(CHAKRA) On December 17th a Muharram Tazia parade was organized in Rampurhat by local Muslim groups. Since a permit is needed for all public parades and wasn’t present the police requested the organizers to follow certain routes so that local people do not face any hassle or delay in their daily commute as there was no notification of such a parade. When SDPO intervened and tried to direct the marchers in routes the police approved, the mob turned violent and threatened to kill him. The police force retreated and continued to watch the marchers from a distance.

Participants from the parade began vandalizing Hindu owned stops between Lotus Press Lane and Kamarpatti More. At least 25 shops were looted and several Hindu women molested based on witnesses and police reports. The marchers also destroyed couple of govt owned buses. The procession then advanced to Shangata More where the marchers attacked the Dakshina Kali Mandir. Police witnessed the looting and mayhem from a distance. However, they took no action against the perpetrators.

On December 18th 2010, the local Hindu group known as Rampurhat Babosayi Samiti conducted a protest rally and blocked the state highway between Lotus Press Lane and Kamarpatti More from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. They demanded the culprits be apprehended and police prevent such incidents in future as this was the second large incident in the last 12 months. They also brought up the fact that many Hindus in the area have been attacked multiple times over the last few months by Muslim extremists from Bagtui village. In 2009, they attacked the Durga puja immersion procession near Mahajanpatti. A few witnesses we interviewed stated that they have been living in constant fear and refrain from wearing religious Hindu symbols in public such as a ‘bindi’ (a red dot worn by many Hindu women on their forehead).

As a result of continuing attacks and harassments, a large number of Hindu families have already left the area. Some local community leader’s estimate that 500 Hindus or 1% of the city’s population have moved to neighbouring villages over the last 12 months.