Tension Simmers in Assam’s Karimganj after Miscreants Burn 19th-Century Temple

This time, it was not in Bangladesh, but in Assam's Karimganj, where unidentified miscreants set fire to a 19th century-old Shiva and Vishnu temple.

The incident was reported at Damsara, a tribal village of Dullabcherra locality under the Ratabari constituency of the district.

Following the incident, a group of women from the tribal community broke down into tears inside the temple premises demanding severe to severe action against the culprits. The district magistrate and Karimganj superintendent of police immediately reached the spot and paramilitary forces were also deployed.

According to reports, one Devi Ram Barman constructed the temple at the aforementioned locality in the 19^th century and installed the idols of lord Shiva and goddess Parvati in one room and lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi in the other.

Since then, the tribal community people in the village have been worshipping in the ancient temple for hundreds of years.

When locals visited the temple on Tuesday morning, they saw that the idols had already been set on fire. Three plastic gallons carrying petrol were also recovered near the temple.

The people from the tribal community suspected that miscreants had deliberately set the temple on fire to hurt the religious sentiments of tribal Hindus.

It is worth mentioning that the tribal community has been living in Damsara village for over a hundred years now.  But over the last few years, people from other communities have forcibly occupied their land and built houses. A few days ago, based on the plea of the tribal people, the concerned department of the state government evicted people from other communities and demolished their houses. 

Despite this, other communities didn’t move back, they started living again in the protected forest areas of the village. As a result, there has been a long-standing fight between the two communities. 

Meanwhile, BJP’s Dullabcherra mandal president Jitendra Lal Rai termed the incident as an attack on Sanatan Dharma.

The burning of a centuries-old temple in Damsara has led to heightened tension in and around the Karimganj district.

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