Shrine vandalised in Dhamrai over ‘Anti-Sharia’ activities

A group of devotees have been accused of first stopping ‘Orosh’ festival at a shrine in Dhamrai, Dhaka, and then vandalising the shrine due to 'Anti-Sharia’ activities.

The incident took place on Thursday (January 23) night at the shrine of Shukur Ali Shah Fakir in Arjun Nalai village of Gangutia union of the upazila.

Two graves inside the shrine and a tin house of a homestead were completely vandalised. The tin fence of another house was also broken.

In this incident, the victim's family has filed a case with Dhamrai police station, naming 12 people and accusing 700-800 unknown people.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Dhamrai police station Md. Monirul Islam said, 'A plaintiff has filed a case on behalf of the victim's family. The scene has been inspected. Efforts are underway to bring those involved under the law.'

Locals alleged that leaders and activists of the Dhamrai Ulama Parishad and Imam Parishad, as well as people from several mosques and madrasas, were present at the time of the incident.

Locals said that the annual ‘Orosh’ was organized at the shrine on Thursday. After the distribution of Tabarak in the evening, Baul songs were supposed to be organized at night. However, since the afternoon, a group of devotees led by the Dhamrai Ulama Parishad and Imam Parishad gathered in a mosque near the shrine and demanded a stop to the singing and playing.

When the police arrived around 8 pm and requested the organizers to stop the Orosh due to the fear of deteriorating law and order situation, they accepted it.

At that time, when the devotees demanded the arrest of the organizers of the Orosh, the police did not agree and left the scene.

Then, around 10 pm, locals alleged that 50-60 devotees entered the shrine and vandalized it. They completely vandalized two graves and a tin house of a house along with the shrine and broke the tin fence of another house.