Once again, a young man from Bangladesh’s minority Hindu community has been murdered. On Monday night (5 January), a Hindu man named Sarat Chakraborty Mani (40) was killed in Narsingdi, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, after being attacked with sharp weapons by extremist armed religious fundamentalists. With this incident, at least six Hindus have been killed by extremists in Bangladesh in the past 18 days.

According to local residents and eyewitnesses who wished to remain anonymous, Sarat Chakraborty Mani was running his grocery shop as usual at Charsindur Bazaar in Palash Upazila of Narsingdi. At that time, unidentified assailants suddenly attacked him with sharp weapons. He was critically injured, and while locals were taking him to the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries on the way.

It is noteworthy that on the same day, in Manirampur, Jessore, a Hindu journalist named Rana Pratap Bairagi (38) was shot and had his throat slit to death by terrorists from the same extremist group.

It has been learned that the deceased Sarat Chakraborty Mani was the son of Madan Thakur, a resident of Sadharchar Union in Shibpur Upazila. His wife, Antara Mukherjee, is a homemaker. Their son, Abhik Chakraborty, is 12 years old. Sarat Chakraborty had previously worked in South Korea and returned to Bangladesh a few years ago. He later built a house in an area called Brahmandi in Narsingdi town, where he had been living with his family.

Sarat Chakraborty Mani’s widow Antara Mukherjee and son Avik Chakraborty

A family member of Sarat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that he lived a very simple life and had no disputes with anyone. Sarat was deeply concerned about the ongoing situation in Bangladesh. Most recently, on *19 December*, he wrote in a Facebook post: “So much fire everywhere, so much violence. My birthplace has turned into a valley of death…”

A neighbor of the deceased, also speaking anonymously, said that Sarat was an extremely calm, humane, and socially responsible person. He had no enemies. According to him, there can be only one reason for the murder of a person like Sarat: that he was Hindu.

Prominent social activist and organizer Bappaditya Basu strongly protested the murder of Sarat. He told Blitz that “before the blood of one Hindu in Bangladesh has even dried, another Hindu is being killed. Before the news of Rana Pratap of Jessore could fade, Sarat Chakraborty Mani of Narsingdi was murdered”. If this continues, he warned, “there will be no existence of Hindus left in Bangladesh within a few years”.

Bappaditya Basu

He accused the government of backing the ongoing killing of Hindus, stating that in a country where the “genocide or ethnic cleansing of Hindus” is carried out under a clear state plan, “being Hindu itself becomes a major reason to be killed”.

Bappaditya Basu further stated that he personally knew the deceased Sarat Chakraborty. Two days before the incident, extremist Islamists demanded a large sum of money from Sarat, telling him that if he wanted to live in Bangladesh, he would have to pay jizya. They threatened him, saying that if he filed any complaint with the police, his wife would be abducted. They also said: “Give the money quietly. Don’t make a fuss about it. Even if your India or your Narendra Modi father comes, they won’t be able to stop the collection of jizya”.

He claimed that these same extremist Islamists murdered Sarat Chakraborty.

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The post Before the blood dries: Six Hindus killed in 18 Days in Bangladesh appeared first on BLiTZ.

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Source: Weekly Blitz :: Writings