No faith in political leadership: Rana Dasgupta
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) has lost its faith in the leadership because of the attacks and vandalisation of Hindu temples and puja mandaps the and attack on members of the minority community as well as the vandalising of their homes and businesses.
The council's general secretary Rana Dasgupta said this at a media conference organised at the Chattogram press club on Saturday afternoon protesting against the incidents in different places of the country.
The council announced a six-hour mass hunger strike on 23 October from 6:00am to 12:00pm and mass sit-ins and processions to protest the incidents.
In response to questions at the media conference, Rana Dasgupta said we no longer have any faith in political leadership. Attacks are taking place regularly. The attackers include pro-Pakistani people who were defeated in 1971 and people from other parties as well, he added.
Rana Dasgupta further said some of the attackers were people who were hiding within the ruling party. They took part in the attack wearing ‘Mujib coats’. For example, attacks were carried out by the people of the Joy Bangla Club of Karnaphuli thana. The attackers included two brothers who recently joined Awami League from BNP, he added.
The communal attacks cannot be dismissed as one-off incidents. We believe all are planned
A series of attacks, carried out following the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran at a puja mandap in Cumilla, was read out at the conference.
In a written statement, read out at the media conference, it was said that Jatan Saha was beaten to death at a puja mandap in Chowmuhani, Cumilla on the day of Bijoya Dashami, the final day of Durga Puja. Prabhu Malay Krishna Das of ISKCON Mandir was also killed brutally. The body of a devotee was found floating in the pond of ISKCON Mandir on Friday morning. On the same day an attack was carried out at JM Sen Hall in Chattogram. Earlier, a man named Manik Saha was killed in Chandpur.
Rana Dasgupta said, “The communal attacks cannot be dismissed as one-off incidents. We believe all are planned. The goal is, on the one hand, to tarnish the image of Bangladesh abroad and on the other hand, to obstruct the development of the country by disrupting the situation.
At the same time, the attacks were carried out to turn Bangladesh into a communal state by expelling the minority communities.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council presidium member Jinbodhi Bhikkhu, Council’s northern districts’ unit president Ranjit Dey, Dhaka city general secretary Nitai Prasad Ghosh, Council leader Bijoy Lakshmi Debi, Taposh Hor, Pradip Kumar Chowdhury and Rubel Paul were, among others, present at the conference.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and others staged demonstrations at Andarkilla intersection in the city, blocking roads in the morning. They organised a rally and procession in support of hartal called to protest the attack on Friday. Rana Dasgupta addressed the rally as chief guest.
Rana Dasgupta said, “People immediately took to the streets and staged demonstrations protesting against the attacks at JM Sen Hall in Chattogram and in Noakhali on the day of Bijoya Dashami. We called for a hartal and announced to halting immersion of idols. But some people immersed the idols out of confusion.”
The BHBCUC general secretary alleged, “The attacks took place because of inaction of the administration. We demand exemplary punishment of the perpetrators of the attacks.”
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council called for a half day hartal in Chattogram on Saturday protesting the attacks on Friday. Movement of vehicles remained shut in Andarkilla but the movement was normal in other parts of the port city.