Defeated forces of Liberation War behind assaults on temples, says Bangladesh house minister

Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has mentioned the defeated forces of the Liberation War had been behind the assaults on Hindu temples within the nation. He additionally assured that the vandals can be recognized and delivered to ebook as quickly as doable.

Dhaka,UPDATED: Feb 7, 2023 13:32 IST

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has claimed that defeated forces from the Liberation War are accountable for the recurring assaults on temples within the nation.

“People of all religions will have equal rights in this country. But the defeated forces of the Liberation War have not retreated yet. They are still active. They want to mar the spirit of the Liberation War,” he mentioned.

His assertion got here two days after unidentified miscreants vandalised 14 idols at 12 Hindu temples in northwestern Bangladesh in a sequence of orchestrated assaults in a single day.

“We were not in power for 21 years. In those 21 years, our values were lost, and history was distorted. Our Prime Minister has brought everything right back. Our spirit was a non-communal country, housing for all, education and health guaranteed for all,” assured the house minister.

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Alleging conspiracy, he mentioned, “They are repeatedly trying to destroy religious harmony. As the Home Minister, I have given orders to the police force. We will identify them and bring them to book as soon as possible. We spoke to people from the local Hindu community. Their safety has been ensured,” he mentioned.

WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY

“Unidentified people carried out the attacks under the cover of darkness, vandalising 12 idols in 14 temples in three unions (lowest local government tier),” mentioned Bidyanath Barman, a Hindu group chief at Baliadangi) “upazila” or “sub-district” in Thakurgaon.

Barman, the overall secretary of the upazila’s Puja Celebration Council, mentioned among the idols had been destroyed whereas some had been present in pond waters alongside the temple websites.

“We are in the dark about their (culprits) identity but we want to bring them to justice after investigations,” Barman said.

The Hindu community leader and union parishad chairman Samar Chattarjee said the region was always known to be an area of excellent interfaith harmony as “no such heinous incident took place here in the past”.

“The (majority) Muslim community does not have any dispute with us (Hindus)… we just cannot understand who could be these culprits,” he said.

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Baliadangi police station’s officer in-charge Khairul Anam said the attacks took place between Saturday night and Sunday dawn at several villages.

“It clearly seems to be a case of an orchestrated assault to disrupt the peaceable scenario of the nation,” Thakurgaon’s police chief Jahangir Hossain advised reporters at one of many temple websites.

Published On:

Feb 7, 2023