Houses of Christians — a minority community in Bangladesh — were targeted in the country on the intervening night of December 24 and 25.
As per reports, 17 houses belonging to people from the community — making up 0.3 percent of the population in Bangladesh, according to the 2022 census — were set ablaze in Notun Tongjhiri Tripura Para in the country’s Chittagong Hill Tracts. The area is home to the Christian Tripura community, who has been living there for generations.
While the locals told law enforcement officers that “unidentified” people set fire to their houses, but interim government in Bangladesh said a long-running rivalry between two groups of the same community led to the attacks.
The incident took place in the absence of most of the locals, who were attending the midnight mass at a church in a nearby village in Bandarban district. Four people have been arrested by the police over the incident so far.
Tragic events in Bangladesh on Christmas Eve: 17 homes of minority Christians in Purba Betachhara Para, Bandarban district, were set ablaze by radical Islamists.
— Tarun 🚩🇮🇳 (@fptarun) December 25, 2024
The attack occurred while villagers were at Christmas prayers in Tongjiri Para, leaving them homeless. Rising… pic.twitter.com/dk8rPAU1t0
According to a report by The Times of India, citing officials, all 17 houses were destroyed while two others were partially damaged.
The interim government in Dhaka said that police registered an FIR based on a complaint by a community elder. As per reports, the person blamed six rival Christian community members and a Bengali Muslim for torching the houses. The government claimed that it has directed the police to “unearth the motive behind the attack at the earliest”.
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Government officials said the victims were given assistance to rebuild their houses. Food and relief materials were also handed to those affected. At the same time, security has also been bolstered in the area.
Meanwhile, this attack lengthens the plight of the minorities, including the Hindu community, in Bangladesh, who have been enduring attacks ever since the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government was toppled on August 5.
Hasina and her Cabinet were ousted after a mass uprising, which stemmed from a controversial job quota.
