Saturday, 8 March 2014

Hindu Shrine attacked in Gagrabari, S 24 Parganas; police arrests the victim along with the aggressors

If you thought Tarapith was the only place which came under jihadi attack today, think again. Be it popular Hindu religious places like Tarapith in the district of Birbhum or the remote village of Gagrabari under Kanthalberia panchayat in South 24 Parganas district, Hindus are often at the receiving end Relentless attacks in West Bengal. There used to be a Hindu temple consecrated to Sheetala Mata deity in Gagrabari village of Basanti police station. As the property of the temple was being encroached upon by local Muslims, apprehensive Hindus put a fence around the area. On 27th November 2013, a Muslim named Hamid Poddar trespassed into the area of the temple and started making haystacks along with his sons and other members of his community. 

Hindus vehemently opposed their actions and asked them to leave the premises at once but Hamid Poddar and his sons Monirul Sardar and Nazir Sardar not only refused to leave quietly but attacked the Hindu protesters accompanied by Nabir Ali Sardar (son of Aljubbar Sardar), Ujir Ali, Sabir Ali Mollah and few others. 

The Hindu residents - among them, Biplab Santra (son of Bishwanath Santra), Sanjay Jana (son of Gour Jana), Sadhan Maity (son of Late Panchu Maity), Paritosh Santra (son of Laxman Santra), Ramkrishna Adhikary (son of Radhanath Adhikary) along with a lady Putul Adhikari were injured in the attack. Biplab Santra received a terrible blow on his head that resulted in skull fracture. Even though it appears that the incident was instigated by the trespassing of Hamid and his companions, police arrested 6 Hindus along with 4 Muslims. Biplab Santra who had a serious injury was not even offered any medical assistance but was kept behind the bar. At the time of reporting, Biplab has been released by the police but Paritosh is still under custody along with 3 other members from the attacking Muslim community.

No comments: