Nothing gladdens the heart of a Bengali Hindu more than the annual celebrations during Durga Puja. Whether on India’s eastern border, in West Bengal, or across it, in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, the five-day festival, from Maha Shashthi to Bijoya Dashami, remains one of the most important occasions on the calendar for millions celebrating the arrival of the ten-armed goddess.
In the first Durga Puja since he took over the reins of Bangladesh in February this year, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman appears to have pleased the country’s Hindu community and earned praise even from detractors.
Holding on to this newfound Hindu vote bank, however, will require more work, with his political rival Sheikh Hasina’s impending return, disturbing diktats by Islamist radicals against those who follow other faiths, and opposition parties offering minorities more sops.
A spectacular Puja
With a total of 33,851 pandals set up across Bangladesh, including 258 in the capital, Dhaka, the Tarique Rahman government increased the number of Durga Puja pandals by nearly 1,500 compared with last year.
To prevent untoward incidents during the festival, members of various law enforcement agencies were deployed at Puja pandals across Bangladesh. The Dhaka Tribune reported that 212,118 members of the auxiliary paramilitary force, the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party, were deployed for security.
Eight members were assigned to each high-risk mandap and six to each of the other mandaps. Another 104 striking teams remained on standby to respond quickly in case of trouble.
The Border Guard Bangladesh also set up 18 base camps and strengthened patrols to secure around 1,800 Puja mandaps located within eight kilometres of the country’s borders.
The Tarique Rahman government also declared a three-day holiday for Durga Puja, from 20 to 22 October. With 23 and 24 October falling on Friday and Saturday, the regular weekly holidays in Bangladesh, the break effectively extended to five days, from 20 to 24 October.
Beyond the security arrangements, the grandeur of Puja pandals across Bangladesh’s cities and towns sparked a wave of enthusiasm on social media. Influencer Daniel Afzalur Rahman wrote that he had never witnessed Durga Puja being celebrated with such grandeur and vibrancy in Bangladesh.
“Remember growing up in a Bangladesh that was sort of known as a land of festivals. Good to see us reconnecting with our true selves. Government should ensure that this momentum continues, so that we have bigger and better celebrations in the coming years,” Rahman wrote on Facebook.
He added that, apart from the obvious benefits, the celebrations would also help make Bangladesh a soft power.
The Daily Waadaa reported that this year’s celebrations drew praise from writers, activists and cultural figures. They credited the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government and law enforcement agencies with ensuring the Hindu community could observe its biggest religious festival without major disruption.
“Writer and activist Sadikur Rahman Khan, filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki and writer Faham Abdus Salam welcomed the celebrations, describing them as a significant departure from the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty they said had surrounded the festival in previous years,” the outlet reported.
The article quoted activist Sadikur Rahman Khan as saying that the most peaceful Durga Puja in Bangladesh without the Awami League had demonstrated who the real enemies of Hindus were.
“Sadikur accused the former ruling party of exploiting communal tensions to portray itself as the Hindu community’s only protector,” the report said.
Perhaps the most striking and widely shared praise for the Tarique Rahman government came from Kolkata-based journalist, influencer and prime-time television host Mayukh Ranjan Ghosh, who has been vocal about attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime in August 2024.
“Durga puja in Bangladesh has been a stunning affair this year. Take a bow, Bangladesh. I am taken aback by the grandeur of Chattogram puja pandals this year. Those who give awards to Kolkata puja pandals should keep separate awards for pandals in Chattogram. Sent them the trophies through courier service,” Ghosh wrote in a viral Facebook post.
Minority issues remain unresolved
While a spectacular Durga Puja is a feather in the cap for the Tarique Rahman government, minority issues in Bangladesh remain far from resolved.
Earlier this month, before the festival began, at least 34 incidents of idol vandalism, temple attacks and related violence were reported at Durga Puja venues across Bangladesh, according to two puja committees: the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and the Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee.
The organisations called for effective measures to prevent further attacks and ensure the security of religious and ethnic minorities throughout the year.
Bangladeshi Hindu rights activist Jayanta Karmakar told ThePrint that, at the village level, huzurs and other Islamist religious preachers had continued to speak out against idol worship this year, calling it “haram” and urging Muslims not to participate in Durga Puja festivities.
“Attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh have carried on even after Tarique Rahman came to power. A spectacular Durga Puja does not change the reality of Hindus on the ground. The government should do something about Islamist preachers who continue to spread anti-Hindu hate,” Karmakar said.
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The Hindu vote and the battle ahead
In the February national election, Hindus in Bangladesh overwhelmingly voted for Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), in the absence of Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League, to keep the country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, out of power.
While a successful Durga Puja may have kept Rahman’s Hindu voters happy for now, Hasina’s possible return could alter their political loyalties.
If Hasina returns to Bangladesh, as she has promised, it remains to be seen whether Hindu voters will shift their support from Rahman’s party to the Awami League, their original party of choice.
Meanwhile, a prominent leader of the Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP), formed by student leaders who emerged from the July 2024 uprising, has stirred debate with his remarks at Dhakeshwari National Temple during the festival.
Nasiruddin Patwary told temple committee members that, if he came to power, he would help them recover temple land that had been unlawfully occupied. According to temple committee reports, about 5.6 acres of the approximately eight acres of recorded temple property have been illegally occupied.
Patwary’s promise has thus struck an emotional chord with some Bangladeshi Hindus.
Come the next election, Rahman may have to fight harder to retain Hindu votes. For now, however, a spectacular and largely peaceful Durga Puja has helped the prime minister pass an important test of his government’s approach to minorities.
Deep Halder is an author and a contributing editor at ThePrint. He tweets @deepscribble. Views are personal.
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)