The north-eastern hilly state of Tripura has shrouded in violence. Several mosques and shops have been vandalised and set on fire in North Tripura’s district Panisagar sub-division during a Vishwa Hindu Parishad rally on Tuesday.
Panisagar Sub-Divisional Police Officer Soubhik Dey said that around 3500 people had taken part in the rally which eventually led to the protest of communal violence in Bangladesh that happened earlier this month.
Following the violence, the Tripura police has now provided protection to the mosques in sensitive areas. They said that security is being provided to more than 150 mosques across the state. The state police has further warned against posting any proactive messages on social media. They have assured that the situation is under control.
Talking to the media, district superintendent of police Bhanupada Chakraborty said that Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists took out a rally to protect against the recent violence in Bangladesh. He informed that a group of people threw stones and damaged the door of a msoque in Chamtilla area, around 3500 people took part in the rally.
The houses and shops that were destroyed and burned down belonged to the members of the minority community and a case is being registered.
Last week, the state unit of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, a Muslim organization had alleged that the mobs had attacked the mosques and neighborhood dominated by Muslims. Meanwhile, the opposition parties have blamed the politically motivated people who are reportedly close to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the attacks on Muslims.
Sushmita Dev, an MP from the regional Trinamul Congress party spoke to the media and said that the BJP was trying to use the recent violence in Bangladesh to “polarise” the voters ahead of the municipal elections in November.
She also wrote to Tripura Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya requesting him to ensure law and order in the state. In the letter, she said that the burning and vandalizing of religious places reek of “communal targeting”. She said that the police is denying the incidents but people are reaching out due to fear of violence.
To contain the violence, the Congress has formed an eight-member fact finding committee to investigate into the Tripura riots matter. The committee will visit the communal hotspots and submit a detailed report within 5 days to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
