Random Incidents that took place during
Durga Puja Festivities in 2004

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 (the setup of the worship services) being frequently destroyed all over Bangladesh. This year, the most prominent incident took place on the Sitanath temple in Dhaka (see below). However, many more places in Bangladesh witnessed attacks (in some cases organized) carried out by Islamic fundamentalists on the Durga Puja festivities. Please read below to see the hardships that the minority Bangladeshi Hindu community endured during this festival.

I. October 2, 2004. Sripur sub-district, Magura district (west of the capital city of Dhaka). An Islamic reactionary group destroyed the local Hindu temple at Rishiopara. When neighboring members of the Hindu community came forward to stop the attack, the gang increased the attack and injured Uttam Das (age 16).

II. October 12, 2004. Bagerhat district town (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). Islamic reactionaries destroyed the icons of the Hindu Godesses Lakshmi and Saraswati, which were to be used for the local Durga Puja which was to be performed in the Basabati Sarbojanin Palpara Puja Mandap.

III. October 15, 2004. Tanore sub-district, Rajsahi district (in western Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). Islamic fundamentalists destroyed two separate icons of the Hindu Goddess Durga, one at the Kamrgaon Parasha Durga Mandir (temple) and the other at the Durgapur Durga Mandir (temple). About 500 Hindus surrounded the local police station and started an agitation demanding the arrest of those responsible.

IV. October 17, 2004. Kahalu sub-district, Bagura district. Islamic reactionaries destroyed the icon of the Hindu Goddes Durga which was to be used for Durga Puja in the Jogir Bhavan Mandirat. The head of the temple, Sanatan Chandra Goswami, filed a complaint in the local police station.

V. October 21, 2004. Bardia area, Uthli union, Shibaling sub-district, Manikgunj district (proximately west of the capital city of Dhaka). Islamic fundamentalists, led by a notorious Islamic reactionary named Md. Babu Khan, destroyed the icon of the Hindu Goddess Durga. The police arrested Md. Babu Khan and his partner Md. Ripon Mia on the spot and recovered looted materials from the Puja Pandal. The local people have said that the attack and the subsequent looting took place with the assistance of other policemen on duty at the time.

VI. October 22, 2004. Khatra area, Bhanga police station, Faridpur district (proximately southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). At least 26 Hindu visitors were injured when they came to see the local Puja Pandal, when a group of Islamic zealots led by a notorious Islamic reactionary Md. Litu Haolader attacked the Puja Pandal. They tried to destroy the electrical lines as well as the religious Hindu icons, but were not successful because the members of the Puja committee were able to stop them.

VII. October 22, 2004. Sagarkandi village, Sujangar sub-district, Pabna district (west of the capital city of Dhaka). Police arrested Md. Ripon Mia (age 22), who was armed, when he tried to destroy the icon of the Hindu Goddess Durga in the home of Bhairab Chandra Kundu.

VIII. October 22, 2004. Islamic reactionaries attacked the Bashibari Kali temple and destroyed the Hindu religious icons. They also looted the home of Parimal and Madhuri Rani, who lived close to the temple. The police arrested Md. George Mia (age 35) and Md. Rattan Mia (age 32) in connection with the attack.

IX. October 23, 2004. Sahapara area, Gopalginj district (southwest of the capital city of Dhaka). The police recovered a time bomb within 50 yards of the local Hindu Durga temple. The people of the area think that since the Durga Pandal has been erected, Islamic militants have plotted to destroy.

X. October 24, 2004. Jhalkati sub-district, Barishal district (in southern Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal). Hindus were not able to celebrate the occasion of Bijoya Dashami, which was to be performed in the Sremantapur School premises, due to an attack carried out by Islamic reactionaries, injuring Narayan Baral (age 45), a retired career military officer, along with 30 other people.

XI. October 28, 2004. Hrishikesh Das Road, Dhaka (capital city of Bangladesh). Islamic reactionaries stopped members of the minority Hindu community, who were approaching the office of the District Magistrate handing over a memorandum protesting the Islamic fundamentalist attack on the Shree Shree Sitanath Jor Bigrahat Mandir (see below) as well as the abduction of the religious icon of the Hindu Goddes Durga. The head of the temple is undergoing treatment, after being seriously injured in the attack.

(Undated Incidents):

Lohagara hat area, Pirgunj sub-district, Thakurgaon district (in northern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). Recently, a group of Islamic fundamentalists under the leadership of Md. Abu Hussain, attacked the Durga Puja pandal constructed by members of minority Hindu community. The local people have boycotted the local Durga Puja in protest.

Raogan area, Chittagong district (in southeastern Bangladesh bordering the ay of Bengal and the Indian state of Tripura). Islamic reactionaries completely destroyed the religious icon of the Hindu Goddes Durga erected in a local Hindu orphanage. In addition, Islamic fundamentalists threatened to destroy the J.M. Sen Hall in the city of Chittagong during the mahalaya ceremony.

Thakurgaon district town (in northern Bangladesh bordering the Indian state of West Bengal). Islamic terrorists threatened to destroy the religious icon of the Hindu Goddess Durga at the Hallpara area and the other in the Kalibari area during the Durga Puja celebrations.

Sitanath Temple
attacked during Durga Puja

Dhaka (October 22, 2004)

Durga Puja was celebrated in the famous and 200 year old Shree Shree Sitanath Jor Bigrahat Mandir, located in the capital city of Dhaka, after a period of forty years. On the day of Bijoya Dashmi, a group of thirty to thirty-five Islamic reactionaries attacked the Puja Mandap under the leadership of Jalal-uddin attacked the area and during Durga Puja celebrations and destroyed the religious icons of the Hindu Goddess Durga in temple. The gang threatened that they would kill the priest, if Puja is conducted in the future. The gang also threatened the family the General Secretary of the Puja committee, Advocate Susanta Kumar Basu. The whole incident took place in front of the police, some of whom helped the attackers. The Hindu community did not file a case against the group out of fear.

Fear and insecurity have gripped members of the minority Hindu community living in the Baniyannagar area located in the Sutrapur region of the capital city of Dhaka due to the attack. Some Hindus have already left the area, including a Hindu family living on Srees Das lane left their home.
Local people have said that a prominent businessman named Jalal-uddin is responsible for the incident, which they is shows by his illegal occupation of five bighas of the temple lands. His father, Siraj-uddin, was a Muslim league leader, who first occupied the lands of Sitanath Jeur temple in the communal riots that took place in 1964. Thereafter his son Jalal-uddin occupied the Harisabha and Nut temples, turning them into the offices for his organization.

Durga Puja was organized at the temple after a period of 40 years and some national leaders including a government minister visited the place during the Puja giving assurances on security.
A similar incident occurred in Manikganj (proximately west of the capital city of Dhaka) two days after the attack on the Sitanath temple. On Saturday night, some militants destroyed a religious icon of the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi at a Hindu temple near the Andhar Manick primary school located in the Harirampur sub-district. The incident mirrored another attack that occurred on the temple two years ago.

On Thursday, at midnight, a Puja mandap in the Badaria village of Sibalaya sub-district was attacked. The Police have arrested three people in connection with the incident.