Workers give the final touch to idols ahead of Durga Puja, the biggest Hindu festival, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, October 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

NEW DELHI

Four days of Durga Puja festivity started in Bangladesh on Thursday (October 10, 2024) amidst nagging concerns about security. Chief Adviser Prof. Mohammad Yunus and the leadership of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have affirmed that the festival belongs to all sections of the country.

“Durga puja is not limited to the Hindu community of Bangladesh. It has become a festival for all communities. Destruction of unholy powers and victory of truth are the main features of Durga utsav. Bangladesh is the land of communal harmony. Our constitution protects the rights of all, irrespective of differences of religion and caste,” said Chief Adviser Prof. Mohammad Yunus in a statement ahead of the festival.

The number of Durga puja committees in Bangladesh has decreased this year, following the recent upheavals in the country. A section of the political class of Bangladesh says that the dip in the Durga puja pandals has to do with the recent floods, as many puja committees have prioritised flood relief over the festival. Tarique Rahman, the Acting Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said that the festival this year is being observed “under unusual circumstances.” “In the wake of the devastating floods, many within the community scaled back celebrations, diverting funds for relief.”

Idols damaged

Despite the messages of harmony from the Chief Adviser and the BNP leader, the run up to the festival has been tense. At least two incidents of vandalism were reported from temples in Pabna in western Bangladesh where unfinished Durga idols were damaged by miscreants. The BNP has blamed elements of the Awami League, its chief political rival, for the incidents in Pabna.

Durga puja, which is the biggest Hindu festival in Bangladesh, is testing the authority’s commitment to an inclusive government. Earlier this week, Amir of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, in a speech at a prominent hotel in Dhaka, said Sheikh Hasina’s government “persecuted his party the most.”

As a confidence-building measure, the interim government extended the official national holiday for Durga puja to four days, a rare gesture.

However, the interim administration’s actions are being viewed in the context of the Sheikh Hasina government’s past commitment to religious freedom. Though the Hasina government faced an embarrassing situation in 2021 when fundamentalists attacked puja pandals at multiple locations in the country, it is generally believed that Hasina’s Awami League was popular among Hindus, Bangladesh’s largest religious minority community. PM Hasina, as a rule, visited the Dhakeshwari temple during Durga puja every year.

After her departure, several political outfits, including the Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh, promised to provide support and protection to the festival pandals. However, on Thursday, it was reported that the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Chhatra Shibir, disrupted activities at a prominent puja pandal in Chitttagong, prompting criticism by secular bloggers and activists. Blogger Azam Khan pointed out that songs praising “Islamic revolution” were performed by Shibir activists in the J. M. Sen Hall in the presence of leading figures of the BNP and JEI-Bangladesh.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus signs a document after taking the oath of office as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 8, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Amid concerns of possible unrest during Durga puja, Bangladesh’s interim government on Sunday (September 8, 2024) warned potential troublemakers, pledging tough action against those disrupting communal harmony or targeting places of worship during the Hindu festival.

Durga puja will be celebrated from October 9 to 13.

“If anyone disrupts or harasses people at worship halls, we will not spare them. We will bring them under the law and ensure peace,” Religious Affairs Adviser Dr AFM Khalid Hossain said during a visit to the Prematli Gaurang Bari Kalimandir in Godagari at Rajshahi district.

He urged members of 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, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.

“If you fear attacks on your temples, be assured that no criminals will succeed. We have engaged local people, including madrasa students, to take turns guarding the temples. No one will stop us from celebrating our religious festivals,” Hossain said, asserting that the interim government wants to transform Bangladesh into a state free of discrimination and sectarianism.

The minority Hindu population faced vandalism of their businesses and properties, and destruction of temples, during the student-led violence that erupted following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. After unprecedented anti-government protests that peaked on August 5, Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled to India.

On Saturday at Rajshahi Circuit House, Hossain met with government officials and warned that miscreants might attempt to disrupt communal harmony ahead of Durga puja.

“We must collectively resist such efforts,” he said, suggesting that madrasa students could be engaged as volunteers to help safeguard temples during the festival.

The adviser also instructed law enforcement and the administration to take measures to secure puja mandaps.

Last month, thousands of Hindus staged protest rallies in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka and the northeastern port city of Chattogram, demanding protection.

The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance in August said the minority Hindu community faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts since the fall of the Hasina-led government and termed it as an “assault on the Hindu religion”.

Hindus, who made up 22% of Bangladesh’s population at the time of the 1971 Liberation War, now constitute about 8% of 170 million.