As the Bangladesh polls conclude and a new regime is set to occupy the power helm of Dhaka, the atrocities and heinous crimes targeting the minority Hindu community sees no end. Among the series of uncontrolled crimes escalated against the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh, in yet another chilling episode, a 28 year-old Hindu man, who was a worker at a tea plantation has been brutally murdered. The heinous crime has occurred on the eve of the most consequential polls of Bangladesh, that is set to determine the future political course of the country and most importantly the path towards protecting the minority rights.
The 28 year-old Ratan Sahuakar, worked in the tea garden of the Champa area in Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh. His body was recovered on February 11, Wednesday around 10AM. His body was in a pathetic state with severe wounds and his hands & legs were tied. Blood was still oozing from the injuries found all across his body. It is said that such inhuman and merciless crime has been committed by radical elements, whoever the culprits have not yet been identified, as per the sources. The co-workers of Ratan Sahuakar in the tea plantation asserted that he has been brutally murdered and his body has been thrown into the tea garden.
The murder is the latest in the series of attacks escalated targeting the people of the minority Hindu community. Just a few days ago, a 62 year-old Hindu rice trader Sushen Chandra Sarkar was murdered by a radical mob. The goons entered his shop, shed the shop from outside, attacked Sushen Chandra Sarkar with sharp weapons, took lakhs of rupees and fled the site, the Bangladesh police asserted. However, no concrete action has been taken on the criminals. A few months ago, Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu youth working at a garment factory in Mymensingh was brutally attacked, his body was tied to a tree and was set ablaze in public.
Anxiety spikes among the tea garden workers
As Ratan Sahukuar was murdered on the eve of Bangladesh national elections, anxiety and fear has been spiked among the family members and other labourers in the tea plantation over safety and law & order situation. Laxman Kar, elder brother of Ratan Sahukuar explained, “This morning, we were informed that his body was lying in the garden. We went there and identified him. We do not know why he was killed”. Workers at the tea garden and neighbours believe that Ratn Sahukaur may have been killed somewhere else and his body might have been dumped in the tea plantation to conceal the crime.
Several wounds on the body and the tied hands & legs reflect clearly that this is a murder and not an accident. The incident has spiked the safety concern among the minority Hindu community as they are hitherto living in an atmosphere of fear, anxiety and constant threat of being attacked and murdered, as the atrocities spike. The soaring heinous crimes targeting the minority Hindu community present an alarming scenario about the political and security status of Bangladesh. As Yunus administration took no concrete action, will the new government protect the minority Hindu rights? The answer is awaited.
