Mob demolishes shrine at Dhamrai alleging anti-Shariah activities
A mob demolished a shrine folowing an Urs, alleging anti-Shariah activities at Dhamrai in Dhaka on Thursday night (23 January).
During the incident, two graves inside the shrine and a tin-roofed residential house were destroyed, while the tin walls of another house were also damaged.
The incident occurred at the shrine of Shukur Ali Shah Fakir at the Arjun Nalai village of Gangutia Union in Dhamrai.
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The affected filed a case at Dhamrai Police Station, naming 12 people and listing 700-800 unidentified persons as accused.
Dhamrai police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Monirul Islam told The Business Standard that a case was filed, and they visited the scene immediately after the incident, and efforts are underway to arrest those involved.
Locals reported that members of the Dhamrai Ulama Parishad, the Dhamrai Imam Parishad, and people from several mosques, madrasas, and the community were present during the shrine demolition.
Mufti Sanaullah, president of the Dhamrai Upazila Ulama Parishad, told The Business Standard, "We received complaints that unethical activities, including drug trading, were taking place in that house.
"To verify the truth, several leaders from the Dhamrai Upazila Imam Parishad and our organisation gathered at a mosque near the house. Our main aim was to stop the music, not to engage in destruction."
"After being informed by the police that the Urs had been stopped, we left after the Isha prayer. Later, we heard that some locals, out of anger, demolished the shrine and the room where unethical activities allegedly occurred. However, this was not our intention," he added.
An eyewitness, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "Yesterday [Thursday] afternoon, over a hundred outsiders gathered at the mosque. They demanded that the music at the shrine be stopped. Several locals were also present.
"Using the mosque's loudspeaker, they announced that prostrating at the shrine, making vows, or prostrating to a spiritual leader [Pir] was unacceptable. At about 10pm, a group of 50 to 60 people went to the shrine and demolished it."
