Dhaka: The anti-Hindu hatredness and targeted violence against the minority community is rigorously brewing across Bangladesh. Hindus are repeatedly prone to attack by radical Islamists. Hindus are attacked on false allegations, murdered and Hindu houses are torched down. Amidst this burning anti-Hindu flame in Bangladesh, yet another tragic incident reflects how animosity and atrocities against Hindus is steepening in the country.
A few days ago, radical Islamists threatened Hindus to stop the construction of Bhagwan Ram idol at a temple complex in Palashbari upazila of Gaibandha district. However, now, the construction of the giant Ram idol has been completely halted as the Hindu temple committee was forced to do so by the radical Islamists who intimidated the minority community with violence and vandalism.
One of the members of the temple committee said in a statement, “We are suspending the construction of the idol of Lord Ram in your interest and that of the nation and the society. We are stopping this work to maintain communal harmony. In future, if we feel the need, we will call you, take the suggestions of all stakeholders and resume the work”. Infact, Palashbari region, in the Rangpur division of Bangladesh has dark history of repeated attacks on Hindu temples and vandalism of idols.
During the construction of Bhagwan Ram idol, the social media platforms of Bangladesh were flooded with Hindu-hate comments, inciting violence. “If the construction of the Hindutva God Ram’s idol continues in Palashbari Upazila without obstruction, it will mean there are no cherished Islamic scholars in this country. In this case, Muslims in Bangladesh deserve genocide at the hands of Hindutwadis”. These derogatory comments intended to trigger violence and hatredness in the society against the minority Hindu community.
Many other radical Islamists also threatened to demolish the idol of Bhagwan Ram while it was under construction. “An idol of Ram statue is being built in Palashbari. Destroy it with a bulldozer. The government should demolish the idol. If the government does not do it, then the common people (Muslims) will destroy it. It is the duty of the Muslims to help the government. The temple in Bangladesh must be demolished”, another radical Islamist wrote on social media.
“An operation will be launched from Bangladesh into India. India will be occupied. Modi and his Ram Rajya will be crushed. If the Muslims of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India attack simultaneously, India will not be able to survive even for an hour”, another radical islamist posted on his social media. This reflects the intensity of Hindu-hate spiralling across Bangladesh that illicitly threatens the innocent minority Hindu population in the country.
Meanwhile, many have expressed serious concerns regarding spiking Hindu hatredness and targeted violence in Bangladesh by radical Islamist mobs. Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the Bangladeshi newspaper Blitz expressed concerns regarding the halt of construction of Bhagwan Ram idol vowing to pressure by Islamist extremists. Also exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen strongly condemned the hostility and threats of vandalism surrounding the construction of the Bhagwan Ram idol.
She questioned the state of religious freedom in Bangladesh by asserting that when there are hundreds and thousands of mosques across Bangladesh and new mosque construction happens everyday, why can’t there be a single Hindu temple or Ram idol in Bangladesh? Taslima Nasreen thus upheld the religious rights, equality and freedom of the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. “No individual or group acquires the right to demolish another community’s place of worship simply because they dislike it”, Taslima Nasreen thus sharply condemned the violent acts of radical Islamists against minority Hindus.
