An attack and acts of vandalism, alongside the brutal beating of devotees with sticks, took place during a Gurubar rituals at the Shah Ali Baghdadi Mazar in Mirpur, Dhaka.
The victims have held the local Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the incident, a claim supported by certain police officials.
However, the local Member of Parliament for the Dhaka-14 constituency, Barrister Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem (Arman) of Jamaat, denied his party’s involvement, asserting that the police had conducted an anti-drug operation at the site.
The incident occurred on Thursday night, and its repercussions continued into Friday. Devotees expressed outrage, alleging that despite being present at the scene, the police failed to take action.
Every Thursday night, the mazar hosts a weekly rituals drawing people from across the country. Witnesses stated that during the gathering, a group of men armed with sticks suddenly arrived and began assaulting the devotees.
Several videos of the incident have circulated, showing individuals being severely beaten and verbally abused over allegations of cannabis consumption, with the word “Jamaat” clearly audible in the footage.
‘Is the administration paralysed?’
On Friday, an aggrieved individual at the mazar premises questioned the lack of protection, asking, “Why is the administration absent? Is it paralysed, or has it surrendered to a specific group?”
Others questioned how Jamaat-Shibir activists found the audacity to vandalise and loot the mazar in a country governed by law.
Devotees claimed they refrained from retaliating only to maintain peace, though they alleged the attackers’ true motive was to “occupy and destroy the mazar” and loot money.
Reports indicated that even women and elderly citizens, aged between 60 and 80, were not spared the violence, with some suffering broken limbs. There were also attempts to break or seize the mazar’s traditional “brass degh” (cauldron) and loot funds from inside the Rawza Sharif.
Followers of the mazar maintained that “siddhi” (cannabis) is a part of their spiritual culture. They emphasised that the mazar is a place for saints (auliyas), not political parties, and expressed a simple desire to live peacefully with their “pagal rights” (rights of the spiritual mendicants).
Police cite Jamaat involvement
Imdad Hossain Bipul, Assistant Commissioner of the Darus Salam Zone, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, clarified that the police did not conduct a raid.
“From what we have gathered, local Jamaat-Shibir activists conducted an operation on their own initiative on Thursday night,” he said, adding that BNP and Jubo Dal activists had carried out a similar drive the previous week.
Conversely, Shah Ali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Jahangir Alam offered a different account, stating that visitors at the mazar had removed a group of men and women who were smoking cannabis on mats on the eastern side of the Rawza.
Md Mostaque Sarkar, Deputy Commissioner of the Mirpur Division, stated that a crowd created complications when police attempted an anti-drug drive, leading the force to withdraw from the area.
MP denies allegations
Speaking to the Times, Barrister Arman reiterated that Jamaat activists were not involved and maintained it was a police operation. When informed that police officials had pointed to Jamaat, he dismissed the claims, suggesting a dialogue with the Police Commissioner instead.
The MP claimed the Commissioner had informed him that the force was there for an anti-drug drive.
“We condemn any form of violence and are against people taking the law into their own hands,” he said, noting that locals had previously submitted a written complaint to the police regarding open drug use on the mazar premises.
