Puja remark made by MP Bahar is his personal statement: Home Minister

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has said that the remark regarding puja made by Cumilla Awami League president and Cumilla Sadar member of parliament AKM Bahauddin is his personal statement. He said, "That is his personal statement. We have all advised him to refrain from such remarks. Everyone is on full alert in Cumilla."

The home minister was replying to questions from newspersons on Friday morning after exchanging greetings with members of the Hindu community at the Dhakeswari national temple in the capital.

Speaking about control on rumours during puja, the home minister said, "A handful of people who were opposed to the creating of Bangladesh, work against those who do good. There are very few of these unscrupulous persons, but they carry out disruptive incidents. That is why our security forces are always on alert."

The home minister went on to say, "After the emergence of Digital Bangladesh, rumours are spread in the cyber world. There too, our police has opened a cyber unit and this cyber unit is active. In hardly any time at all, we identify those who are spreading the rumours. So they won't get away with spreading rumours. Our security forces are keeping an eye on everything."

In a notice issued by the Hindu Boudhha Christian Oikya Parishad on 6 October, it was said that at a meeting arranged at the Cumilla deputy commissioner's office on 4 October regarding preparations for Durga Puja, member of parliament Bahauddin had called for a 'liquor-free' puja. This was a taunting comment and exposed his communal mentality.