Earlier yesterday, violence erupted in the Mominpore area, a Muslim-majority neighbourhood in Kolkata, after Islamists attacked Hindus and vandalised vehicles owned by Hindus and their commercial establishments. Several media organisations cited the tearing of a religious flag as a trigger that prompted the ensuing anti-Hindu rage.
However, eyewitnesses and residents revealed how false rumours and communally sensitive misinformation were spread to touch off an attack against Hindus. Speaking to News 24, a woman dressed in yellow and a resident of Mominpur exposed the Islamist machinations that intended to incite riots and brutalise the Hindus living in their midst. The lady said, “There was a flag stuck to a pole. They (Islamists) took it down and tore it up. Hindus were not involved in the act but were blamed for it.”
Another saree-clad woman said, “Rumours were spread that their flag was torn, thrown on the ground and kicked (by the Hindus). Nothing of this sort happened.”
“I was standing outside my house when I was hit on the head by a brick. I was about to bring my children home. When I sought help from the police, they abandoned me and fled from the area. Till now, I have not received treatment for my injury,” another man said while pointing out his injury.
As per residents, not Hindus but one of the Islamists removed and tore the Islamic flag to instigate their brethren against Hindus on the pretext of blasphemy against Islam. And they succeeded in fomenting anger and resentment among their co-religionists as Hindus in Kolkata’s Mominpore came under yet another bout of targeted attacks.
Scores of Islamists egged on by false rumours and aggrieved by the notion of blasphemy committed against Islam took to the streets and went on a rampage against their Hindu counterparts. They attacked Hindu residents living in Mominpore and vandalised commercial establishments and shops owned by Hindus for what they thought would avenge the perceived insult meted out on the Islamic flag by Hindus.
From Pakistan to Bangladesh to West Bengal, how Islamists lean on fake allegations of blasphemy to attack Hindus
In neighbouring Bangladesh, Islamists fuel fake news and rumours to attack the already victimised Hindu minority. In the 2021 case, Islamists in Bangladesh attacked the Durga Puja pandals after a madrasa worker deliberately placed a Quran copy near one of the pandals to trigger ‘blasphemy’ allegations.
Several Durga pandals were vandalized, close to 150 families were attacked and at least three Hindus were reportedly killed in the violent clash after a Facebook post claiming ‘insult to Quran’ at a pandal went viral on social media on Wednesday.
The Islamic extremists immediately took to the streets and vandalized temples in Chandpur’s Hajiganj, Chattogram’s Banshkhali, Chapainawabganj’s Shibganj and Cox’s Bazar’s Pekua and brutally attacked the Hindu devotees.
Similarly, in Pakistan, too, Islamists have weaponised blasphemy to target and pressure minorities into doing their bidding. Hindus and Christians are routinely targeted by Islamic zealots under false charges of blasphemy, often aimed at settling personal scores and sending a message to others from the minorities to either fall in line or risk facing the wrath of a mob that would stop at nothing less than death as blasphemy is punishable by death as per Islamic scriptures.
Therefore, revelations made by Hindu victims in the wake of communal violence that gripped Kolkata’s Mominpore hold particular significance. They point towards a sinister pattern, which involves the use of blasphemy as a tool to whip up a communal frenzy and marshal support to attack non-Muslims, especially Hindus. Be it Bangladesh, Pakistan, or West Bengal, Islamists operating in these disparate geographies are not only united by their slant to conservative orthodoxies but also by leaning on false rumours and misinformation about blasphemy to rally support and provoke attacks against non-Muslims. The Kolkata incident is yet another example of how Islamists continue to orchestrate fake incidents of blasphemy to attack and target the Hindu community.
