Commissioner of Chittagong M Nurul Islam identified 205 people, who were
allegedly involved in the attacks.
The Daily Star has learnt that the
names of the 12 persons are on both the lists. Of them, Nurul Islam Selim,
ex-president of Bangladesh Chhatra League Ramu unit, tops the list of the
accused prepared by the judicial enquiry team and seconds the other list made
by the government body. But he is yet to be arrested.
His photos can be seen in festoons and
banners that are hung in Ramu to welcome the prime minister. The lists of accused also include
general secretary of Sramik League’s Ramu unit Yunus Rana Chowdhury and BCL
activist Joynul Abedin Bhutto. Two other accused — local BNP leaders
Kamal Uddin and Asfar Kamal — also roam free. They both are union parishad
members.
However, names of none of the 12
persons were mentioned in the charge sheets of seven of the 19 cases filed for
the attacks and looting of the Buddhist temples and houses in Ramu and Ukhia.
Police submitted the charge sheets to judicial magistrate courts on Sunday and
yesterday.
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| Bangladesh-government-Rebuilt Buddhist Pagoda in Ramu. |
The rehabilitation and reconstruction
of the temples could do little to allay their fears, said many of the victims
in Merungloa village of Ramu, where Border Guard Bangladesh built new houses
for 15 affected families. The village witnessed acts of arson,
vandalism and looting on September 29 last year.
The miscreants used to hurl brickbats
at their houses and lock them from outside just a few months back, but it
stopped after they informed police, said one of the victims, asking not to be
named. Suresh Barua, president of Ramu unit of
Bangladesh Buddhist Association, was of the opinion that the fear of the
victims would not go away unless measures are taken to ensure their safety.
Ramu Kendriya Bouddha Oikya and Kalyan
Parishad wrote to the prime minister on August 24 and recommended setting up a
permanent administrative cell on security of Buddhist monasteries. They suggested that the cell should
include members of the army and Border Guard Bangladesh and representatives of
local administration and the Buddhist community.
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Related posts at following links:
Islamic Genocide of Buddhists in Bangladesh
Bangladeshi-Muslims Burn Buddhist Temples in Ramu
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Related posts at following links:
Islamic Genocide of Buddhists in Bangladesh
Bangladeshi-Muslims Burn Buddhist Temples in Ramu