Bangladesh: Another attack on Hindu temple, complaint logged

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Amid reports of rising violence against religious minorities and their places of worship in Bangladesh, another Hindu temple was purportedly set on fire on the outskirts of Dhaka, ANI reported.

The Mahabhagya Lakshminarayan Mandir, at Dhor village, in North of Dhaka came under attack on late Friday night.

As per ANI, Babul Ghosh, the temple's supervisor, stated that a complaint has been made against unidentified miscreants who burned down his ancestral temple.

Speaking with ANI, Ghosh said that the attackers poured petrol on the idols while he was not present at the house and they ran away on hearing his footsteps.

He further claimed that the attackers had some 'ulterior motives' other than burning the idols.

"The Lakshminarayan temple is our ancestral temple. Last night, the attackers entered the house from the rear side, poured petrol over the idols and set them on fire. The idols of Lakshmi and Narayan, which were dressed in resplendent saree and dhoti, with a curtain behind them, all burnt down. The attackers had some bigger plans. We had gone out for some time. Our neighbours saw the fire and all of them tried to douse it with water. The attackers were present here at that time, but ran away after hearing the sound of our footsteps," he said.

Ghosh showed the charred parts of his temple, recalling how beautiful they were before, ANI cited.

Ghosh further stated that he called the police and reported the occurrence, as well as filing an official complaint.

"We called the police and have registered a complaint to the police station. They (attackers) knew there is CCTV on the front side, that's why they came from the rear side... We didn't find any footage on CCTV," he said.

Ghosh clarified the name of his temple, stating that the ISKCON temple is just beside them, while their temple is distinct and is managed by his family, ANI reported.

"The name of our temple is Shri Mahabhagya Lakshminarayan Mandir, this is one the ancient temples here. The ISKCON temple is in front of this, that hasn't been damaged," he added.

A complaint filed against the incident by one of the temple authorities claim that this incident has been carried out in order to insult the Hindu community, ANI cited.

"I am filing a complaint against the unknown persons after appearing at the police station that on 06/12/2024. At approximately 11.30 pm, all my family including me were at home after dinner. Late night, estimated time 03.00 hrs at the Sri Sri Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, when I woke up hearing the sound of people's footsteps, I took my family members out of the house and found Sri Sri Mahabhagya Lakshmi next to our room on fire. A fire was burning inside the Narayan temple," the complaint stated.

"In this situation, my family members along with me came to the spot to extinguish the fire of Sri Sri Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple and tried to put out the fire by bringing water as best we could. After the fire was extinguished, 01 market bag, 01 two-liter water bottle carrying petrol or octane-like substances were found around the temple. Unidentified persons entered between 11:30 pm of 06/12/2024 and 3 am of 07/12/2024 with the intention of burning us to death while we were sleeping," it added.

Meanwhile, Radharaman Das, Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata, also spoke to ANI about the incident. "The idol of Lakshminarayan has been vandalised, and the entire temple has been burned down," he said.

"The head of the interim government of Bangladesh recently held a meeting with leaders of religious minorities. We had hoped the situation would change after that, but what we are seeing is something entirely different. I am regularly receiving threatening videos with ultimatums to ban ISKCON in the country, or they will kill ISKCON devotees," he added, ANI cited.

Notably, there have been multiple attacks on Hindus and other minorities by extremist elements in Bangladesh. There also have been cases of arson and looting of minorities' homes and vandalism and desecration of deities and temples, ANI reported.

Arrest of Hindu priest Chinmoy Krishna Das in Chittagong on October 25 on charges of sedition led to heavy protests.

On November 26, India expressed serious concerns about Shri Chinmoy Krishna Das' arrest and rejection of bail. Das is also the spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote, ANI reported.

India had urged Bangladeshi authorities to safeguard the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities, including the right to peaceful assembly and speech.

(With inputs from ANI)