Bangladesh: Hindus continue to suffer as temple demolished, plans underway to replace 200 year old crematorium with ‘cattle market’
On Sunday (27th April), Hindus living in Uchakhila Union in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh staged a protest against the vandalism of an under-construction temple by Muslims and attempts to turn a 200-year-old crematorium into a ‘cattle market’.
According to reports, the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Ishwarganj upazila named Mohammed Ershadul Ahmed has been eyeing to demolish the Hindu temple and crematorium and build a cattle market instead.
While speaking about the matter, a local Hindu leader named Pintu Chowdhury informed that the crematorium in Uchakhila Union is 200 years old. He added that the construction of a temple was underway adjacent to the crematorium.
Chowdhury informed that the UNO ordered the demolition of the temple on Saturday (26th April) and has announced shifting of the crematorium to another site.
He emphasised, “The crematorium and the temple cannot be shifted…The followers of Sanatan Dharma are angry and hit the streets in protest today.”
Another local Hindu leader named Paresh Saha said that a ‘group’ had been threatening to evict Hindus from the place. He stated that the crematorium is being filled with sand to build a cattle market. “On Saturday, they demolished the pillars of the temple,” he pointed out.
The secretary of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Front, Bijoy Mitra Shuvo, said that no administrative action was taken to stop the demolition despite prior imitation by Hindus.
UNO Mohammed Ershadul Ahmed downplayed the entire incident by claiming the destruction of temple pillars happened ‘inadvertently.’
In the meantime, local Muslim groups such as the Ishwarganj Upazila branch of the Islamic Movement are pretending that nothing has happened. During a press conference on Monday (28th April), they claimed that there was no truth to the demolition of the temple and crematorium.
Attack on Hindus in Bangladesh since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina
OpIndia has been vetting and reporting cases of atrocities on Hindus since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina on 5th August 2024.
There have been at least 205 attacks on Hindu temples, shops and businesses within 3 days of the fall of Dhaka.
We previously exposed how Muslim students have forced as many as 60 Hindu teachers, professors and government officials to resign from their positions.
Human rights activist and exiled Bangladeshi blogger, Asad Noor, has recently revealed that the minority community is now being coerced into joining ‘Jamaat-e-Islami’.
On 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.
Ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations, a radical Muslim man named Yasin Mia vandalised the idols of Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities in Gouripur town in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh on 25th September.
In the latest series of attacks, idols of Goddess Durga and other Hindu deities were vandalised at the Rishipara Barwari Puja Mandap and the Manikadi Palpara Barwari Pujamandap on 28th September and 1st October respectively.
The attacks were carried out in Sujanagar upazila in Pabna district in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh. While a total of 4 idols were defaced at the Rishipara Barwari Puja Mandap, another 5 Hindu idols were destroyed at the Manikadi Palpara Barwari Pujamandap.
On 3rd October, 7 idols of Hindu deities were destroyed at the Gopinath Jiur Akhara Durga Puja mandap in Kishoreganj, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh.
On 5th November, the Hindu community came under attack from police and law enforcement authorities in Hazari Goli in Chittagong city of Bangladesh.
On 29th November, a violent Muslim mob attacked Hindu minorities and vandalised 3 temples in Patharghata in Chittagong district of Bangladesh.
The Hindu religious sites that the Muslims targeted included the Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, the Shoni Temple, and Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple. The attack took place immediately after the conclusion of Jumma Namaz.
On 30th November, a prominent Hindu journalist named Munni Saha was arrested by the police from Karwan Bazar in Dhaka city of Bangladesh.
A group of extremists attacked the Mahashmashan Kali Mata Mandir, vandalised 7 idols of deities and stole gold ornaments on 13th December 2024.
On 19th December, a Muslim man identified as Alal Uddin vandalised an idol at the Polashkanda Kali Temple and then attempted to create a fake alibi. The incident occurred in Haluaghat upazila in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.
Another 37-year-old Muslim man identified as Azharul vandalised several idols of deities in Haluaghat Upazila in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh.
The recent arrest of Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu and his aides, attempts at banning Hindu organisation ISKCON and stiffling Hindu protests with cases of ‘sedition’ highlight systematic persecution under the interim government of Muhammad Yunus.
There have been multiple instances of attacks on Hindus under the pretext of ‘blasphemy.’ The recent cases of Hridoy Pal, Utsab Mandal, Partha Biswas Pintu, Akash Das, Pranta Talukder and Utsab Kumar Gian are shining examples of targeted persecution.
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