Random Incidents that took place during
Durga Puja Festivities in 2002

The Durga Puja festivities, celebrating the Hindu Goddess Durga, are a source of great joy for the Hindus of Bengal, particularly the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. However, with the rapid rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh, the Durga Puja festivities have become a horrible nightmare for the minority Hindu community. In recent years, Hindus have been forced to leave their homes on the eve of this auspicious occasion, with Puja Pandals and Durga Puja Mandaps (the setup of the worship services) being frequently destroyed all over Bangladesh. Please read below to see the hardships that the minority Bangladeshi Hindu community endured during this festival.

I. October 4, 2002. Dhanbari municipality area, Tangail district (proximately north of the capital city of Dhaka). A right wing Muslim fundamentalist group destroyed the statue of the Hindu Goddess Durga in the Singhata Puja pandal. A case was filed by the Hindu community in the Dhanbari police station. The police have arrested two local Muslim reactionaries in connection with the incident.

II. October 8, 2002. Dagonbhuiya area, Feni district (in southeastern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Tripura). The statue of the Hindu Goddess Durga was destroyed by a group of Islamic extremists consisting of approximately sixty Islamic reactionaries. Some liberal and progressive Muslims tried to stop the attack but were unsuccessful.

III. October 8, 2002. Netrakona district (in northern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of Meghalaya). Islamic fundamentalists have destroyed a statue of the Hindu Goddess Durga at Netrokona. Near the Durgapur municipality area, at the Moktarpara Jagoroni club, some Islamic fundamentalists destroyed a statue of the Hindu Goddess Durga which was under construction. A panic was created in the locality. A few days before, a threatening letter was addressed to the Netrokona Puja Committee by the Islamic reactionary Harquat-ul-Zehadi. After the letter, the Hindu community of Netrokona demanded help from the local District Administration.

IV. October 9, 2002. Shakharipara area, Pabna district (in western Bangladesh close to the Indian state of West Bengal). A group of Islamic fundamentalists destroyed a statue of the Hindu Goddess Durga idol in Chandan Chakrovorty’s home along with the statues of other Hindu deities Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartick and Ganesh. The area where the incident took place is only 200 meters away from the Shakharipara police station.

V. October 13, 2002. Khaldanga Palbari, Nalitbari city. The son of a Hindu resident, Ratan Chandra Pal, Prajjal Pal was kidnapped by a group of Islamic reactionaries, who then brutally murdered the child. When the news of this gruesome incident spread very fast, the local Hindus reacted very strongly and they stopped celebrating the Durga Puja.

Undated incidents:

Pagla and Nayamati areas, Fatulla sub-district, Narayanganj district (proximately east of the capital city of Dhaka). Eight statues of the Hindu deities were destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists. The local Hindu community protested very strongly against the event. Police have also arrested a notorious Islamic reactionary named Shah Alam (age 35) for this activity.
Monoranjan Sarkar, the president of the Sri-Sri-Shiva-Karunamoyee-Laxminarayan Jiu State Temple Committee reported that the incident took place at midnight. At five o’clock in the morning, some local villagers informed Sarkar that the statues of Durga, Kartick, Ganesh, Laxmi, Saraswati, Kali were destroyed. The District Magistrate, Mushtaq Ahmed, and the superintendent of police, Shafiqul Islam, have visited the place. The General Secretary of the Temple Committee has also filed a case at the Fatulla police station.

Nazirpur, Pirozpur regions, Pirojpur district (in southern Bangladesh near the Bay of Bengal). The local Hindu community was attacked by a radical Islamic reactionary group called the Al Sayed Mujahid. They issued threats to stop the local Durga Puja festival. They have ordered that all statues of the Hindu Goddess Durga be destroyed by October 10.

Kuchiramora area, Ataikula sub-district, Pabna district (in western Bangladesh near the Indian state of West Bengal). Statues of the Hindu Goddess Durga were destroyed by a group of Islamic fundamentalists. The Hindus of the area protested against these acts. They showed black flags in different Durga Puja Pandals throughout the area. The decision of showing black flags were taken in a meeting that was presided by Dr. Rabindranath Sarkar, who is also the general secretary of the Ramkrishna Mission of Bangladesh.