On Tuesday (18th March), extremists belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) vandalised the house of a Hindu family and issued death threats to them in Sylhet city of Bangladesh.
According to reports, the victim was identified as a differently-abled Asim Kumar Das. On Tuesday, local BNP leader Jasmine Begum, and her brothers Raihan Mia, Kawasar and Kamal Ahmed pelted stones and bricks at his house.
They also broke the glass panes. When the victim’s parents attempted to stop the extremists, the latter assaulted them with sticks and pipes. The BNP leader and her aides also entered the premises of Asim Kumar Das’ house and carried out vandalism.
They also threatened to kill his parents. The Hindu family thereafter filed a complaint with the local police. OC Syed Anisur Rahman claimed that the dispute was over ‘road space’ and that the situation was under control.
On learning about the incident, the leaders of the local Sylhet Metropolitan Puja Udjavan Parishad and the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council visited the residence of the Hindu family.
It has come to light that the BNP leader Jasmine Begum had previously attacked the residence of Asim Kumar Das not once but 3 different times. Attempts were being made to encorach his house in the guise of clearing space for the road.
First, the extremists were successful in encroaching 2 feet of space and later demanded an additional 5 feet of space from the helpless Hindu family. When the demands were not met, they carried out vandalism and issued threats.
In January this year, Gplus reported how 4 radicals associated with Chatra Dal (the student wing of the Islamist political party BNP) abducted three Hindus from Chittagong and demanded ransom from their families.