DHAKA: Hindu community leaders in Bangladesh have demanded year-round protection for religious minorities and their places of worship, not just a five-day protection during the Durga Puja, local media reported.
Addressing a press conference in Dhaka, the leaders stated that incidents of temple and idol vandalism had already been reported from 13 districts across the country.
These attacks occurred amid preparations for the largest religious festival of the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh to be celebrated nationwide from September 28 to October 2.
These violent incidents highlight a troubling trend as the nation has witnessed a surge in attacks on Hindu temples and minorities since the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government assumed power in Bangladesh in August 2024.
"If we want to build a discrimination-free Bangladesh, we should not only think about security for five days of Puja, we have to think about security for all 365 days, " a leading Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star, quoted Jayanta Kumar Deb, president of Mohanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee, as saying.
Jayanta also called for the withdrawal of false and baseless cases filed against the leaders of religious and ethnic minorities and other innocent people.
According to Basudev Dhar, President of the Puja Udjapan Parishad, numerous Hindus have been implicated in fabricated cases and urged the interim government to allow them to participate in the Puja.
Meanwhile, Subrata Chowdhury, the advisor of the Puja Udjapan Parishad, stressed that those involved in vandalising idols and temples across the country should be punished in accordance with the law.
Last week, local media reported that miscreants vandalised idols and stole a security camera and memory card at the Shwarupdah Palpara Sri Sri Rakhha Kali Temple in Mirpur upazila of Kushtia district.