Hindus in Panchla reel under terror:
As fresh reports are coming to the news desk, Hindus,
especially women, have fled from the persecuted villages of Kolepara,
Pachalpara, Santrapara and Beltala in particular, within the jurisdiction of
the police station of Panchla in the district of Howrah, following an unprecedented
attack on Hindus inhabiting the villages today in the noon. It has been learnt,
massive procession of Muslims to observe “Viswa Nabi Divas” or World Nabi Day, under
the watchful eye of police, was brought out in the noon today itself. The problem
started when a Hindu woman Shyamasree Ghosh (name changed) living in Koelpara
objected to high pitch sound emanating from sound boxes used in the pageant and
asked organizers to lessen it. When she was both challenged and taunted sexually,
a few Hindu youths joined the protest leading to a minuscule fight between the
two groups. Contrary to the expectation of Hindus, the news of tussle was
circulated to other groups of Muslims rapidly and massive violent attacks with
use of arms to teach Hindus a lesson were unleashed. The intensity of assault was
such that police teams guarding the procession had to flee.
A large number of houses of Hindus have been ransacked by now while at Pollepara
within Koelpara, two Hindu temples of Harisabha and Lord Hanuman have been razed
to the ground. Along with these, an embroidery factory and a residence, both
owned by Hindus, have been burnt down. Hindus sought help of local police and
administration to stop the criminals but there was no response. It has been
learnt, RAF has been deployed to calm the situation but resurgence of sanity in
the area seems to be a doomed prospect. Reason?
The crisis deepened before the presence of Gulshan Mallick (present MLA at Panchla
Legislative Constituency and from Trinamool Congress) and Officer-in-Charge of Panchla
police station.
The whole of Panchla, at the moment, is staggering under a
fear of death. The expression may appear to be impolite to many readers but the
cruel truth can neither be avoided nor be concocted. The visit of a team of
Hindu Samhati to the worst-hit areas today itself has brought such heartrending
and horrific accounts out. The earlier
report was based on firsthand information while assaults on Hindus were in full
swing but now the details reveal a greater horror. Contrary to beliefs that murderous
assaults were limited to a handful of villages, it’s now evident that lots of areas
populated by Hindus were attacked by the lethal mob simultaneously and they
include the village of Biki Hakola including wards like Raypara, Kolepara, Pachhalpara, Choto
Gabberia, Beltala, Daspara, Hazrapara and Gabberia Kacharigora. And all these encompass
an area of 10 sq.km. Everything happened as part of grievous and premeditated strategies
and hence, the brutal mob was well prepared from the very beginning to unleash
the worst form of terror. The mob was armed with all kinds of lethal weapons
ranging from daggers to bombs along with large numbers of bricks.
The procession celebrating
“Viswa Nabi Divas” or International Nabi
Day went through villages inhabited by Hindus most and once a Hindu lady
objected to the high pitch sound emanating from sound boxes used in the pageant
and asked organizers to lessen the volume, assaults were let loose. While tens
of hundreds of bricks were thrown to residences of Hindus, let alone hurling bombs,
members in crowds ransacked same houses as well. Assaults went on rising before
local police force but it preferred to remain silent and this unconcern instigated
felons to wreak havoc. Albeit Hindus asked police to implement apposite measures
to clam the situation down, the force tracked maimed Hindus only and arrested
Kalipada Sahu only after foraying his house and breaking its main door.
The vicious mob desecrated and also burnt Harisabha (Hari temple) at Biki Hakola Kolepara down. While a
Kali temple at Raypara became an easy prey to plunders and arsons, the Hanuman
temple at Kolepara was also despoiled. The following list of victims manifests
the horror more.
Victims include:
1) Residence of Shibnath
Ray who happens to be a professional mason. After ransacking the residence, it
was set to fire.
2) House of Amar Ray –
while two cows have been looted, another cow was slaughtered. Even the cistern
was also not spared – it was damaged as a result of heavy bombing.
3) Grill factory of
Asit Pachhal and it was ransacked.
4) Embroidery factory
of Ajit Koley was looted.
5) Attackers did not
spare Dr. Raghu Karmakar even – both his private chamber and house were ransacked.
6) Chicken shop of
Subrata Manna was looted.
7) A shop of selling
furniture and owned by Banshi Pachal was pillaged.
8) Shop of Gora Sahu
for selling snacks was looted.
9) Residence of Bulbul
Koley was attacked, bombed resulting in injury of a cow within the house.
10) Fields of betel
leaves in both Hazrapara and Daspara were destroyed.
The police force in the area left no stone unturned to harass the team
of Hindu Samhati but it managed to collect facts and a few photographs.
No comments:
Post a Comment