At least one person was injured and a chapel and several homes were ransacked in a predominately Christian village in northern Bangladesh after a mob led by a Muslim man attacked the community over a land dispute.
A mob of about 60 armed men attacked a grocery shop, homes, and a chapel in Ichhachhara village in Moulvibazar district of the Muslim-majority South Asian country last Saturday after authorities evicted a Muslim man from land owned by a Christian, UCA News reported.
The majority of the residents of the village are ethnic Khasi Christians. The Muslim man, identified as Rafiq Ali and who led the mob, had lost a legal battle over the ownership of land in the village. He had illegally occupied land owned by a local Christian.
“The attackers also pelted bricks and stones at village houses,” Father Joseph Gomes was quoted as saying. “One villager was hurt. We demand justice for the attack and the end of abuses against ethnic people.”
Ethnic Khasi people are often subjected to land grabbing, eviction and violence in the northeast of Bangladesh.
The number of Christians in Bangladesh is estimated at 1.6 million, which comprises around 1% of the country’s population.
Muslim radicals often have a level of impunity because police in Bangladesh tend to turn a blind eye to the persecution of religious minorities, Christian Freedom International said in an earlier report.
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Anugrah Kumar
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