Bangladesh: Durga Mandir in Dhaka demolished by administration two days after Islamic mob issued an ultimatum to remove it, idols crushed by bulldozer
A Durga Mandir in Bangladesh capital Dhaka was demolishedv by the administration 2 days after a large mob threatened to bring it down. As per reports, the Khilkhet Sarbajanin Durga Mandir was demolished based on an order issued by Bangladesh Railway’s Dhaka Division Deputy Commissioner and Divisional Estate Officer Md. Nasir Uddin Mahmud on Wednesday.
The Durga Mandir was demolished on Thursday morning, surrounded by Hindu men and women breaking down in tears. A huge army and police bulldozer arrived at the Mandir premises from Purbachal Army Camp in Dhaka to carry out the order. Hindu devotees sat in front of the temple and tried to stop the demolition party, but army personnel removed them from the spot, and then the bulldozers proceeded to bring down the structure.
As a last resort, Hindus had requested to allow the Rath Yatra to take place tomorrow and postpone the demolition after that, but this was rejected. The idols in the temple, puja materials and other items in the temple were destroyed in the operation. The idols of Goddess Kali and Lord Shiva were crushed brutally under the bulldozer, shattered into pieces.
For more than half a century, annual Durga Puja is being held at the Khilkhet Sarbajanin Durga Mandir in Dhaka. In the temple premises, there is an idol of Goddess Kali also, regularly worshiped. The temple built with corrugated iron sheets was in a dilapidated condition, and was a makeshift temple built on Railway land, but was an important place of worship for minority Hindus in the Islamic nation.
On the night of June 24, a Muslim mob attacked the temple, attempted to vandalise it, and gave a deadline of 12 hours to vacate it. They also abused the devotees foul language and even threatened to kill them.
They gave an ultimatum to the Hindu devotees to remove the temple by 12 pm on Tuesday (24th June), and vowed to demolish the temple if their diktat is not implemented. After that, the local Hindu leaders approached the Khilket police.
However, instead of protecting the temple, it was demolished suddenly in the name of eviction, just two days after the mob violence. The Railway Department of the Bangladesh Government led by Mohammad Yunus has said that under the powers conferred by Sections 5(1) and 5(2) of Ordinance No. 24 of 1970, a program to evict illegal establishments and squatters from Bangladesh Railway land in the Philkhet Bazar area from Kuril Bishwa Road intersection has been implemented to evict illegal encroachers from railway land.
As per the administration, the temple was located on encroached govt land. But the Hindus say that the temple was there for a long time with the knowledge of the administration, and it was never deemed to be illegal.
The demolition just before the Jagannath Yatra has created outrage among the Hindus in Bangladesh. While govt says it was eviction from encroached land, Hindus believe it just a part of ongoing atrocities against minorities in the country. Questions are also being raise while the idol could not be relocated instead of destroying it.
According to some locals, the land was actually donated for the temple by the Railways.
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