New Delhi: The Bangladesh Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said that investigations are underway into Durga Puja celebrations, where beards were attached to Asura (demon) idols. The move came following complaints of the idols “hurting religious sentiments” of the majority Muslim community.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has expressed concerns over the initiation of “legal action against artists, priests, and organisers involved in the making of idols” across the country.
On 5 October, Lt Gen (Retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, adviser to the home ministry, told the press about the general diaries in connection with 793 pujas at different police stations. His statement came after an MHA core committee meeting on law and order and have since polarised social and political circles in Bangladesh.
The move is a stark reminder of religious intolerance under the Muhammad Yunus administration, said Mahmud Hassan Ripon, the former Awami League MP from the Gaibandha-5 constituency before mass protests led to the 5 August 2024 downfall of the Sheikh Hasina government, told ThePrint over the phone.
“In his interviews, Yunus has maintained that attacks on Hindus are fake news generated by India. The attack on the Asura idols and the Durga Puja committees shows how the current government is trying to find new ways of pushing the minority Hindu population into a corner,” Ripon said. “Durga Puja is the biggest festival for Bengali Hindus, and this government has not even let Bangladeshi Hindus celebrate it in peace.”
Adviser Chowdhury, however, described the beards on the Asura idols as part of a larger conspiracy to disturb communal harmony and create unrest.
Usually, Asura idols have a thick, prominent moustache, but no beard.
Chowdhury indicated that the bearded Asuras, the alleged sexual assault of a tribal girl in Chittagong Hill Tracts, leading to protests and clashes with security forces, and reports of pandal vandalism are all part of the larger conspiracy.
This year, 33,355 Durga Pujas were held in Bangladesh, an increase from 31,461 in 2024.
Targeting of puja committees?
Bangladesh Hindu rights activist Rupan Guha told ThePrint that the actions constitute a serious violation of constitutional and international human rights by the administration, instead of fulfilling obligations such as ensuring freedom of religion, artistic expression, and minority protection in the nation.
“Over 2,500 attacks on religious minorities have taken place since August 2024,” Guha claimed, adding, “There is a concerted attempt on the part of the interim government to target those who speak up for Hindu rights.”
“There has been the arbitrary detention of ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, imprisoned since 25 November 2024 on fabricated sedition charges. And now, we are being targeted for celebrating Durga Puja,” he added.
Police had booked Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari for undermining the sovereignty of Bangladesh and creating unrest in Chittagong on the grounds of putting a saffron flag over the Bangladesh flag during a protest on 25 October 2024.
Speaking to ThePrint, an office-bearer with the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, the country’s largest religious minority rights organisation, on the condition of anonymity, said that the making of the Asura idols had been the same, as in the past years, and expressed his anxieties over the “targeting” of puja committees, as well as their artists, idol makers, and organisers.
“Members are targeted as they represent minority interests in Bangladesh. We were forced to remain quiet. But the community will not tolerate the attack on Durga Puja,” he said.
Jahangir Alam Chowdhury also told the local press that fascist groups and their cohorts are behind the plot, which, according to him, has now become apparent.
On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September this year, Yunus claimed in an interview with Zeteo’s Mehdi Hasan that there was no anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh, blaming India for the spreading of fake news.
“One of the specialities of India right now is fake news,” the Nobel laureate had said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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