Ten persons have been arrested in connection with the vandalism of several homes and temples of the Hindu community in a village in Khulna district of Bangladesh - the violence coming days after a similar incident in Pakistan.

The communal flare-up in Shiali village of Rupsha sub-district was triggered by the alleged shoving of the imam of a mosque by a member of Bangladesh’s minority Hindu community – who form less than ten percent of the country’s population - during an altercation, locals said. The situation is currently under control.

Bangladesh media reports said the police carried out nightlong raids on Saturday-Sunday night to round up the suspects, all of whom were Muslims.

Earlier on Saturday, four Hindu temples, at least 10 idols of gods and goddesses, six shops and two homes of the minority community were vandalized in an attack carried out by unidentified miscreants in The police and local people said the attacks started with the temples and ended with the shops.

Some locals claimed the attackers were from neighboring areas, but their identities could not be confirmed.

The attacks reportedly took place following a heated altercation between two groups of Hindu and Muslim locals on Friday night, a Dhaka Tribune report said.

As tension rose in the area following the attacks, additional police forces were deployed to maintain law and order, said Rupsha police station Officer-in-Charge Sardar Mosharraf Hossain.

According to locals and victims, the miscreants first attacked the Shiali Mahasmashan temple. They vandalized all the idols in the temple and everything in the crematorium.

From there, they moved to vandalize several other temples in the Shiali Purbapara area.

Afterward, they attacked and vandalized the homes and shops belonging to the Hindus - the largest minority community in Bangladesh.

Krishna Gopal Sen, general secretary of Rupsha sub-district Puja Festival Council confirmed that at least 10 idols at four temples were vandalized during the attacks.

“There is high tension in the area now. But the local administration is working to keep the overall situation under control.”

He said the attacks may have taken place because of Friday night’s altercation between two groups of Hindus and Muslims in front of the local mosque.

The Hindus were going towards the Shiali Mahasmashan temple while singing kirtan, a form of devotional songs, during the prayers in the mosque which led to the scuffle, said the  Imam Maulana Nazim Uddin.

“The situation had gotten out of hand a bit after someone shoved me after I urged them to not sing in front of the mosque during prayers. However, the situation was resolved after police arrived and intervened,” he said.

Sen maintained that no one from the local Hindu community had attacked the imam.

Rupsha police OC Hossain said: “We are alert and active to keep the situation under control.”

Religion is a sensitive issue in South Asia, particularly in the Indian sub-continent, where small sectarian friction often have volatile repercussions, whether in Bangladesh, Pakistan or India.

(SAM)