16 death threats in 15 days; BD Hindu priests, servitors, monks under Jihadi strangulation

Dhaka : Most of the Hindu priests and temple servitors are in a great panic after they have received terror threat from various Jihadi modules trying to create an unrest in Bangladesh through a severe minority persecution. 

In such a situation, many of the threatened priests and temple servitors belonging to Hindu faith just do not dare to go into public apprehending any attack on them mostly occurred in a manner of hacked to death with machetes.

In these first six months of current year (Jan-June, 2016), six Hindu priests/servitors (including one Buddhist monk) were hacked to death by the suspected Islamic militants and another two priests were survived luckily even after such attacks on them.

Now, it is surfaced that 16 Hindu priests and temple servitors got Jihadi terror threat in Islamic Bangladesh in last 15 days in this series of threat mongering upon the Bangladesh Hindu minorities. An new Islamic conspiracy has been hatched definitely to seize and snatch the rights of Religion from the gallowing Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.

Atul Brahmachari, the HENB correspondent from Dhaka conveys that such threat letters were received by the Hindu priests, temple servitors, Ashram Monk, head of the Hindu religious body etc.  in  Panchgarh, Tangail, Rangpur, Gopalganj, Jhenaidaha, Bagerhat, Bagerhat, Magura,  Bhola, Moulavibazar, Pirojpur, Pabna and Patuakhali. All these letters were sent from various addresses, none of which could not be accessed by the investigative police officers, as reported.

Sri Bijoy Chakraborty, a veteran temple priest attached with Anandamoyee Seva Ashram at Rangpur city’s College Road area, found a threat letter addressed to him in a yellow envelope on the temple floor on Monday early morning. Though the priest lodged an FIR to Rangpur Kotwali PS,  more than 100 Hindu families residing the neighbourhood got frightened after flashing the news.

In Pirojpur, Ruhidas Pal, a priest at Palpara Durga-Kali Temple, found a letter on the temple floor on Sunday night, threatening him with murder, said a frightened Narendranath Roy, secretary of the temple committee.

“He informed me of the matter, which I relayed to Pirojpur Deputy Commissioner Md Khairul Alam next morning”, Narendranath said.

The letter threatens: “The killing mission is now in Pirojpur. You don’t need to know who we are… All Hindu priests, leaders and employed persons will be killed one by one”. The Islamic radicals in Bangladesh want to stop the religious rights and any religious festivals of Non-Muslim people in Bangladesh through this threat mission may be termed as “Threat Jihad”.

The other priest, Salil Mukhopadhaya of Central Kali Temple in Pirojpur town said that he found an envelope in the temple Monday morning. It was also contained a death threat.

Mukhopadhaya immediately informed the temple management committee and police about the letter. Pirojpur Sadar police station OC Masumur Rahman confirmed the matter but found clueless.

Meanwhile, An unidentified man has threatened to kill a servitor of Deshbandhu Bishwakalyan Geeta Ashram at Baufal Municipality in Patuakhali district.

A man, donning a raincoat, approached the Ashram servitor Paritosh Saha, 70, at the temple  and said, “Finish dinner and get ready to die. Your days are counted”. Paritosh was then washing the temple floors. The Officer in Charge of Baufal police station, Azam Khan Faruki has confirmed the matter of threat.

Two priests of Companiganj temples got threat of hacking (jabai/jabeh) in Noakhali districts. After reporting of the threat letters from some suspicious source, the local police increased the security surveillance in the concerned areas. Before that a veteran Buddhist monk at Basabore monastery at Dhaka got a threat letter on 29th June causing him to stop religious preaching further. on 11 the July, the whole family of a Hindu priest attached to Uttar Baligaon Radha-Gopinath Temple  in Kamalganj-Uttar Monipur Palli of Moulavibazar got a threat letter from suspected Jihadi group. In that threat the recipient were told to denounce their Hindu faith in order to be converted to Islam. The nativity of Uttar Monipur Polli is now under in an inexplicable entrenchment of fear and fever.

In Jhenaidaha, the priest of Kaliganj Radha-Gopinath Temple was threatened after a priest of was hacked to death on ist July in a nearby temple. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for that death in a report by the group’s Amaq News Agency, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity online. Responsibility for many other attacks had been claimed either by the Islamic State or a branch of Al Qaeda, but the Bangladeshi government has persistently denied the presence of such extremist networks in the country. After getting the threatening phone-call the targeted priest Sebananda Das left his temple to hide elsewhere.

In the same style a Hindu priest name Shribas Chakroborty in Moralganj sub-district of Bagerhat was threatened over a telecall. The caller described himself as an operative of Islamic State as reports came in.

on 3rd July, the priest connected to Arpara Kali Temple and Salikha Puja Celebration Committee got a threat letter directing the Hindus to leave Bangladesh at once, otherwise they would be slaughtered in a very brutal way. President of Salikha Puja Celebration Committee, Bimal Krishna Das told HENB that they already lodged a diary attaching the threat letter to Salikha police Station. But, the Hindu locals are afraid to celebrate the coming Durga puja festival under such Islamic threats here and there as heard frequently.

In Barguna municipal town, Sanjay Chakraborty, a priest of Kali Temple at Karaitala area also got a threat letter for hacking him. The perpetrators introduced themselves as the members of  “Priest Killing Mission”.

On 5th July, the temple priest of Mahaprabhu Temple at Bappa Union in Bhola Sadar District got a threat letter at evening time. The concerned priest, Jagadananda Brahmachari recovered a letter inside the donation box of the temple. The letter threatened, ” There is no chance to survive even you take safety measures. All of you will be hacked to death very soon”.

Kajal Debnath, a presidium member of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, told HENB that Hindus, particularly in rural villages, are terrified and call his organization daily wondering if they will survive the latest outbreak of killings and threats of hacking all around. Hindus and other religious minorities have been victims of oppression in Bangladesh for decades and do not know why they have suddenly become the “prime target of a series of similar killings and death threats” he said.

It is very much unfortunately that the dire consequences of Bangladesh Hindu and other minorities put in a Jihadi killing field under a “Priest Killing Mission” or “Threat Jihad” are not seriously addressed by nor the Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, nor her neighbouring counterpart Indian PM Narendra Modi.

Source : Hindu Existence