Bangladesh: Muslim group warns Hindus not to celebrate major religious festival openly

As the pro-jihad regime in Bangladesh continues to lay the groundwork for the establishment of an Islamic totalitarian state, the Islamic groups that the regime supports have now ordered that there will be no celebrations of the Hindu Durga Puja festival in the country. As per the 2022 census in Bangladesh, it was still home to a little more than 13.1 million Hindus, who made up 7.96% of the country’s population. Under the leadership of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, Muslims are depriving the country’s religious minorities of their fundamental rights.

A five-day event, the Durga Puja is one of the major Hindu festivals. It holds tremendous significance for the Bengali Hindu community in India, Bangladesh, and worldwide. The Durga Puja will be observed this year from October 9 to October 13. Days ahead of the festival, Islamic groups started sending out letters to Puja committees and temples, stating they wouldn’t be allowed to hold the Pujas unless they pay 500,000 Bangladeshi taka ($4,187, a not inconsiderable sum for an impoverished and oppressed community). The General Secretary of the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council, Mahendra Nath, revealed that over 25 temples in Dacope town in Khulna city have received such letters.

The development comes after Islamic attacks on the Buddhists and tribals last week, in which three tribals lost their lives, and over 200 homes and businesses of the monitory communities were razed. Apart from the extortion threats, Hindu community members said there have been several incidents of vandalism of Durga idols, which, again, is not new in Bangladesh. On September 22, a group of madrasa students tore down Durga idols in the Raypur area in Lakshmigonj district. Idols were also broken at Phuljhuri Galachipa temple in Barguna district.

The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council in Bangladesh condemned the recent attacks on minority communities and urged the Yunus-led government to take decisive legal action against the perpetrators. Yet one has to be naïve to expect Yunus to work for the minorities.  Earlier, officials from the Yunus administration mandated that the Hindu community halt Durga Puja-related activities five minutes before azaan and during namaaz. “Such activities need to cease during offering namaaz, and the pause will have to be followed from five minutes prior to azaan,” said Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury.

Stating that the Hindus are gearing up for the festivities amid an atmosphere of terror, Kushal Chakraborty, president of Sanatan Bidyarthi Sansad in Chittagong district, said, “There is fear in our minds. We are trying to reach out to the government for our safety. Idols have been vandalized in places like Faridpur, Khulna, and several others. We are preparing for Durga Puja, but there is fear.”

Vivekanand Ray, a Hindu committee leader from Sathkira district, also believes it would be difficult for Hindus to celebrate Durga Puja freely this year. “Some extremists vandalized our Durga idols and even the pandals. We are preparing for Durga Puja, but it looks like this year it is going to be very difficult for Hindus to celebrate our biggest festival as the government has become a spectator and the police are of no help,” he said.

To add to the mounting plight, a radical student organization named Insaf Keemkari Chhatra-Janta has cautioned the Hindu community against publicly celebrating Durga Puja, participating in any idol worship, or engaging in any religious rituals. They are also opposing the national holiday declared for the Hindu festival. Mobs of Muslim youths recently staged a march against Hindus who were using a playground in Dhaka’s Sector 13 for the Durga Puja celebrations.

The venue has been the location of Durga Puja celebrations for several years. But with the anti-Hindu sentiments rising towards dangerous heights, Islamic organizations have put forward a long list of restrictions on celebrating the Hindu festival. Their demands include limiting the public acts of worship against Hindu festivals and banning government assistance funds for Hindu festivals, along with a prohibition on closing roads for Hindu religious events.

The Hindu population in Bangladesh was 22% during its liberation. It has now diminished to 8%. On the other hand, the Muslim population in neighboring India has risen from 9.84 percent to 14.09 percent. These are only official numbers that don’t account for the millions of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators who have been residing and working in India for years.

Muslims in India enjoy public holidays on Eid. Many government and private offices have prayer rooms where Muslims can perform their five-time prayers during work hours. Public areas like airports have prayer rooms that are used solely by Muslims. Muslims crowding up public parks for Friday namaz is a familiar sight, and obstructing the traffic to perform special prayers on the roads is now the new norm. Mosques blare out azaan, which translates to “There is no god but Allah,” into the ears of non-Muslims, despite many courts having passed orders against this practice. There have been numerous reports of Mazars being erected illegally on government land. In India, Muslims demand and get special treatment as minorities while their coreligionists, right across the border, are up in arms to strip the minorities of their right to observe a five-day festival. The art of manipulating every situation to their favor is what the world needs to learn from Muslims.