How are Tripura Muslims responsible for attacks in Bangladesh?: 'Concerned' citizens

Counterview Desk
Calling it a “retaliation” of Bangladesh violence, several “concerned citizens”*, including Magsaysay award winning social activist and academic Sandeep Pandey and PV Rajagopal of the Sarvodaya Samaj, have said that the recent attacks on Muslim community in different areas of Tripura is a the reflection of “growing trend of using violence against another community.”
Welcoming Tripura BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya for stating that he would ensure such attacks do not happen again, in a statement, the “concerned citizens” said, “Prevention is indeed important, but not sufficient”, insisting on “exemplary action against all perpetrators of violence.”

Text:

It is with great concern and anguish we note that mosques and members of the Muslim community and their houses were attacked in different areas in Tripura. This is said to be retaliation for the unfortunate attacks on the Puja Pandals and on members of Hindu Community in Bangladesh during the recent Durga Puja festival.
We welcome the reports of statement of Tripura BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said that party workers, mainly from minority cell, “are keeping a close watch everywhere to ensure such undesirable activities do not happen.” Prevention is indeed important but not sufficient. What is required is condemnation followed by exemplary action against all perpetrators of violence involved.
We call upon the Prime Minister to condemn the violence and urge the Chief Minister of Tripura to initiate immediate action to identify, try and secure exemplary punishments for all those involved. This along can prevent recurrence of all such unjustifiable violence not only in the State but across the country.
The signatories of this statement had unequivocally condemned the violence in Bangladesh and demanded that the Government of Bangladesh should take immediate action to identify, try and secure exemplary punishment of all the perpetrators. But attacking some innocent people in India for what has happened in Bangladesh makes no sense.
Indeed one fails to understand how Muslims of Tripura are responsible for the attacks in Bangladesh and why they should be punished for something with which they are not even remotely connected. The only connection they may be sharing with the perpetrators of violence in Bangladesh is that they belong to the same community.

But making people complicit in crimes and assault them just because they belong to the same community defies all logic, law and even common sense – making it absolutely unjustifiable and grossly criminal.
Citizens are also responsible for this deplorable state of affairs because of their silence – sometimes due to unethical indifference, sometimes out of fear of the communal groups and at times because of the reluctance to call out the governments for their inaction.

If assault against another community becomes a norm, then Hindu-Muslim identities alone will not remain vulnerable to violence

It is time the citizens realise that if they do not challenge the growing trend of using violence against another community due to some differences, then every community becomes vulnerable and any and every person can get attacked. Indeed, sometime or the other, they may find themselves bracketed with the community that is made a victim, and as a result, they could face violence and even death.
It is important to remember that every person has multiple identities and with one identity she / he may belong to the majority and another identity may make her / him a minority.
If violence and assault against another community continues to gain sanction and becomes a norm, then only Hindu-Muslim identities will not remain vulnerable to violence. In fact we are already seeing violence against communities extending to other religious identities like Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, etc. or caste identities between Dalits and upper castes or even within upper castes and within Dalits or linguist groups or regional groups and the list could go on and every person may find herself or himself or at the receiving end sometime or the other.
So the choice before every citizen is simple and clear: Take a stand against sectarian violence today to nip it in the bud or keep quiet to become its victim with your family tomorrow.
---
*Aasha Ramesh- Researcher- Activist, Karnataka; Christopher Fonseca, AITUC, Goa; Fr. Cedric Prakash- Prashant- Gujarat; Harsh Kapoor- sacw.net; Irfan Engineer- Centre for Study of Society and Secularism- Maharashtra; Mazher Hussain- COVA Peace Network- Telangana; P.V. Rajagopal- Sarvodaya Samaj; Ram Puniyani- All India Secular Forum; Satyapaul- South Asian Fraternity; Sandeep Panday- Social Activist- Uttar Pradesh

Comments

Beyond India-China borders: Economic links expand, political gaps persist

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Despite growing trade between India and China, a persistent trust deficit continues to shape their bilateral relationship. Expanding economic engagement has not fully resolved political differences, many of which stem from historical legacies as well as contemporary geopolitical concerns. Border disputes—often traced to colonial-era arrangements—remain a significant obstacle to deeper cooperation, while differing strategic alignments in global affairs add further complexity.

GreenTech Summit claims NCR as key green building hub, without pan-India comparison

By A Representative The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), under the Confederation of Indian Industry, held its GreenTech Summit 2026 in New Delhi, where industry representatives, policymakers and sustainability professionals discussed the adoption of climate technologies in India’s built environment.

Gujarat cadre to HDFC: When bureaucratic style hits corporate walls

By Rajiv Shah I was a little amused by the abrupt March 17, 2026 resignation of Atanu Chakraborty —a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch who retired from the government in 2020—as chairman of HDFC Bank . Much of what may have led to his decision to quit this ostensibly high post—actually a non-executive, part-time role—is by now well known. I followed most of it online with considerable interest, partly because I had interacted with him umpteen times during my stint as The Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar from 1997 to 2012.

Operation Epic Fury: Making America great at the world’s expense?

By N.S. Venkataraman* The decades-long enmity between Iran and Israel is well-documented, but historically, their direct confrontations have been brief, constrained by the logistical and economic limitations of sustained warfare. The current conflict in the Middle East, however, marks a radical and dangerous departure from this pattern.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

India has been getting its economic growth wrong for two decades, say top economists

By Jag Jivan* India's official GDP figures have misrepresented the trajectory of the world's fifth-largest economy for the better part of two decades, according to a major new working paper published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). It finds that India overstated annual growth by up to two percentage points after 2011 — and understated it during the boom years of the 2000s.

'Tax the top': Nationwide protests demand action as 1% control 40% of India’s wealth

By A Representative Civil rights groups across the country observed the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh on March 23, as people from diverse backgrounds united to raise their voices against growing economic inequality. The mobilisations marked the launch of a nationwide campaign against inequality, running from March 23 to April 14 (Ambedkar Jayanti), under the banner of the “Tax The Top” campaign.

Beyond the election manifesto: Why climate is now a kitchen table issue

By Vikas Meshram* March has long been a month of gentle transition, the period when winter softly retreats and a mild warmth signals nature’s renewal. Yet, in recent years, this dependable rhythm has been disrupted. This year, since the beginning of March, temperatures across vast swathes of the country have shattered previous records, soaring to between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius in some regions. This is not a mere fluctuation in the weather; it is a serious and alarming indicator of climate change .

Search This Blog