Rajbari’s Goalanda witnessed a descent into mob violence on Friday, September 5, when an enraged crowd of Tawhidi supporters demolished the grave of Nurul Haque—widely known as “Nural Pagol” (85)—and set his exhumed body on fire. What began as a dispute over a controversial burial turned into a shocking display of lawlessness and religious vigilantism.
Tensions had been brewing for weeks. After Nurul Haque’s death on August 23, his family buried him inside a 12-foot-high structure, painted in the style of the Kaaba and marked with a banner declaring it the shrine of “Hazrat Imam Mahdi (A.).” While his followers regarded the site as sacred, clerics and Tawhidi groups branded it blasphemous and demanded changes.
At a public meeting last week, the local Imam Committee and Tawhidi Janata issued an ultimatum: the grave must be repainted, the signboard removed, and its height lowered. Two of these demands were accepted, but the third—reducing the elevation—remained unresolved. Leaders warned that unless it was addressed by September 4, they would “march to Goalanda” and take matters into their own hands.
Today, after Jumu’ah prayers, that threat was realized in the most brutal fashion. Videos show men armed with sticks and chanting slogans as they smashed the mausoleum, set fire to the grave, and torched nearby houses belonging to Nurul Haque’s disciples. His remains were forcibly exhumed and burned in public view. In the chaos, several police vehicles were vandalized, forcing army personnel to intervene in an attempt to restore order.
The mob’s actions shocked many across the region. What could have been resolved through dialogue spiraled into barbarity—undermining both the rule of law and the sanctity of the dead. Critics argue that religious zeal was manipulated into mob hysteria, leaving behind destruction and deep communal wounds.
Authorities have yet to release an official casualty report, but Goalanda remains tense under heavy security deployment. For many, the question lingers: how did a grave dispute become an excuse for such inhuman violence?
