Alamgir has 'primary info' on hate attackers

Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir 

Tue, Oct 30th, 2012 5:20 pm BdST

Dhaka, Oct 30 (bdnews24.com) — Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir on Tuesday claimed  to have collected primary information on those who carried out the communal riot in Cox's Bazar's  Ramu.  The statement comes exactly a month after alleged Muslim zealots vandalised, looted and  burned houses and places of worship in phases starting Sep 29 night.  "We are still working to identify those who had a role in the incident," said Alamgir at his  Secretariat office.  His made the statement based on a report the probe body formed to investigate the incident  submitted with a total of 11 recommendations on Oct 18.  Alamgir thinks the riot broke out following provocation by some local and foreign masterminds.  "Dirty politics and provocation for upsetting communal harmony were behind the breakout of the  riot," he added.  Alamgir said names of those identified by the probe would be made public gradually and that they  were working to take action in line with the investigation.  He castigated the opposition BNP for submitting its probe report to representatives of other countries.  He refuted the allegation that negligence on the part of law enforcers was responsible for the riot.  He, however, admitted what he called 'deviation' in role of some administrators, and promised  action against them.  A word of mouth that a Buddhist youth, Uttam Barua, had posted a photograph on his  Facebook account for denigrating Islam touched off the riot on Sep 29 night.  Buddhist villages and temples were set afire indiscriminately by violent the zealots.  The hate attack spread to Teknaf, Ukhia and Patia the next day. More temples  were attacked, looted and set ablaze.  bdnews24.com/sha/eh/nir/1710h Your Right To Know Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Prabarana Purnima No festivity in Ramu The Buddhist community of Ramu on the occasion of Prabarana Purnima yesterday fixes paper lanterns at the ruins of Lal Ching Bihar, one of the temples destroyed in September 29 by Muslim fanatics. Yet to recover from the shock, the Buddhists are not releasing these lanterns -- locally known as Fanus -- in the sky unlike the previous years. Top, devotees light lamps at Central Sima Bihar, another temple bearing the scars of the mindless mayhem. Photo: Anurup Kanti DasJulfikar Ali Manik and Prabir Barua Chowdhury Given its age-old culture of religious harmony, Ramu could well be a  own of a series of great festivals this October. And why not? This year, three major religious festivals -- Durga Puja, Eid-ul-Azha and Prabarana  Purnima -- of the Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist fell one after another. But Ramu suffered a deep scar, too, this year. Its people are yet to overcome  the trauma of the heartbreaking attack on the Buddhist on September 29. The fire the communal forces set to Buddhist temples and homes has indeed burned more things than a place of worship or someone's dwelling. Those blazes have  wounded those parts of their hearts where harmony and joy lived. In a town where communal harmony has been so prevalent that its entire  population regardless of religion shares the joy of each other's religious festival,  it is the first time that the Buddhist in Ramu has curtailed their most colourful  programme, Prabarana Purnima. Also for the first time, the Buddhist community refrained from flying paper  lanterns (fanus) yesterday. The shell-shocked community will not float, as  they do every year, decorated ships on the Bakkhali river in Ramu today.  This festival is popularly known as Jahaj Bhasha Utsav. Instead of flying those traditional "fanus" yesterday evening, Buddhists wore  black badges to take to the streets in a procession, calling for peace. Organised  by Central Ramu Buddha Jubo Parishad, some 7,000 people from 14 villages  joined the march. "We have postponed the programme in protest against the violence. The  atmosphere is not favourable for the festival," said Swapan Barua, acting  chairman of Rajar Kul union of Ramu and also the president of the central  committee for the ship floating festival. Eid-ul-Azha, the second biggest religious festival of the Muslim, also came  and went without much festivity, as there was no spontaneous participation  of the people. In Ramu's Buddhist neighbourhood, it was never an issue as to who eats beef and mutton and who does not. Ramu's was an age-old tradition of sharing the  spirit of the festival, Buddhists visiting the Muslim homes on the eid day. "Many Buddhists used to join the festival [eid] wearing dresses like the Muslims  wear during their festival to share the joy," says Nitish Barua of Uttar Mithachari  in Ramu. Others say the Muslim and the Buddhist in Ramu have always spontaneously  participated in each other's religious festivals and their relations have been so  cordial that it was hard to separate them on occasions like eid, puja or Buddha Purnima. "It was the first time in my life that I spent the eid without spontaneous participation  of my Buddhist neighbours," Shamim Ahsan Bulu, a social activist and politician in  Ramu, told The Daily Star. "It was beyond imagining that our Buddhist neighbours and friends refrained from  visiting our home on the eid day, which was Ramu's age-old custom. Some of them  did come to my house having been unable to turn down my invitation. But the usual  cheerful spirit was missing," he added. On the night of September 29, Muslim zealots in their dozens burned to ashes 12  Buddhist monasteries and vandalised six pagodas in Ramu. The unruly mob also damaged dozens of Buddhist homes. It took several hours before the marauding fanatics could go on the rampage over a  faked Facebook page insulting the Quran. All this while, the local police and intelligence  personnel remained conspicuously inactive. Nazibul Islam, who was the officer-in-charge of Ramu Police Sation and was later closed,  is one of those who acted mysteriously during the overnight mayhem. Some locals chased  him when he went with a minister on October 1 to visit Shima Bihar, burned to ashes by  the bigots. Top police officials of Cox's Bazar and Ramu went to the Bihar on the eid day with some  food to distribute among the Buddhist. In their efforts to show things were all right again,  the law enforcers had a meal there with some Buddhist priests, including the chief of the  burned down monastery. While locals take it for a "drama," it was an embarrassment for the Buddhist priests. Progyananda Bhikshu, a priest of Shima Bihar, said they had some restrictions on taking  food. "And we told the superintendent of police [who went there] about it," he said, adding that  they still had to share the meal avoiding the chicken just to show courtesy. Police also sent some food to eight other Buddhist monasteries, much to the embarrassment  of the priests. Nurul Islam, a local Awami League leader and lawyer, doesn't take the police effort  positively. “I am sure the police have other motives for offering food to the priests at the temple," he said adding, "Looks like it was an attempt to soothe their anger against the police." Police and local administration were also desperate to persuade the Buddhist  community to fly "fanus" and float ships and offered to help arrange these programmes. But Buddhist leaders said they were not in a mood to celebrate the occasion amid festivity and that they would only offer prayers. In silence. “We were mortified to witness the incident of September 29. We have lost words to  describe our feelings," said Satya Priyo Mahathero, chief of Ramu Central Shima Bihar.