On Friday (6th September), a procession of Hindu devotees carrying the idol of Lord Ganesha came under attack in the Kadam Mubarak area in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.
The incident occurred a day before the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations were scheduled to be held in the city. As per reports, members of the ‘Batargalli Dhwapara Sarbajanin Puja Committee’ were bringing the idol of the Hindu deity in a van from the factory of artisan Uttam Pal.
At that time, hot water was thrown on the Lord Ganesha idol and the Hindu devotees from atop a high-rise building on Momin Road. It must be mentioned that the said building is close to the Kadam Mubarak mosque.
The deliberate attack led to a heated argument between the devotees and residents of the building.
According to eyewitnesses, bricks were also hurled at the Hindu procession. A young Hindu man, who was hurt during the incident, informed that another Hindu devotee sustained serious injuries to his head.
“Why are minorities being attacked,” he was heard saying in a video posted by the Bangladesh Awami League.
Hot water and stones were thrown at the Ganesh idol from the Kadam Mobarak Jam e Masjid in Chittagong while it was being taken to the Cheragi pahad area
— Nilay Mallick🇧🇩🕉️ (@nilaymallikk) September 6, 2024
When trying to find out the reason, two Hindus were detained and brutally beaten
Currently Hindus are protesting
12:40 am pic.twitter.com/SXPT0hmwWB
On learning about the matter, hundreds of Hindus thronged the Momin road and Jamal Khan ward of Chittagong and staged a protest.
Soon after, a large team of police and armed forces was deployed in the Kadam Mubarak area to prevent any untoward situation.
The security personnel thereafter conducted a room-by-room search of the high-rise building, which was used by the accused to attack the idol procession of Lord Ganesha.
Attacks on Hindus continue unabated in Bangladesh
The members of the ‘Batargalli Dhwapara Sarbajanin Puja Committee’ have expressed shock and disappointment over the targeted attack and malicious attempt to hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.
The incident comes amid the lynching of a Hindu boy named Utsab Mandal by a Muslim mob on accusations of ‘blasphemy’ in the Sonadanga residential area of Khulna city.
We previously reported how Muslim students have forced as many as 60 Hindu teachers, professors and government officials to resign from their positions.
There have been at least 205 attacks on Hindu temples, shops and businesses since the ouster of Sheikha Hasina as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
