Anxiety & fear after letter invites 50 Hindus to convert to Islam in Magura

Anxiety is rife among the Hindu community in two villages, Sreepur & Magura, after Hindus were sent letters inviting them to Islam. The administration says it is on high alert following Friday's incident.

Although the police said that four people were being brought to the police station for questioning, the police did not admit to arresting them.

Sreepur Upazila Executive Officer Yasin Kabir said the letters were distributed to 50 Hindus in Chougachhi, Goaldah and Malainagar villages of Dariapur Union of the Upazila on Friday evening and night.

After the distribution of these letters, a kind of anxiety spread among the Hindu community in the area. UNO M. Kabir says the anxiety was created in the wake of the recent attack on Hindu homes in Shalla, Sunamganj.

Members of the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council have spoken to various people on Saturday to allay the concerns and residents have been assured that there is no reason to fear.

Local MPs have visited the area for security. Members of the local administration also visited. Information is also being collected from the residents of the area and detailed information is being collected about all those involved.

Ali Ahmed Masud, officer-in-charge of Sreepur police station, said four of those who distributed the letters were being questioned.

"We are not taking it lightly. It remains to be seen whether there is any motive behind it," he said. Masood.

What happened?

Sreepur Upazila Executive Officer Mr Kabir said those who distributed the letters ran a small madrasa led by a man named Yakub.

Under interrogation, they said they decided to invite 100 non-Muslims to Islam as part of their "religious duty" in their language.

For this, they formed a total of 6 teams of 21 people in three groups, who will distribute the letters.

The two-page letter calls for conversion to Islam by handwriting and copying various verses from the Qur'an.

"At the same time, they have some words of their own in the letter and they have come to the conclusion that you should leave these infidel paths and come to the path of peace."

The letter is anonymous and does not specify who sent it. However, at the beginning of the letter, it is written, "On behalf of the Muslim Jamaat". After this, the names of different recipients have been mentioned. He said all those whose names have been mentioned are Hindus.

Mr Kabir said they had read the letter and had not seen anything frightening in it. No one was threatened.

"Those who received the letter were not intimidated," he said.

However, the BBC has not yet been able to contact anyone who received the letter.

'Not acceptable'

Subrata Chowdhury, a presidium member of the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council said the incident in Magura was "unacceptable".

He demanded punishment for those involved in these incidents.

Mr Chowdhury said the administration and the government should take responsibility for what happened in Sunamganj and Magura. There is no chance to avoid it.

He said that in the past, no matter what happened, it was said that BNP-Jamaat had caused or radical groups were doing it. But what is happening now shows that the leaders and activists of the ruling party are involved in every incident.

“These things are happening with the tip of the government’s nose,” he said.

Source: BBC Bangla