ISKCON temple attacked in Bangladesh; deity idols burned amid unrest
PTC News Desk: After former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country, turmoil erupted throughout Bangladesh, including the vandalism and burning of an ISKCON temple at Meherpur, in the Khulna division.
In the past 24 hours, several Hindu temples in Bangladesh have been the target of acts of violence, including the attack on the ISKCON temple.
"As per the info I have received, one of our ISKCON centers (rented) in Meherpur was burnt including with the deities of Lord Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra Devi," ISKCON spokesperson Yudhistir Govinda Das said, confirming the occurrence. Three devotees who were residents of the facility were able to escape and make it out alive.
Following Hasina's overthrow, the situation for religious minorities in Bangladesh has become more unstable, with attacks on Hindu temples occurring amidst the current upheaval.
In the wake of these attacks, Chinmoy Krishnan Das, President of ISKCON Pundarik Dham in Chittagong, has expressed grave worries about the safety of Hindu temples.
"Three temples in Chittagong are under threat, but the Hindu community, along with some members of the Muslim community, have protected them so far," Das stated to Aaj Tak/India Today.
He said that the Rapid Action Battalion and the police in Chittagong had not responded to his appeals for assistance, and that security personnel had been seen leaving the area dressed in civilian clothes.
"Many Hindus and other minorities are feeling unsafe and are fleeing to India through West Bengal and Tripura," Das stated. He added that although the army is working to maintain order, all of Bangladesh's political parties need to step up and help bring things back to normal.
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The head of the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Kajol Debnath, confirmed to the news agency PTI that on Monday, at least four Hindu temples were targeted and only slightly damaged.
Apart from the assaults on temples, a wild mob in Dhaka also vandalized an Indian cultural center. The rioting caused damage to the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, which fosters cultural interchange between Bangladesh and India.
A number of significant sites were also set on fire by protestors in the city, including Bangabandhu Bhaban, the private home of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Sheikh Hasina and the founding father of Bangladesh.
Protests against the government started as a call to abolish the civil service quota system, but they soon turned into demands that Sheikh Hasina resign following hundreds of fatalities in violent altercations between demonstrators and her Awami League party supporters.
As a result of the intense demonstrations, Sheikh Hasina secretly resigned on Monday and left the nation. General Waqar-Uz-Zaman, the head of the Bangladeshi army, requested that demonstrators stop their violence and said that an interim administration will be established.
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- With inputs from agencies
