New Delhi, Dec 8 : The murder of a freedom fighter of the 1971 Liberation War and his wife in Bangladeshâ??s Rangpur proves once again that minorities are unsafe in the country.

On Sunday morning, the bodies of 75-year-old Jogesh Chandra Roy and his wife Suborna Roy were discovered by their neighbours after knocks on their door went unanswered.

Until 2 pm on Sunday, no case had been filed, and this despite the coupleâ??s two sons serving with the Bangladesh police.

Their two sons, Shoven Chandra Roy and Rajesh Khanna Chandra Roy serve with the Bangladesh police at Joypurhat and Dhaka respectively. Following the incident, police from the Taraganj Police Station, including the Officer-in-Charge (OC) visited the crime scene.

A forensics team was deployed and an autopsy was ordered. No motive was found as yet and the police have not found any prior disputes involving the family.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that closer to the elections such incidents against the minority community are set to rise. The radicalisation and complete Islamisation of Bangladesh has been on the agenda of the ISI backed Jamaat-e-Islami and hence officials fear that such incidents could go up closer to the elections.

The elderly couple was found dead with their throats slit and this has angered the local community, who have been demanding arrests, failing which they threatened to stage protests.

Since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, incidents of violence against the minority community have gone up.

The caretaker of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus has failed to act against such incidents. He has instead called reports of violence against the minority community exaggerated.

Another official said that radical elements who have been set free despite being arrested on charges of murder and terror have been instructed to target the minority community. There is a systematic plan in place and is being executed by these elements.

The ISI has directed these elements to wipe out everything relating to the minorities. What is being followed in Bangladesh is text book copy of what one has been witnessing for long in Pakistan.

In December 2024, a mob had vandalised at least 20 homes and a temple after an alleged blasphemy post on the social media, at Sunamganj district in Monglargaon.

Data by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council suggests that 2,000 incidents of communal violence against minorities had taken place from August 2 to 20, 2024. This included the deaths of 9 Hindus and 69 attacks on places of worship and countless attacks on other minorities like Buddhists and Christians.

In October, Islamists took to the streets across the country demanding an immediate ban on ISKCON. They have been labelling the organisation as extremist.

Bangladesh watchers say that the murder of the couple is a clear sign that the minorities are unsafe in the country. This has all the signs of a targeted murder and the fact that Jogesh Chandra Roy was a freedom fighter only makes matters murkier, experts say.

Pakistan has been wanting to take Bangladesh back to the pre-1971 era. It wants the memories of the Liberation War wiped out and hence it has been instructing radicals to target the minority community.

Radicals have been systematically erasing anything connected to the 1971 War and have even razed down memorials connected to it. All those who fought against Pakistan during that war are on the target list of these radicals. They and their families have been under the radar and they live in constant fear, officials say.

This would be a major issue ahead of the elections and in a bid to impress a rabid group, the minorities would be targeted increasingly, Intelligence agencies say.

/IANS