Shameful incident in Rangpur
It sounds all too familiar. Like Ramu and Nasirnagar, tensions flared up in Rangpur a few days ago amid allegations that a man belonging to the minority Hindu community “demeaned Islam” in his Facebook post. Tensions culminated in protests leading to bigots burning down homes of local Hindu villagers.
There can be no justification for committing indiscriminate attacks against an entire community for a misdeed (we do not know whether it is true at all) of a single person. It is shameful that we have failed to save our minority, once again.
It is unbelievable that our law enforcers have not yet learned how such events eventually end up. They did not take any precautions to prevent the obvious. In the aftermath, they had to exercise force, which unfortunately claimed two fatal casualties. The local community and political leaders must have been at fault. They failed to act responsibly and assuage tensions.
We, as a nation, must wake up. We must condemn such racial and communal incidents unequivocally if we want a just and equal society.
Masudur Rahman
Chittagong
