A Hare Krishna temple in Choumuhoni was among the places of worship vandalized after a false blasphemy charge. Two devotees were murdered.
by Massimo Introvigne
Hindus in Bangladesh will never forget the Durga Puja of 2021. It was supposed to be a joyous festival, celebrating Goddess Durga and the victory of good over evil. When it concluded, on October 15, the Hindu community in Bangladesh was left mourning the victims of sectarian attacks, which left five dead, more than 100 wounded, and dozens of temples throughout the country vandalized. Several Hindu women were raped.
It was a well-planned attack, blamed by the Hindus and the government itself on Islamic ultra-fundamentalist groups. In Cumilla (called Comilla until 2018), a city of 300,000 along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, on October 12 a man entered a Durga Puja pavilion, placed a copy of the Quran at the feet of a Hanuman statue, and took pictures and videos he posted on social media on October 13, claiming the Hindus were committing blasphemy against the holy book.
As the police and the government said, riots had been carefully prepared before, and violence immediately erupted in Cumilla and expanded to Durga Puja venues all over the country. Facebook, in particular, was late in reacting against the viral spread of calls to punish the Hindus for the alleged desecration of the Quran. According to Bangladeshi authorities, more than 100 false Facebook accounts were created just to spread the rumor.
On October 15, a mob first attacked a Durga Puja pavilion next to the ISKCON (Hare Krishna) temple in Choumuhoni, Noakhali District, then entered the temple, causing damages and assaulting the devotees. Two devotees, Pranta Chandra Das and Jatan Chandra Saha, were murdered, and one remains hospitalized in critical conditions. The attack generated international protests by the ISKCON community.
In some cities, authorities asked the Hindus to stop the Durga Puja festivities and close the pavilions to prevent attacks, but this was not acceptable to the Hindu community, and some continued the celebrations in the streets.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised that those who organized the riots and participated in them will be punished, and hundreds have been arrested. It is clear, however, that the authorities failed to see the violence coming, and did not effectively protect the Hindus.
