Slogan-raising mobs vandalized three Hindu temples on Friday in Chattogram, Bangladesh, which has seen protests and violence after a former ISKCON member was booked on sedition charges.
The attack took place around 2:30 pm at Harish Chandra Munsef Lane in the port city, where Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, nearby Shoni Temple and Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple were targeted, news portal BDNews24.com reported.
“A group of several hundred people shouting slogans threw bricks and stones at the temples, damaging the gates of the Shoni temple and two other temples,” the news portal quoted temple officials as saying.
Kotwali police station chief Abdul Karim confirmed the attack and said that the attackers tried to damage the temples.
However, police said there was minimal damage to the temples after the confrontation between the two groups, with both groups pelting bricks and stones at each other.
“After the Friday prayers, a procession of hundreds of people came. They started raising anti-Hindu and anti-ISKCON slogans,” Tapan Das, a permanent member of the Shantineshwari Main Temple Management Committee, told bdnews24.com. BDNews24.com said, “We did not stop the attackers. When the situation worsened, we called the army, which arrived immediately and helped restore order. All the temple gates were closed before noon. The miscreants left without any They arrived in provocation and carried out the attack.” Quoting him further.
Spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former member of Bangladesh’s International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was arrested on sedition charges on Monday and denied bail on Tuesday.
This triggered protests by members of the Hindu community in various places in Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka and Chattogram.
On October 30, a case of sedition was registered against 19 people, including Das, at the Kotwali police station in Chattogram, accusing them of insulting the national flag of Bangladesh in the New Market area of Chattogram during a rally of the Hindu community.
On Tuesday, New Delhi expressed concern over the leader’s arrest and denial of bail and asked Bangladesh to ensure the safety of Hindus and other minorities.
The week’s anti-Hindu incidents have led to a diplomatic row between the two South Asian neighbours.
India on Friday said the interim government in Bangladesh must live up to its responsibility to protect all minorities as it expressed serious concern over the “surge” of extremist rhetoric and increasing incidents of violence against Hindus as well as attacks on temples.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told Parliament that India has taken seriously the incidents of violence against minorities in Bangladesh and it is Dhaka’s primary responsibility to protect the life and liberty of all citizens, including minorities.
On the other hand, Bangladesh expressed deep concern over the violent protests at the Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday and urged New Delhi to ensure the security of all its diplomatic missions in India.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
