Iqbal Hossain who placed Quran at feet of Lord Hanuman sentenced by Bangladesh court

The persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh is not uncommon. For years now, the Hindus, their religious places and home have been attacked by the Muslim majority

A Dhaka court has sentenced one Mohammad Iqbal Hossain (35) to 16 months in jail for orchestrating anti-Hindu violence during the Durga Puja celebrations in 2021.

Hossain according to the case report had placed a copy of the Quran at the feet of Lord Hanuman.

The matter was heard by the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge, A M Zulfikar Hayet and the verdict was pronounced in the presence of the accused.

Taking into account that Hossain had already spent 16 months in jail, the judge ordered his release. The court also took into account that Mohammad Hossain is not wanted in any other case, the The Daily Star reported.

On October 13 2021, Hossain placed a copy of the Quran at the feet of Lord Hanuman at the Nanuar Dighir Par Durga Mandir in Cumilla district of Bangladesh.

His actions triggered a series of violent attacks on the minority Hindus in Bangladesh. The Hindus continued to get attacked, despite them insisting that none from their community had placed the Quran at the feet of Lord Hanuman. They also said that this was a deliberate attempt foment trouble.

#Watch| CCTV footage shows one Iqbal Hossain has been identified as the main suspect - placing the Holy Quran at the Durga puja mandap in Comilla leading to violence, says Bangladesh Police. He continues to remain at large @RadharamnDas @IskconKolkata #Comilla #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/823SKoH9E5

— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) October 21, 2021

However the radicals refused to listen to the Hindus. Over the next couple of days there were a series of vicious attacks on the Hindus. Several videos of broken idols, demolished pandals and the idol of Maa Durga being thrown into a pond went viral on the social media.

It also was learnt that the Quran was given to Hossain by the caretakers of a nearby Mosque. The police arrested him from Cox Bazar on October 21 2021 and booked him under the stringent Digital Security Act.

An analysis of the CCTV footage showed that the accused also incited people to indulge in communal violence. He had also given hate speeches against the Hindus.

Persecution of Hindus:

Hindus, one of the largest minority groups in Bangladesh have been facing persecution at the hands of the Muslim majority for long. There have been scores of cases of desecration of Hindu Temples and holy sites, destruction of Hindu properties. Cases of Hindu women being abducted, raped and forced to marry Muslim men are also not uncommon in Bangladesh.