Ahead of Durga Puja, there are reports of attacks and protests against the Hindu festival in Bangladesh amid concerns of rising violence against minorities in the aftermath of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster.
Durga puja will be celebrated in the neighbouring country from October 9 to 13. According to top government sources, Muslims want Hindus to vacate and leave their shops, against claims that the country belongs to the majority community.
The sources said Hindus are not receiving any support after the new interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, took over in the neighbouring country.
They said there have attacks on temples and ‘shivling’ belonging to the Hindu community, which makes up 8 percent of the Bangladeshi population. These acts of violence are against the United Nations Minorities Declaration, they added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already spoken to Yunus on this, and the interim leader has promised action. But, India will demand a complete probe on the attacks on Hindus, the sources said.
Extremist Muslims are trying to forcibly evict Hindu businessmen by threatening them and using foul language, they said, referring to an incident in Dhaka’s beehive market.
Bangladeshi Muslims are also demonstrating on the streets of Dhaka, saying they will not allow Durga Puja in areas where the festival is celebrated every year. Earlier, many puja committees received threat letters while a Durga Puja pandal in Kishore Ganj was destroyed by local Muslims, who demanded that this should stop and no permission will be given this time, they added.
In another example of an attack against the Hindu community, the sources said, the Narail Shiva temple was attacked by 10 youths in Badha Ghat area. There are reports of protests at a girls’ high school in the Rangpur district, where Hindu girls have been asked memorise Quranic ‘surahs’ and wear hijab while lessons on the Hindu holy book Gita have also stopped.
The minority Hindu population faced vandalism of their businesses, properties and destruction of temples during the student-led violence that erupted after the fall of the Hasina-led government. After unprecedented anti-government protests that peaked on August 5, she had resigned as prime minister and fled to India. In August, thousands of Hindus staged protests in Dhaka and the northeastern port city of Chattogram, demanding protection.
Police on ‘highest alert’ for Durga Puja celebrations
Amid concerns of possible unrest during the Hindu festival, a top official said the police will be on the highest alert at every puja mandap in Dhaka to ensure that the Hindu community celebrate Durga Puja peacefully.
“We have already started taking measures to ensure the security of the puja mandaps,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Mainul Hassan was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.
Hassan said police both in uniform and plainclothes will be on the highest alert to ensure unprecedented security arrangements during the Durga Puja. “Besides, SWAT, crisis response team, quick response team, crime scene van and bomb disposal unit will be kept ready to make the security measures foolproof,” he said.
He made the remarks while presiding over a meeting on security, law and order and traffic management centred around the Sharodia Durga Puja at its headquarters. Senior police officers and leaders of the Hindu community were present at the meeting.
Hassan said they have chalked out the security plan in three phases — pre-puja, during puja and the immersion of Durga idols — to ensure foolproof security to celebrate the puja peacefully, the agency said.
The official called upon the leaders of the Puja Udjapn Parishad to ensure sure effective operation of the CCTVs round the clock during the festival, alongside appointing own volunteers at the puja mandaps to help police in ensure peaceful celebration of the festival.
“We hope the Durga Puja will be celebrated in a festive and peaceful manner with collective efforts of all,” he said.
Earlier this month, the interim government’s Religious Affairs Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain warned tough action against those disrupting communal harmony or targeting places of worship during the Hindu festival. He urged the Hindu community to celebrate their festivals with enthusiasm and religious fervour and assured them that no one would be allowed to harm their temples.
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