“Attack on a plot against the country”

Speakers recount Shahbagh’s rally

Staff Correspondent

Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:00 AM

In the capital Shahbagh, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad organized a rally demanding punishment of the attackers. Photo: Star

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In the capital Shahbagh, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad organized a rally demanding punishment of the attackers. Photo: Star

The attack and vandalism on Hindu idols and temples during Durga Puja festivities was part of a plot against the country, speakers said at a protest rally yesterday.

They said the incidents – following reports of “degradation of the Holy Quran” in Cumilla – were the result of failing to ensure justice for similar incidents in the past. They then called for a law on the protection of minorities and a committee on minorities in this regard.

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They also said the government should take responsibility for the attacks because it did not take

measures required at the time of incidents.

Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad organized the rally at Shahbagh in the capital. Hundreds of members of the Hindu community and several leaders of other minority religious groups attended.

Milon Kanti Datta, chairman of Puja Udjapan Parishad, said community attacks began in newly born Bangladesh in 1972.

“Since then, how many of these incidents have been brought to justice? How many perpetrators have been punished? We know that the state has been ruled by anti-liberation warfare forces for 21 years, but what about now? He asked.

He said Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal and League Secretary General Awami Obaidul Quader assured them that the attackers would be brought to justice.

“The interior minister told us he knew who was involved in the incident, while Obaidul Quader said communal groups were trying to destabilize the country. If you all know who the perpetrators are, then why don’t you take action? he said further.

Milon Kanti also said the interior minister said before the puja that there was no threat at the center of the event.

Awami League parliamentarian Pankaj Debnath said they believed neither a Hindu nor a Muslim would bring the Holy Quran to a mandap in order to belittle it. “Only disbelievers can do it, and they did it to embarrass the government,” he said.

Nirmal Kumar Chatterjee led the rally, while Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (Acting) Chairman Prof. Nim Chandra Bhowmik; the president of the Christian Association Nirmal Rozario; JL Bhowmik, leader of Puja Udjapan Parishad; Professor Robayet Ferdous of the University of Dhaka; Dhaka University Alumni Association General Secretary Ranjan Karmakar also spoke at the event, among others.

Meanwhile, towards the end of the program, some members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) blocked the Shahbagh intersection for 15 minutes. However, this was discouraged at the program stage, and after the rally was over, all left the area together.