On Tuesday (10th September), the Bangladesh Home Ministry issued a decree for the Hindu community ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations as it directed Puja committees to turn off Durga Puja rituals and sound systems five minutes before Azan and Namaz. The decree has sparked outrage with netizens dubbing it a Talibani order by the Interim Bangladeshi government for the Hindu community.
Meet the Bangladeshi Home Minister Advisor who is directing that Hindus must stop their pujas, music, & any rituals 5 minutes before Azan—or face arrest.
— Radharamn Das राधारमण दास (@RadharamnDas) September 10, 2024
This is new Talibani #Bangladesh. But no Bollywoodiya will hold placards for Bangladeshi Minorities because they are Hindus. pic.twitter.com/iI6T9ODSQm
As per Bangladeshi media reports, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Tuesday met with the leaders of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad at the secretariat. In the Bangladeshi Interim government, an adviser post is equivalent to a Minister.
After the meeting, the Home Affairs Adviser briefly held a press conference to address the issue of ‘law and order’ ahead of Durga Puja which is the largest religious festival of the Hindu community in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi Hindus will mark Durga Puja celebrations from 9th October to 13th October.
During the press conference, Home Affairs Adviser Alam Chowdhury said the puja committees have been asked to keep musical instruments and sound systems off five minutes before and during the Azan and Namaz.
Claiming that the movement of the Hindu community causes problems in maintaining law and order during the Durga Puja, Chowdhury said, “Many Bangladeshi people travel to Indian side to celebrate Puja while Indian people used to visit our side on the occasion.”
Stopping the cross-border movement of Bengali Hindus for Durga Puja celebrations, he added, “I have requested everyone to organize good puja mandaps in the border areas this time so that our people don’t have to go to the other side to see the Puja, and people from the other side don’t have to come here.”
Chowdhury, however, claimed that the security of the Hindu community would be ensured from the time of the making of the idols. He said, “We have discussed how to ensure round-the-clock security at the puja mandaps.”
The Home Affairs Minister mentioned that this year a total of 32, 666 puja mandaps will be erected across the country. 157 and 88 mandaps will be erected in Dhaka South City and North City Corporations respectively. Pertinently, 33, 431 Puja Mandaps were erected last year.
He added that measures will be taken to facilitate the celebration of puja without any hindrance and prevent the evil activities of miscreants.
He further stated that volunteers will be recruited to ensure the security of Puja Pandals. However, these volunteers will not hail only from the Hindu community as he said that any Bangladeshi citizen would be recruited as volunteer.
He said, “This year’s volunteer recruitment will be different. Volunteers will be recruited from any citizen of Bangladesh. Volunteers will be given time to perform their duties. The number of volunteers should be at least two during the day and three at night.”
Other persons present at the press conference include Religious Affairs Adviser AFM Khalid Hossain, senior officials of the law enforcement agencies, Bangladesh Puja Celebration Parishad President Basudev Dhar, and General Secretary Santos Sharma.
