It was 9 PM of 5 August 2024 in Bangladesh, and the PM Sheikh Haseena has barely avoided her assassination and was evacuated from Bangladesh through India in a daring mission.
Following her departure the Hindus of Bangladesh were already worried that the wrath of the Islamists will fall onto them.
Chandan Paul, an anti-quota protester from Pal Pada area of the Baguda district in Bangladesh was already being disillusioned that what he considered a secular movement, always had a communal offspring within.
The anti-quota Hindu protester's village was now being burnt by Muslim anti-quota protesters now coming up with full fledged Islamic radicalism.
Pal Pada is a community village of the Hindu Pal (Paul) community which was attacked by Muslim villagers from the village aided by Muslim contingent from nearby villages.
Around 700 Muslims entered and rampaged the village with significant Hindu population. They defiled the local Hindu temple, attacked and injured the Hindu males, and molested the local Hindu females.
Before the attack, there was a power blackout in the Pal Pada also known as Bamunia Pada (Brahman village) which the locals are alleging to be part of an attack strategy. The people went to bed, but by the noise of the victims, people came out.
The local Muslims have pointed out the houses of the Hindus for selective targeting by the Muslim fanatics associated with mainly Islami Chhatra Shibir.
The victims claimed that despite repeated calls to the police the police neither responded nor arrived and in fact had stopped taking the calls. The locals said that it has been the usual modus operandi of the Bangladesh Police.
It was the local Hindu population that struck back against the invading Muslim mob and chased them away. A video footage live recorded on Facebook (which was later downed by Meta) by Chandan Pal, a local and the participant in the movement, shows people striking back clad in Lungi (even Hindus wear it in Bangladesh) and boxers.
"Over the years we realized police won't come to help, we have to patrol and protect ourselves," - Ripon Pal, local youth.
Ripon further told Profilian that they have kept an eye on the local Islami Chhatra Shibir and Jamat Islami social media platforms where they were openly planning an attack. "We were ready," Prasoon Pal, another local said.