A pair of two was accused of inciting hatred through social media posts and instigating the violence against the Hindus community in Bangladesh confessed their crime before their final hearing on Sunday, October 24, as stated by a court official.
The violence took place on October 15, when most Muslims voiced out their protests over the viral social media share of the Quran in the footsteps of the Hindu deity during the 10-day Hindu festival of Durga Puja.
Multiple Hindu sites were vandalized in the past few days, which aimed at disrupting the peace and social harmony of the country; this was followed by causing deaths and injuries to many pedestrians in Bangladesh, which eventually gave rise to intensified protests.
Since then, Bangladesh has been trying to restore the peace, which got lost amidst the chaos of religious violence, as thousands of people marched in support of the Hindus.
Who is the culprit behind this?
Shaikat Mandal, reportedly the critical suspect vandalizing the country’s harmony, confessed before a magistrate that he is responsible for sharing such sensitive posts on Facebook that led to the violence in Rangpur, Pirganj sub-district, on October 17, as reported by a news agency PTI.
Also, Rabiul Islam, his accomplice, has been accused of arson and looting. Both of them have been imprisoned under the Digital Security Act. Following their arrest on October 22.
Mandal took the initiative of posting sensitive content on Facebook to boost his followers.
Meanwhile, his accomplice Rabiul Islam instigated Muslims through announcements on the loudspeakers, which took place on Friday.
They were a part of 693 people arrested by the Bangladesh Police concerning the violence; both were arrested from Gazipur on Friday in a Police raid and are prisoned under the Digital Security Act.
After this, a rumor spread across the village about a Hindu man who posted objectional content that hurt the sentiments of Muslims, according to the report.
Till now, at least seven people have surrendered themselves before the officials to their crime so far, with 683 arrests and more than 70 cases being filled by accusing more than twenty-four thousand suspects, most of which are anonymous
After every dark cloud, there has to be a silver lining; A court official stated, “Shaikat Mandal and his accomplice Rabiul Islam have surrendered themselves before a senior judicial magistrate Delwar Hussain”.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina Sheikh called upon the home minister to initiate immediate action against those trying to destroy the nation’s peace by spreading hateful content.
She then also asked the country not to believe in the information on social media as the ultimate truth before fact-checking it.
The United Nations have hugely condemned the attacks.
Bangladesh constitutes around 10 percent of the Muslim population.
