"We have no place to pray": Demolition of Durga temple in Dhaka sparks anguish, protests from Hindu community

Dhaka [Bangladesh], June 27 (ANI): The demolition of a Durga temple in Dhaka's Khilkhet area by Bangladesh Railway authorities has sparked widespread outrage among the local Hindu community and minority groups, prompting protests and emotional appeals for justice and restoration.

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Visuals from the site showed the debris of the demolished structure, with distressed residents mourning the loss of what they say was their only place of worship in the area.

Speaking to ANI, a local woman said in Bengali, "I am speechless. What should I even say? I am speechless. My body feels burned and my heart ripped. We have no place to pray. What a pain it has incurred... they are unable to express it to anyone. If thousands of mosques can be there, why can't a temple be?"

She further said, "My sisters have always offered prayers here. Now they are sick and unable to bear it. What should I do? I should go and see what the situation is. We are unable to stabilise my sister... she asks us to tell Goddess Kali to take her along, that she is unable to tolerate it. She has always offered prayers to the Goddess."

Appealing to the government, she added, "What should I say? I am speechless. I appeal to the government to build us a makeshift temple if not a concrete one, so that we have a place where we can pray. Durga Puja is almost here... how will we pray? This is our request to the government. We ask them to provide us with a place of worship, especially at this place. Many people have made a lot of offerings here; they have spent a lot of money."

Prasenjit Chandra Das, a local who has been residing in the area for the past eight months, told ANI, "Every week, there used to be a religious event here and people came frequently. There is no other place of worship for us, the Hindus. This is the only temple where people used to come, eat prasada (sacred food), and offer prayers. I later found out that the Bangladesh Railway owns this plot. Fine, I accept that it must be the railways' plot, but to demolish even the idol of the Goddess along with the structure is not acceptable to me."

"If the government wanted, it could have removed the idol before demolishing the structure, but everyone noticed it when it was demolished along with the idol. We are very ashamed as Sanatanis that our place of worship has been demolished in such a way. All of us are hurt. We would want the government to build this temple at a designated place, so that Hindus can pray... This is my request to the Government," he added.

On Friday, members of minority communities formed a human chain in Dhaka's Shahbagh to protest the demolition. Large crowds gathered to condemn the government's action and express solidarity with the affected Hindu devotees.

Speaking to ANI, Manindra Kumar Nath, Acting General Secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, said, "Today, the Bangladesh Sanatani Group and Sanatani Andolan have gathered here. Last day, in Dhaka's heartland, near the rail line, they demolished a temple using government bulldozer. All of us had to witness such a brutal scene. This has hurt our sentiments. We condemned such acts of destructive and violent religious frenzy."

"In protest of this, the Sanatani society has woken up today. They have gathered here in unanimous protest against such an action. We will stage a protest in front of Dhaka Press Club tomorrow morning. We severely criticise the act. Unfortunately, this government is carrying out such condemnable acts, and we can see no reaction from the government," he said.

"They have been labelling these incidents as rumours and have been ignoring them for a long time. They are saying that such incidents are not true. But we are noticing such repeated non-acceptance of the government, and we believe that it has instigated a particular community," he added.

The Bangladesh Railway authorities demolished the Khilkhet Sarbojanin Shri Shri Durga Mandir on Thursday, stating it was constructed illegally on railway land. The move came three days after a mob allegedly called for the temple's removal.

Minority organisations condemned the demolition, alleging that the authorities acted without issuing prior notice to the community. Committee members also alleged that on Monday night, a mob of more than 500 people, armed with sticks, surrounded the temple while worshippers were inside, Bangladesh-based New Age reported.

Temple committee secretary Arjun Roy told New Age, "They demolished everything today without giving us a prior notice. We are very disheartened over the incident." He also claimed that the committee had previously obtained permission from the railway authorities to celebrate Durga Puja on the premises and to use the land temporarily for worship.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Railway's Dhaka divisional estate officer, Md Nasir Uddin Mahmud, stated that the demolition began at around 10 am and included various illegal establishments on railway land. He said the temple had not taken formal permission from the authorities, according to New Age.

The Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, the Mahanagor Sarbojanin Puja Committee, and the Minority Rights Movement also issued separate statements condemning both the mob attack and the demolition of the temple. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)