In Nesharabad, Pirojpur, a local Jamaat-e-Islami leader stands accused of occupying the land of a decades-old Hindu temple in a case that mirrors the persistent pattern of targeted land grabs, intimidation, and disruption of minority religious life that has marked Bangladesh since the political upheaval of 5 August 2024.
Shafiqul Islam Hawladar, president of Jamaat’s No. 1 Ward in Samudaykathi Union, is alleged to have seized roughly 42 decimals of land belonging to the Universal Shitola Temple in Dakshinpara. Temple representatives say he moved in immediately after 5 August 2024—while a court case over the property was still pending—and began cultivating paddy on it. The occupation has blocked the Sanatan community from performing puja and other rituals that locals say have continued at the site for generations.
According to co-owners and residents, the land is recorded in the latest BS records in the names of eight co-sharers. One of them, Samir Ranjan Aich (now in India), had entered an unregistered bayna agreement with Hawladar for a portion of the property. Another co-owner, Manoj Biswas, states that Hawladar used the agreement to file a case against the remaining sharers and then took physical possession while litigation continues. Biswas notes that his own ancestors performed Shitola puja there and has demanded the land’s recovery so worship can resume.
Local UP member Suman Aich confirms the long history of religious use and says allegations against the Jamaat leader surfaced right after the August 2024 change of government. Attempts to arrange a discussion with documents have been rebuffed.
Hawladar himself has not responded to repeated calls. The union Jamaat president, Md. Abu Hanif, has described the matter as “personal” and insisted the party does not endorse land grabbing or injustice—standard language that has accompanied many similar complaints involving Jamaat-linked figures since August 2024.
Minority rights organisations, including the local branch of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Welfare Front, have documented parallel cases of land occupation, temple vandalism, and intimidation in the same area; their efforts to mediate have also met with no response from the accused.
Police acknowledge a dispute and an ongoing court case, stating that both sides were advised to pursue legal remedies. Such responses have become routine in the post-5 August period, even as Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and other groups continue to report hundreds of incidents of targeted attacks on minority homes, temples, and property across the country.
The timing of the alleged seizure—immediately after the fall of the previous government—and the involvement of a local Jamaat office-bearer place this incident squarely within the broader pattern of anti-minority violence and dispossession that has persisted with little effective deterrence.