Recently, there has been widespread domestic and international outrage over the inhumane torture of Utsab Mandal from Khulna, right in front of law enforcement. People have falsely accused him of making derogatory remarks about Islam and the Prophet to justify this atrocity. Utsab Mandal is a student at Azam Khan Government Commerce College in Sonadanga, Khulna.
On Wednesday, September 4, 2024, a group of students, incited by false allegations, apprehended Utsab Mandal and brought him to the office of Khulna Metropolitan Deputy Commissioner Tajul Islam. They staged a protest there, demanding exemplary punishment for Utsab. Later, the students requested the police to hand Utsab over to them for a short period, but the police refused. The crowd of agitated students grew increasingly larger.
Utsab Mandal was snatched from the authorities and brutally beaten. Even within the police station, the frenzied mob continued to assault him. Despite the army and navy's presence, the mob continued to brutally beat him. Eventually, a mosque in Sonadanga announced that the "blasphemer had been lynched." The frenzied fundamentalists then left the scene.
Later, the army took the boy away from the police station in a bodybag. The following day, ISPR, the army's spokesperson, announced that Utsab was alive. Eventually, this information was verified to be true. Utsab is still alive.
Can this really be called living? He will remember for the rest of his life how a group of fanatic extremist mobs brutally beat him in front of the police, navy, and army. But no one came forward to save him. How he was tortured in his own country and escaped death. Can this really be called living?"
Utsab repeatedly begged for forgiveness, and his parents pleaded with the mob for mercy and Utsab's life. However, the extremist group did not forgive him. Besides brutal torture, his eyes were gouged out, leaving them bloody. Although he gradually recovered, his eyesight was permanently damaged.
The incident was triggered by a comment on Facebook. A Muslim boy gave a provocative reply to Utsab Mandal's comment. Subsequently, that boy, along with his Muslim extremist group, attacked Utsab Mandal.
Because of this incident, both Yunus Sarkar and the Bangladesh Army are facing severe criticism, both domestically and internationally. The state has thrown Utsab into the clutches of a brutal, frenzied, bloodthirsty jihadist group. As they tore Utsab apart, the three forces stood by and watched. The media's silent role in this matter has also been heavily criticized.
The extremists thought Utsab was dead that day and left. However, by chance, he survived. As a result, he and his family may face security concerns again. It is up to the state to ensure their safety. Can the state fulfill this responsibility properly?
In this way, under the pretext of alleged defamation of religion on Facebook, Hindus in Bangladesh are subjected to imprisonment, torture, murder, arson, and a genocide carried out with state support every year. Investigations, however, have revealed that members of the ruling party were involved in these incidents with state support. During the previous Awami League regime, several communal attacks on Hindus in this country were centered around incidents of alleged defamation of religion on Facebook.
"It is a matter of grave concern that despite over 5,000 reported incidents of violence against Hindus and minority communities during the 16-year tenure of the Awami League government, the vast majority of these attacks, murders, and torture cases have gone uninvestigated and unpunished. Hindu Aid vehemently condemns these atrocities and demands a thorough and impartial investigation into the hundreds of attacks, killings, disappearances, and acts of torture committed against Hindus since the previous government, particularly after August 5th. The organization calls for swift justice for the victims and their families."
