Masihuzzama Ansari
New Delhi–Miscreants torched shops and houses belonging to the Muslim community in North Tripura on Tuesday.
The incident occurred when VHP activities carried out a ‘Hunkar Rally’ In North Tripura’s Panisagar area.
Police have not taken any action against the rioters. Questions are being asked about the police’s inaction and candid support to rioters.
At least 12 mosques have been torched in the last seven days across five districts of Tripura. Besides mosques, religious books were also set afire.
BJP MLA from Panisagar Binoy Bhushan Das admitted that the incident has taken place, but claimed to be 200 kilometers away in Agartala.
“I have asked the police to take cognizance of the incident. I have ordered BJP workers to cooperate in maintaining peace and order,” he told India Tomorrow.
Dar said whatever is happening is not right. “I strongly condemn this incident. It should not happen,” he said.
Asked about Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Das said there was a rally organized by VHP. “But I don’t know who was involved in the incident,” he said.
Locals told India Tomorrow that attacks on the Muslim community were preplanned. “They are being allowed to lead the rallies. They resort to attacks. Even today `’Hunkar Rally’ was taken out by Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Preparations were going on since Friday,” he said.
The attacks come against the backdrop of violence against minorities in Bangladesh.
Four to five districts of Tripura are witnessing rioting and loot by Hindutva organizations. Most affected areas include Dharmanagar Town and Panisagar Town of North Tripura, Maharani Kakraban Udaipur of Gomti District, Chandrapur and Ramnagar of West Tripura District and, Kailashahar of Unkoti District, Ratbari.
Former MLA from Dharmanagar Assembly of North Tripura and CPIM leader Amitabh Dutta condemned the attacks.
CPIM leader and MLA from North Tripura’s Kadamtala-Kurti assembly, Islamuddin said police have not taken any action against the rioters.
“Many mosques have been attacked, the atmosphere is not peaceful. Police have not yet taken any action against the rioters. A memorandum has been submitted to the administration, but no action has been taken so far,” he said.
Repeated calls to elicit a response from police did not yield results as officers did not take calls
Sources said no one has been arrested even as seven days have passed.
This story first appeared on indiatomorrow.net