A protest march organised by the Hindu community came under attack in the Nazrul Avenue area in the Comilla metropolis of Bangladesh. The incident took place on Friday (13th October) at 11 a.m.
In a video posted on YouTube by Global Television, members of the Hindu community could be seen running for cover. As per reports, a total of 5 people, including one woman, were injured during the attack.
One of them also sustained severe injuries to his head. Three of the victims were identified as Aditya Das, Sunil Das and Tanmoy Das.
The said demonstration was led by the Bangladesh Youth Unity Council, Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (HBCUC), Student Unity Council and Women Unity Council against the disturbing remarks made by an Awami League MP (Comilla-6 constituency) named Bahauddin Bahar about Durga Puja.
According to Rana Das Gupta, the General Secretary of the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Bahauddin had demonised the annual Hindu Bengali festival as ‘Madjukto Puja‘ (festival of alcohol) on 4th October this year.
The Awami League MP also claimed that if alcohol consumption was decreased, then, the number of Puja pandals would go down. On Thursday (12th October), he yet again associated ‘Durga Puja with alcohol’.
Just last month (28th September), Munshiganj district Mayor Faisal Biplab referred to Hindu MP, Mrinal Kanti Das, as ‘malaun’ (a derogatory term for Hindus), ‘nopungshak’ (impotent) and ‘chandal’ (a derogatory term for Dalits).
Miffed by the vicious targeting of the Hindu festivals, the members of the community took out a protest march and demanded action against the Awami League MP. However, the demonstration reportedly came under attack from Islamists belonging to the ‘Chhatra League’ and ‘Jubo League’.
While ‘Chhatra League’ is the student wing of the Sheikh Hasina-led-Bangladesh Awami League, ‘Jubo League’ is the youth wing of the same party. Bahauddin Bahar, who made the contentious remarks about Durga Puja, is also an MP of Awami League.
