Ramu rioters to be booked: Hasina

07 October, 2012 Sunday

Ramu rioters to be booked: Hasina

. UNB, Dhaka 
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said steps will be taken against those found involved in the recent sectarian violence in Cox's Bazar and Chittagong to stop the recurrence of such dastardly incidents in the future.
"Action will be taken against those involved the communal violence seeing the video footage taken during the attacks on the minority people… we'll take action, we must take action after investigation into the incidents," she said.
The Prime Minister's strong words came when a delegation of Bangladesher Bouddha Samaj Surakkha Committee led by Sanghanayak Suddhananda Mohathero called on her at Ganobhaban in the morning.
Hasina further said: "This is not the end … there may be more such incidents as the religious festivals like Prabarana Purnima (of the Buddhists), Durga Puja (of Hindus) and Eid-ul-Azha (of Muslims) are getting nearer."
"We all need to remain alert against any possible repeat of such violence… we've already asked the law-enforcing agencies to stay alert," she told the Buddhists delegation.
The delegation met the Prime Minister yesterday, a week after sectarian clash rocked Ramu upazila of Cox's Bazar on the night of September 29 after a Buddhist youth reportedly posted a photograph disgracing the holy Quran on the wall of his facebook account.
The clash that ensued at Merunloa village in Ramu upazila continued on Sunday and spilled over into Chittagong, leaving many homes of the Buddhist community and pagodas damaged.
At the meeting, member secretary of Bangladesher Buddha Samaj Surakhha Committee Ashok Barua said its five-member sub-committee visited the affected areas and talked to people.
A member of the sub-committee PR Barua said they found that the attacks were carried out to muddle the Rohingya issue, obstruct the trial of war criminals and destabilise the country ahead of the next general election.
In South Chittagong, he said, the fundamentalists are very much active and the two Jamaat parliament members are patronising them.  "Hizbut Tahrir is using the Rohingyas there," he alleged.
Sanghanayak Suddhananda Mohathero requested the Prime Minister to take effective steps so that such incidents never happen again in the country.
He said the entire Buddhist community is very much pleased upon the Prime Minister for her quick and prompt actions during the incidents although she was in New York at the time to attend the United Nations General Assembly. "We're happy seeing you in action just after the incidents, we're very much pleased, we're ready to sacrifice anything for you (PM)," he said.
Suddhananda also mentioned that the Buddhist community has been living in the areas for a long time and this incident was the first there.
He said the losses caused by these attacks were numerous and irreparable, as the Bihars and pagodas of these areas lost so many relics of Lord Goutam Buddha. "This preplanned attack is a blow to the country's tradition of communal harmony," Ashoke Barua said.
He informed the Prime Minister that the culprits attacked 25 Buddha Bihars, damaging 11 of them totally. "They set afire, burned Holy Tripitak and various priceless items," he mentioned.
Ashoke also said the attackers used same types of destructive objects like crude bombs, gun powder, diesel and petrol in all the incidents at different places.
He gave the premier a cement block used in all the attacks, and mentioned had the local administration acted properly in time many Bihars could have been saved. Ashoke requested the Prime Minister to enquire into the mysterious role of the officer-in-charge of Ramu Police Station.