India on Saturday took a serious note of Hindu temples and other religious getting attacked repeatedly in Bangladesh and asked Dhaka to ensure safety and security of the minority community.
On 11th October amid the Durga Puja celebrations, a petrol bomb was thrown at a Durga Puja mandap in Tanti Bazar in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka.
“We have noted with serious concern the attack on a Puja mandap in Tantibazar, Dhaka and the theft at the revered Jeshoreshwari Kali temple at Satkhira.
These are deplorable events. They follow a systematic pattern of desecration and damage to temples and deities that we have witnessed over several days now.
We call upon the Government of Bangladesh to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities and their places of worship, especially during this auspicious festival time,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.
Notably, there have been attacks on Hindus living Bangladesh ever since the government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown after months-long protests across the country.
In the same month, the interim government had set up a hotline asking people to provide information about attacks on Hindu temples, churches or any other religious institutions belonging to minorities, it said.
Strikingly, In Bangladesh, the spree of violent attacks and religious persecution of Hindus intensified on 5th August, this year following the violent ouster of elected PM Sheikh Hasina.
Even after 50-odd days, large-scale targeted attacks on religious minorities, particularly, Hindus continue unabashedly in the anarchy gripped nation. Ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations, the Islamist groups issued blatant threats against the public celebration of Durga Puja – the largest religious festival of the Bangladeshi Hindu community.
According to media reports, the Islamists groups had asked the Bengali Hindu community to publicly display anti-India remarks and banners outside temples and Durga Puja Pandals alleging that “India is the enemy of Bangladesh”. They had also issued a list of 16 demands including threatening Hindus to not publicly celebrate Durga Puja.
In the past few months, Islamist miscreants have indulged in vandalism and targeted Hindu temples all across Bangladesh, with over 200 odd incidents being reported in the first few days after the violent ouster unfolded in the country. It has been widely reported that Hindu teachers and academicians have been purged on a massive scale with over 100 of them being forced to resign by Islamist mobs who stormed and held them hostage in their offices.