A false propaganda using a hacked Facebook account of a minority community member was behind Sunday’s violence in Bhola, said sources. Reliable sources said cadres of Jamaat-BNP instigated religiously conservative people to become violent in Bhola, saying that the minority community member had posted derogatory remarks on Prophet Muhammad (Sm).
The vested quarter is hatching conspiracy again and again to carry out communal attacks on Hindus, like they did in Nasirnagar of Brahmanbaria and in Ramu of Cox's Bazar several years ago, using fake Facebook posts. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student organisation Islami Chhatra Shibir are masterminding these communal posts using hacked Facebook accounts of minority community persons, intelligence sources said.
Meanwhile, after the four were killed by police during violent demonstrations in Bhola, law enforcing agencies have been instructed to remain alert to avert any communal attacks against any communities. Local sources said after hacking Facebook accounts of one Biplob Chandra Shuvo, a Hindu youth, son of one Arabindra Chandra De, hailed from Borhanuddin Upazila in Bhola, Jamaat-Shibir activists sent the edited screenshot of fake conversion insulting Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SM) and Almighty Allah. Later the screenshot went viral in the district.
Getting such so called defamatory messages from a so-called Hindu youth, a section of Muslim community, became angry. Using the religious sentiments of the common Muslim people, Jamaat-Shibir men organised them to bring out unruly procession locally. Jamaat-Shibir sponsored verified twitter accounts Basherkella, was publishing one after another instigating post on Bhola incident till filing the report around at 7:15pm.
They even used the pictures of the bullet hit bodies and injured persons, to instigate communal violence. They are using objectionable hashtags including ‘#BholaMassacre #StepDownHasina #SaveMuslims’, as part of their deep-rooted conspiracy not only against the government, but also against the state.
According to the local sources, four people were killed and several others injured as law enforcers tried to prevent unruly protestors from carrying attacks against a man, whom they claimed responsible for a reported hate conversation through Facebook’s messenger app. Eyewitness said protestors were not peaceful from the very beginning. But police were providing security for them so that the situation did not deteriorate.
Police claimed after ending procession without any trouble, Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists in guise of protestors attempted to carry out attacks against innocent people and police. At one stage, police had to fire rubber bullets to disperse the mobs who were trying to attack on minority community and their properties. Then clash erupted.
Four people -- Mizan, Mahfuz Patwari, Shaheen and Mahbub Patwari -- were killed, said Dr Abul Kalam Azad, medical officer of Bhola Sadar Hospital. Thirty people who suffered bullet wounds during the clash were admitted to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, said Dr Abul Hasnat Russell at the hospital’s emergency department. All of them were admitted to the hospital in between 1:30 pm and 5pm, he added.
Superintendent of Police in Bhola, Sarkar Md Kaiser said, “Police were forced to fire rubber bullet to save the lives and property of the common people.” He said since October 18, a screen shot of a conversation, seemingly designed to hurt religious sentiments, went viral through social media in Bhola. The person in the centre of the storm himself went to the Borhanuddin Police Station on Saturday afternoon and filed a general diary stating that his Facebook ID had been hacked.
The Bhola SP said that they have already detained three persons for alleged involvement in the hacking of Biplob’s Facebook account. “We have got all the information related to the account hacking.” “The local administration and police took initiatives to minimize the tension through engaging with the communities and keeping the accused in safety custody. But a vested quarter continued to fuel it,” the SP added.
AKM Ehsanullah, an additional DIG of Barishal Range, said that the police and local administration calmed down the situation on Saturday night, consulting with local Imam, religious leaders, people’s representatives and local personalities. But, he said, on Sunday morning, a group of people built a stage and set up 17 loudspeakers at Bhola Eidgah field, starting religiously emotional propaganda.
“Within moments, around 50,000 people gathered there. As police tried to calm them down, the protesters started attacking the police, throwing brick-chips, forcing the SP and UNO, who went to the Eidgah to calm down the situation, to take shelter in a nearby room.” “They broke open the door partially, but could not get in,” the additional DIG said. “We used mattress as a shield to save us. Had they entered the room, they would have killed me, SP and UNO,” he said.
The UNO then informed the situation to deputy commissioner, who permitted the police to open fire. “We had no option, but to open fire,” the DIG added. A BGB platoon has been deployed in Bhola to maintain law and order. A 5-member committee has been formed with the DIG Barisal Range as the head. The team will investigate the incident. The police requested all not to listen to rumor or false propaganda, said Md. Sohel Rana, AIG (Media and PR) of Police Headquarters.
