In Bangladesh’s Khulna, a Hindu boy named Utsab Mandal has been reportedly lynched by a violent Muslim mob over allegations that he ‘insulted’ Prophet Muhammad on social media. The incident unfolded on 4th September, in the second phase of Sonadanga residential area of the city, as per reports.
As per local media reports, Khulna Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (South) Md. Tajul Islam has confirmed the mob lynching of the 18-year-old Hindu youth. In viral videos, a badly injured, brutalised person dead or alive, is seen lying face down while Army personnel parade around. Some person in the background yells, “Hindu… Nastik (atheist)”.
Yunus government failed to provide security to minorities.The Muslim extremist crowd of Khulna Sonadanga has taken away this Hindu boy named Utsav Mandal from the front of the police, army and navy on the charge of insulting Islam. It happened 2 hours ago.#SaveBangladeshiHibdus pic.twitter.com/6HfMWhCLz9
— Avro Neel Hindu🕉️🇧🇩 (@avroneel80) September 4, 2024
According to reports, students at Khulna’s Azam Khan Government Commerce College had allegedly shared some posts on Prophet Muhammad on Facebook. In the evening, several students took the Hindu boy to the office of Khulna Metropolitan Deputy Commissioner (South) Tajul Islam. The Muslim mob gheraoed the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) in the Sonadanga residential area for around 3 hours. The mob demanded punishment for the Hindu boy over alleged ‘blasphemy’.
Muslim mob in Bangladesh just murdered a Hindu boy, accusing him of "blasphemy."
— Global Bangladeshi Hindu Alliance (@GBHAlliance) September 4, 2024
Imagine the level of Hatred these people have for non-Muslims! #SaveBangladeshiHindus pic.twitter.com/HdbOp5LdSu
Reports say that to avert any unexpected incidents, an Army and Navy team arrived at the scene and took control of the situation. Later, when he was escorted to the police station, he was brutally thrashed by the fanatic Muslim mob leading to his death. The brutal lynching occurred despite police presence.
The viral videos of the incident show that the angry mob was agitating while Army and police personnel were present. Considering the viral videos and the initial reports by the Bangladeshi media, it is apparent that the brutal mob lynching happened while the Bangladeshi military personnel and police officials watched.
‘They insulted my Dharma’: Viral video shows Hindu boy saying before police
In the viral videos now being shared all over social media, the Hindu boy, reportedly named Utsab Mandal, is seen surrounded by a large mob of Muslims, with police officials sitting in chairs, in what looks like a police station. One person, not visible in the video asks the boy why he did what he did. To which the boy answers, “I went to watch the match. There I heard some men insulting my Dharma. Hearing that, I lost my temper.”
A Hindu teenager Utsav Mondal was brutally beaten to death inside a police station in the Sonadanga Upazila of Khulna District
— Vladimir Adityanath (@VladAdiReturns) September 5, 2024
He was m0b-lynched in front of the Bangladeshi Army, who did nothing#SaveHindus #IslamicterrorinBangladesh #SaveBangladeshiHindus pic.twitter.com/WPWtb5PXcx
Another person tells the police officials, “I am requesting you on behalf of all my Muslim brothers. Just give us 10 minutes. We will make him wear a garland of shoes, write ‘Nastik’ (atheist) on him and take him around the place.” To this, the security personnel present are seen laughing.
⚠️Disturbing Visuals
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) September 5, 2024
In a barbaric incident, a Hindu boy was accused of blasphemous comment by radicals and lynched in khulna, Bangladesh in front of armed Police and Army yesterday.
News credit: samakaltwhttps://t.co/6lYt4uJ3uD
Meanwhile, the army officials said that they had assured the Muslim mob that maximum punishment will be given to the Hindu boy. However, the agitated mob still thrashed him to death.
Bangladeshi portals delete all reports about the incident
In a curious development, the Bangladeshi media portals that had reported about the brutal mob lynching of the Hindu boy in the presence of military and police personnel seem to have deleted their reports. Portals including Dhakapost, Skhobor, and Samakal that had reports about the Khulna mob lynching incident seem to have deleted their reports. The links of the respective reports now open on a window saying ‘Error 404: not found”.
It is not clear why the Bangladeshi media portals have deleted the reports about the incident. The viral videos indicate a serious incident of mob violence in the presence of police and military, but the media reports describing the incident, which were accessible as recently as the morning of September 5, are now not available.
There can be multiple reasons behind this. The newly elected Yunus government in Bangladesh has been trying desperately to deny and whitewash the relentless cases of violence and atrocities targeted against the Hindu minorities of the country, to protect its own ‘secular, liberal’ image.
There have been reports of investigations and shutting down of Bangladeshi media portals that did not toe the lines of the new government. While the ‘popular’ narrative in Bangladesh was that the said media portals were supportive of the previous government led by Sheikh Hasina, or propagated ‘misleading’ information during the weeks of protests that led to the Hasina government’s ouster, there have been concerns downplaying or whitewashing the open violence against Hindu minorities.
The new Bangladesh government has also been indulgent and indirectly supportive of radical Islamic elements. One of the first actions taken after the Yunus government came to power was to lift the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir, the organisations that were banned under Sheikh Hasina for their violent activities.
Earlier on August 19, the High Court had imposed a suspension on Somoy TV, accusing it of airing ‘pro-Sheikh Hasina’ views. Somoy TV was also highlighting the atrocities against minorities.
Recently, the body of a woman journalist named Sarah Rahanuma was found in the Hathirjhil lake in Dhaka. Her name is now added to a considerably large list of people who have been murdered during or after the violent protests that toppled the Hasina government. A number of incidents have been reported where Hindu employees have been sacked from their jobs and Hindu leaders have been brutally beaten or murdered in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the fall of the Awami League government. Meanwhile, the global ‘Left-Liberal’ media has been carrying out relentless attempts to deny or whitewash the incidents of targeted violence against minority Hindus, desperately trying to paint them as ‘political issues’.
Later, in another fresh report. Bangladeshi media Samakal reported that though the police in Khulna had earlier said that the Hindu boy had died after getting beaten by the mob, the same police has now said that the boy is alive and under treatment.
A previous version of this article reported about the lynching of the Hindu boy as reported by media portals in Bangladesh. However, after recent developments and the sudden disappearance of the reports about the incident from Bangladeshi media sites, the article has been updated.
