Ruling party men carried out Shalla attack: Zafrullah

Leaders and activists of Jubo League, ruling Awami League's youth wing, were directly involved in the recent attack, vandalism and looting of houses and temples of Hindu minority community at Noagaon village in Shalla upazila in Sunamganj, alleged Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury.

He was addressing a press conference organised at the Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in the capital on Thursday demanding immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators of the Shalla attack.

Dr Zafrullah said, "The Noagaon village is inhabited by Awami League men. The locals and Awami League men have told me that there is only one BNP activist named Sajal Sarkar in that village. They said they first heard about Jhanun Das being a BNP leader through the newspaper."

He alleged that the administration also knew all about the attack. "The administration assured them that there would be no attack. So, the villagers did not flee. Yet the attack was carried out."

Alleging that the administration remained inactive during the attack, he further added, "Around 10 local Hindu freedom fighters have complained to me that they had informed the UNO long before the attack and asked for help, but the UNO did not help them. Instead, he abused them over the phone."

Dr Zafrullah demanded the construction of houses for 150 families affected by the attack, formation of a high-level inquiry committee headed by former IGP Nur Mohammad and former army officer M Karim, formation of a minority ministry headed by Sheikh Rehana, and stopping the use of mosque mics for political purposes.

Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu, secretary general of Bhasani Onusari Parishad; Jonayed Saki, chief coordinator of Ganasanghati Andolan; Naeem Jahangir, presidium member of Bhasani Onusari Parishad; Hasnat Qayyum, chairman of Rashtrachinta; animal researcher Enam Al Haq and Barrister Sadia Amin were also present at the press conference.

On 17 March, hundreds of people carried out a brutal attack on temples and houses of Hindu minority community in Noagaon village for allegedly making a provocative post on Facebook.

The following day, Shalla police Sub-Inspector Abdul Karim filed a case over the incident against several hundred unidentified persons. Besides, Habibpur Union Parishad Chairman Vivekananda Majumder also filed a case accusing 60 people.