Dressed in a blue full-sleeve sweatshirt and trousers, barefooted Das is seen trying to explain something to some men in what appears to be police uniform.
A video being widely shared on social media shows Dipu Chandra Das, 25, in conversation with some men wearing what appears to be a police uniform shortly before he was lynched by a radical mob in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. Dressed in a blue full-sleeve sweatshirt and trousers, barefooted Das is seen in the video trying to explain something to them, miles away from Dhaka, where violent protesters resorted to arson over the assassination of anti-India leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, known for her controversial autobiography ‘Amar Meyebela’ that details her childhood experiences with sexual abuse and religious oppression, has shared a sequence of events that she claims throws light on how even the police may have had a role in Das’s lynching.
In her post on X, Taslima Nasreen said, “Dipu Chandra Das worked at a factory in Bhaluka, Mymensingh. He was a poor laborer. One day, a Muslim coworker wanted to punish him over some trivial matter, so in the middle of a crowd, he announced that Dipu had made derogatory remarks about the Prophet. That was enough. Frenzied followers of the Prophet pounced on Dipu like hyenas and began to tear him apart. Eventually, the police rescued him and took him into custody-meaning Dipu was under police protection.”
“Dipu told the police what had happened, stated that he was innocent, that he had made no comment whatsoever about the Prophet, and that it was all a conspiracy by that coworker. The police did not go after the coworker,” she said, alleging that many in the police force harbour a “fondness for jihad”.
Question police’s role, she asked, “Was it in the excess of this jihadist zeal that they threw Dipu back to those fanatics? Or did jihadist militants shove the police aside and take Dipu out of the station? They held a full-blown celebration-beating Dipu, hanging him, burning him-a jihadist festival.”
“Dipu Chandra Das was the sole breadwinner of his family. With his earnings, his disabled father, mother, wife, and child survived. What will happen to them now? Who will help the relatives? Who will bring the mad murderers to justice? Dipu’s family doesn’t even have the money to flee to India to escape the jihadists’ hands. The poor have no one. They have no country left, not even a religion left,” she added.
Taslima Nasreen has lived in exile in India, Western Europe, and North America for several years. Her Bangladeshi passport was revoked after her writings offended the fundamentalists, and she faced threats to her life. She was later granted citizenship by the Swedish government.
Reacting to her post, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor sought to know what steps are being taken to punish those who lynched Das.
“An unbearably tragic incident amid the mob rule that is raging across Bangladesh. While mourning the loss of this poor Hindu man at the hands of unspeakable criminals, I appreciate the condemnation issued by the Government of Bangladesh, but must ask them what they are doing to punish the murderers, and what steps they are taking to ensure that such incidents do not recur?” asked Tharoor.
