'They Killed Him Over His Job': Bangladeshi Hindu Man's Family To NDTV

When he was alive, a rectangular structure of tin sheets in a village 140 km from Bangladesh's capital Dhaka was what Dipu Chandra Das called home. It took NDTV's Ankit Tyagi nearly four hours to cover this distance in heavy traffic.

Dipu Das' little daughter Dipika Das is too small to comprehend what happened to her 29-year-old father, whose murder in the most gruesome manner in the hands of a Muslim mob in Mymensingh city, where he worked in a factory, drew the world's attention to the killing of Hindus in Bangladesh administered by US-returned Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

The authorities later said there is no evidence that Dipu Das committed blasphemy.

A mob lynched Dipu Das after a co-worker accused him of blasphemy on December 18. They didn't stop there. They hung the body at a public place and set it ablaze.

The spartan interior of the barebone structure that's more a tin shed than a house added to the family's pain as they have also lost an earning member. Others who live in this 'house' are Dipu Das' father Bhakt Ravidas, mother Shefali Ravidas, and brothers Apu Das and Ritick Das.

Dipu Das' father, who only spoke in Bangla, said, "My son was lucky in getting the job as they had a draw of lots. He was a BA Pass and also set for promotion. But some people who did not get jobs conspired to kill him."

"They had threatened to kill him many times if he didn't give them jobs. How can he? These same people then went to the manager and probably bribed him. They spread rumours that Dipu Das committed blasphemy," the devastated father told NDTV.

Dipu Das' elder brother said he was the only one who fed the family. A village elder told NDTV Dipu Das was a good person. "You won't find another man like him in this area."

The compensation given by the Bangladesh administration came as an insult rather than aid, the heartbroken family told NDTV. But they have hope that the government will help them properly, the family said.

"The government gave 25,000 taka, some rice, a blanket and a sewing machine. Today we got a cheque of 1 lakh taka. We know the government can help us more and they shall," the village elder told NDTV.

Dipu Das' wife, Meghna Rani, lay curled up and motionless on a hard bed in a far corner of the house. Her eyes stared at emptiness. She did not speak. The floor where other family members sat is cold. It will be years before their little daughter understands the gravity of what happened to her father.

Dipu Das' death is a reminder that in today's volatile Bangladesh, Hindus must curb their ambition or pay with their lives, the villagers said.

A local Hindu community leader who helped in translation raised concern that Dipu Das' murder has left a deep scar of fear in the community.

Yesterday, Hindus in Bangladesh's troubled capital Dhaka in an exclusive conversation with NDTV narrated the horrors they faced and concerns they have as attacks on them by radical Islamists, a majority of them encouraged by the Jamaat-e-Islami, rise.

"They said they are attacking us because we are Hindus, not because we support the Bangladesh Awami League. First of all we don't support anyone, whether Awami League or any other group," a member of the Hindu community told NDTV.

"The Islamists are lying to the outside world that they are going after Awami League supporters and it's purely political. But that's a smokescreen to run their campaign against minorities in this country," the Dhaka resident, his face hidden from the camera, told NDTV.

While officials working with Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus claim they are protecting minorities, the ground reports say otherwise. Hindus have reported frequent attacks by Islamists across the country.