Staff give the ultimate contact to idols forward of Durga Puja, the most important Hindu pageant, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, October 8, 2024.
| Picture Credit score: Reuters
NEW DELHI
4 days of Durga Puja festivity began in Bangladesh on Thursday (October 10, 2024) amidst nagging considerations about safety. Chief Adviser Prof. Mohammad Yunus and the management of the Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration have affirmed that the pageant belongs to all sections of the nation.
“Durga puja just isn’t restricted to the Hindu group of Bangladesh. It has develop into a pageant for all communities. Destruction of unholy powers and victory of reality are the primary options of Durga utsav. Bangladesh is the land of communal concord. Our structure protects the rights of all, regardless of variations of faith and caste,” stated Chief Adviser Prof. Mohammad Yunus in an announcement forward of the pageant.
The variety of Durga puja committees in Bangladesh has decreased this yr, following the current upheavals within the nation. A bit of the political class of Bangladesh says that the dip within the Durga puja pandals has to do with the current floods, as many puja committees have prioritised flood reduction over the pageant. Tarique Rahman, the Performing Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP), stated that the pageant this yr is being noticed “underneath uncommon circumstances.” “Within the wake of the devastating floods, many inside the group scaled again celebrations, diverting funds for reduction.”
Idols broken
Regardless of the messages of concord from the Chief Adviser and the BNP chief, the run as much as the pageant has been tense. Not less than two incidents of vandalism have been reported from temples in Pabna in western Bangladesh the place unfinished Durga idols have been broken by miscreants. The BNP has blamed parts of the Awami League, its chief political rival, for the incidents in Pabna.
Durga puja, which is the most important Hindu pageant in Bangladesh, is testing the authority’s dedication to an inclusive authorities. Earlier this week, Amir of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, in a speech at a distinguished lodge in Dhaka, stated Sheikh Hasina’s authorities “persecuted his social gathering essentially the most.”
As a confidence-building measure, the interim authorities prolonged the official nationwide vacation for Durga puja to 4 days, a uncommon gesture.
Nonetheless, the interim administration’s actions are being considered within the context of the Sheikh Hasina authorities’s previous dedication to spiritual freedom. Although the Hasina authorities confronted an embarrassing scenario in 2021 when fundamentalists attacked puja pandals at a number of places within the nation, it’s typically believed that Hasina’s Awami League was common amongst Hindus, Bangladesh’s largest non secular minority group. PM Hasina, as a rule, visited the Dhakeshwari temple throughout Durga puja yearly.
After her departure, a number of political outfits, together with the Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh, promised to supply help and safety to the pageant pandals. Nonetheless, on Thursday, it was reported that the coed wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Chhatra Shibir, disrupted actions at a distinguished puja pandal in Chitttagong, prompting criticism by secular bloggers and activists. Blogger Azam Khan identified that songs praising “Islamic revolution” have been carried out by Shibir activists within the J. M. Sen Corridor within the presence of main figures of the BNP and JEI-Bangladesh.
Printed – October 11, 2024 12:58 am IST
