Deganga Intifada – Update

(March 2011)

Other families told us their valuables were looted and showed us where their homes were firebombed.  In some cases we saw the charred remains of furniture and evidence of the fire bleeding through freshly painted walls.  Several individuals said that reports alleging there were no physical assaults simply were not true. One man described being beaten, and at least two groups of women showed us where they fled to escape being molested. One elderly resident, a former schoolteacher told us that on the third day of the pogrom he observed a curious procession on a ridge across from his home: a long line of local Muslims carrying hand weapons including lakhis (long sticks that are commonly used in these attacks), machete-like knives, and other implements. What really grabbed his attention, however, was the fact that they were following a group of local police, which told him that any appeals to justice were going to be futile. Yet, his greatest disappointment, he said, was that up until recently, Hindus and Muslims lived peacefully with each other in the area. He is convinced that this change could not have happened randomly but is part of a planned effort to force Hindus from Deganga. Throughout his career, he said, he taught Hindus and Muslims alike—“good boys,” he said—and now some of those Muslim students are using those lessons to attack their Hindu counterparts.

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