Bangladesh: Muslim mob ambushes Durga temple, threatens Hindu devotees to vacate land or face demolition
On Monday (23rd June) night, a Muslim mob laid siege to a Hindu temple in Khilkhet neighbourhood in Dhaka city of Bangladesh and threatened devotees to vacate the land or face demolition.
According to reports, the extremists gathered outside the ‘Sri Sri Durga Mandir’ and gave an ultimatum to the Hindu devotees to remove the temple by 12 pm on Tuesday (24th June).
They vowed to demolish the Hindu temple if the minority Hindu community did not bow down to their diktat. The development was confirmed by a Hindu devotee named Suman Sudha.
Forced by circumstances, the local Hindu leaders approached the Khilket police.
While speaking about the matter, Inspector Mohammed Ashiqur Rehman said, “We have learnt about the incident. Our senior officials are trying to resolve the matter (by Tuesday).”
“Some Muslims went there and created a tense situation,” he conceded. Rehman later tried to downplay the ultimatum to uproot the Hindu temple as a result of ‘heated argument.’
He said, “We are looking into the whole matter so that no unpleasant situation is created.”
Recent cases of temple encroachment from bangladesh
On 21st June, a Muslim man named Abdul Ali attempted to encroach upon the 1400-year-old Shiv Chandi Mandir, which is situated on Lalmai Hills in the Comilla district of Bangladesh.
Ali built a makeshift tin house on the land of the Hindu temple and declared it as his ‘ancestral property.’ When a female devotee of the Shiv Chandi Mandir objected to the illegal encroachment, she was attacked by Ali and his men.
The victim was identified as Chandana Rahut. In the meantime, Abdul Ali claimed, “My father purchased this land. But in the records, it is recorded in the name of the temple. I have filed a case to correct the record.”
Dipak Saha, the President of the Shiv Chandi Mandir Committee, rubbished his claims and stated, “600 acres of land on the west side of the entrance gate is recorded in the name of the temple. Recently, we built a rest house on the land for the devotees. But on Saturday, he (Abdul Ali) encroached upon our land and built a house here.”
On 17th June, the Hindu community staged protest against attempts to encroach upon temple land and targeted attack on the President of the temple committee in Khagra Madhya Durgapur in Naogaon district of Bangladesh.
According to a Hindu protester, a local extremist named Maqsad and his radical supporters came to the area where two temples (Sanyas Mandir and Radha Govindo Mandir) are situated.
Maqsad and his men declared that the land on which the temples are built, along with the adjoining areas, belong to them.
The extremists got into a scuffle with the Hindu residents and threatened to kill if anyone dared to offer prayers at the temples. The Hindus present there put up an united front, forcing the extremists to flee the area.
On 16th June, the supporters of Maqsad attacked Atul Chandra Sarkar, the president of the Hindu temple committee, and injured him severely.
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