One More Hindu Youth Dies in Bangladesh, Verma Calls on Rahman
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 10: Even as Hindus in Bangladesh continue to face violent attacks, with one more Hindu youth dying in hospital on Saturday, the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma met the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairman Tarique Rahman, a day after he was officially anointed to the post by the party ahead of the February 12 national elections.
“The meeting lasted for some 40 minutes,” the BNP media cell spokesman Sayrul Kabir Khan said calling it a courtesy call. BNP emerged as the forerunner in Bangladesh politics, with its once crucial ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, being the main rival, ahead of the scheduled February 12 elections, in the absence of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s now disbanded Awami League.
Mr Rahman has been steering BNP as its acting chairman since 2018, but the party’s highest policy-making standing committee on Friday night formally elected him as the party chief 10 days after his mother, BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia died after prolonged illness. Pakistan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Haider had also called on Mr Rahman hours before he was made the BNP Chairman.
Mr Rahman who was in self-exile in London for 17 years and returned home only on December 25, last year, is considered to be the most likely next prime minister of Bangladesh after the elections.
Meanwhile, the latest Hindu victim in the Bangladesh holocaust was identified as Joy Mahapatro. Conflicting reports has emerged about his death with some of his family members claiming that he was forced to drink poison by a Muslim shop owner while some other reports claimed that he committed suicide by consuming poison after he was humiliated and assaulted by the shop-owner for failing to clear the last instalment of a purchase of a mobile phone from his shop.
According to his family, Mahapatro a resident of Dirai Upazila in Bangladesh’s Sunamganj, died at the Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, was beaten and poisoned by a local individual. He was later admitted to the intensive care unit of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, where he died.
According to Ayan Das, the cousin of the victim, Joy Mahapatro was humiliated and assaulted by a local shop owner over a small debt. Mahapatro had bought a mobile phone for 5,500 taka (around Rs 4,000) from Amirul Islam, a local grocery shop owner. Das said Mahapatro had paid 2,000 taka (around Rs 1400) in cash and had promised to pay the rest in instalments of 500 takas (around Rs 360) every week.
He had paid off the amount except for the last 500 takas, which was slightly delayed. According to Das, on Thursday, when Mahapatro went to Islam’s shop to pay the money owed, he was beaten up, and his mobile phone was taken away. The victim’s family also alleged that Mahapatro was insulted and assaulted by Islam during this time.
Shelly Mahapatro, the mother of the deceased, claimed that her son returned home after consuming poison from that shop that day. Later, he told his family that he had consumed poison, after which Mahapatro was first taken to the Dirai Upazila Health Complex and later to the Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital after his condition deteriorated.
The shop owner, Islam, claimed that Mahapatro still owed him 2,500 takas and since he was unable to pay the money, he was only asking him to return the phone. The shop owner also denied allegations that he forced Mahapatro to consume poison. Enamul Haque Chowdhury, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Dirai Police Station, said legal action would be taken if they receive a written complaint.
Separately, Bangladesh police on Thursday arrested the prime accused in the lynching of Hindu man Dipu Chandra Das, a garment worker killed over allegations of blasphemy. Officials identified the accused as Yasin Arafat, a former teacher, who is believed to have played a central role in orchestrating and carrying out the attack.
Dipu Das, 27, was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district. Investigators said he was allegedly forced to resign by his factory supervisors before being dragged from his workplace and handed over to a local mob. The mob beat him to death, hanged his body from a tree, and set it on fire. Police said several of his colleagues were also involved in the assault.
