Kumar Bahukhandi
Kolkata: Radharaman Das, vice-president of ISKCON Kolkata, shared this sad news on social media platform X on Saturday December 7 , 2024 . He alleged that his centre located in the Dhaka district of neighbouring Bangladesh was burnt down in the early hours of this morning.
Hindus are being continuously targeted in Bangladesh. The miscreants are sometimes damaging temples and sometimes their houses. A few days ago, well-known Hindu leader Chinmay Krishna Das was also arrested. There has been continuous tension here since the arrest. Meanwhile, another temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was vandalized and set on fire by miscreants. The attack was carried out on the ISKCON Namhatta temple in the early hours of Saturday December 7 , 2024 . No one has been reported injured in this incident so far. This incident is another attack targeting Hindu minorities in the country.
Idols of gods and goddesses burnt
ISKCON Kolkata’s vice president Radharaman Das shared this sad news on social media platform X on Saturday. He alleged that his centre located in Dhaka district of neighbouring Bangladesh was burnt down early this morning. Not only this, according to him, the idols of gods and goddesses and other items kept in the temple were completely burnt. This temple falls under the Turag police station area of Dhaka.
What did he say about the incident?
Sharing the picture on X, Radharaman Das said, ‘Another ISKCON Namhatta center was burnt down in Bangladesh. The idols of Sri Sri Lakshmi Narayan and all the items inside the temple were completely burnt. This center is located in Dhaka. Early this morning between 2 and 3 am, miscreants set fire to the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple and Sri Sri Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which comes under the Hari Krishna Namhatta Sangha. The temple is located in Dhaur village of Dhaka district and comes under Turag police station area.’
He also said that the fire was set by lifting the tin roof behind the temple and using petrol or octane. Not only this, he claimed that the attacks are continuing and despite ISKCON drawing the attention of the interim government in Bangladesh to this, not much is being done by the police-administration to address their complaints and address their concerns.
BJP condemns targeting of ISKCON in Bangladesh
In the last four months since the formation of the interim government and the ouster of the Awami League from power in August, ISKCON properties have been attacked in various places in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, West Bengal BJP president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “I strongly condemn the horrific arson at the ISKCON Namhatta Center in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which destroyed the idol of Lakshmi Narayana and sacred temple items. This is an unforgivable act of hatred against a place of worship. Immediate action should be taken to bring the culprits to justice and ensure the safety of religious minorities.”
Uproar since the arrest of Chinmay Das
It is worth mentioning that on November 26, after the bail plea of Hindu spiritual leader Chinmay Krishna Das Brahmachari was rejected, his supporters stopped the prison van carrying him to jail. A government lawyer died during this incident. Das was arrested in a case of sedition. A court later refused to grant them bail, triggering protests by community members in various places, including the capital Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong.
In other developments, chaos was witnessed at court premises in major cities of Bangladesh as several leaders and close aides of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party were attacked by mobs during court appearances despite police protection.
