Panic grips Borhanuddin upazila

There was no sound of gunfire at Bhola's Borhanuddin Upazila, nor was there any violence. Yet, both the Muslim and the Hindu communities there are living in fear of attacks and arrest by the police.

The Muslim community is in panic because police filed cases against 5,000 unidentified people on Sunday over the Bhola violence that left four killed and over 200 injured.

Hindu leaders have asked their community to remain alert until the situation calms down. They also decided not to make any comment over the incident.

On a visit to many areas of the country's southern upazila, this correspondent observed that everyone was in a state of panic, and looked in fear at any unknown person.

Abul Bashar, a resident of ward-8 of Borhanuddin Pourashava, told The Business Standard they are in fear of arrest. "It is ludicrous that the police have filed cases against the very people whom they fired on."

Hindu leaders, in the meantime, were going through a stage of indecision about what to do in the present context.

"We are yet to decide what we should do now. We are going through a very critical time," said a upazila level leader of the district's Puja Udjapan (Celebration) Committee, on Monday, seeking anonymity.

"We never allow any derogatory comments against a religion. We always discourage it and tell everyone to respect the religion of other people in the country," he said.

He urged the government to find the true reason for the incident and punishment the people responsible.

Security has been beefed up in the entire upazila with the deployment of four platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh and one platoon of the Coast Guard. Also, the Rapid Action Battalion and police are patrolling the area regularly to maintain law and order.

Officer-in-Charge of Borhanuddin police station M Enamul Haque said they have no intention of harassing innocent people. "We are trying to maintain peace in the area."

A team of eight police personnel have been deployed in front of the home of Biplob Chandra Shuvo who allegedly hurt religious sentiment through a Facebook post, fuelling a protest.

Sub-Inspector Md Belal, who leads the team, said they are providing security to Biblob's family.

In the meantime, there was no procession or rally on Monday morning in Borhanuddin because these have been banned by the district administration.

When contacted, Moulana Mohibullah known as Batamara Peer, who led Sunday's protest rally, said they had no plan for another rally on Monday.

"We also have no plan to arrange one in the future," said the Moulana.