Durga Puja in Bangladesh: Radical group warns against idol immersions, holidays

Durga Puja is around the corner, and devotees are gearing up to celebrate the annual 10-day festival with great fervour and enthusiasm. However, for Bangladesh’s Hindu minority, this time, celebrations might take a back seat as radical groups issued a warning to Hindu minorities in the nation, India Today reported.
The radical group Insaf Keemkari Chhatra-Janta warned against open celebrations of the festival and idol worship or immersion. Ahead of Durga Puja celebrations, the group staged a protest in Dhaka’s sector 13 against the use of a playground by the Hindu community.
Notably, the playground had been used by the community for many years. Amid tensions between religious groups in the country ruled by Muhammad Yunus, the organisation protested against nationwide holidays during the festival.
Agitating against the use of the area for the festival and demanding restrictions on celebrations, the Insaf Keemkari Chhatra-Janta protestors held different placards in Bangla that read, “No worship anywhere by closing roads, no pollution to water by idol immersion, no worship to idols.”
The extremist group members presented a 16-point list of demands and cited environmental damage as the reason to stop Durga Puja celebrations. The demands ranged from preventing the use of government relief funds for festival expenses to eliminating road closures during festivities.
One of the key demands includes the removal of Durga Puja Day from the list of national holidays since Hindus make up less than two per cent of the population. It further alleged that the event disrupts the lives of the Muslim majority and the followers followers of Islam should not be involved in supporting Hindu festivals due to religious reasons. Additionally, the extremist group demanded the removal of temples “built by occupying many special lands in Bangladesh,” reported India Today.