Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad (puja celebration council) has demanded withdrawal of the statement made by the foreign minister to the media regarding the recent violence that broke out in the country during Durga Puja, the biggest festival of the Hindu community.
The platform said such a statement from the foreign minister in a responsible position of the government is unwarranted, unacceptable and condemnable.
The Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad, in a statement on Saturday said, in a programme of BBC on 28 October the foreign minister mentioned that two persons of the Hindu community died in the communal violence centering Durga Puja, which is not true. In the language of the foreign minister, sanyasi Pranta Das had drowned and died, but actually he was hacked and thrown into the pond. Another person, Jatan Saha, was hacked to death when the miscreants attacked the puja mandap.
The Parishad, in its statement, further said in another puja mandap Dilip Das sustained injuries when the miscreants threw bricks at him and he died while undergoing medical treatment. Besides, Adhir Saha, 80, died out of fear when the attack was carried out at Kalibari in Kapuriapatti of Cumilla and Manik Saha, 40, died of a heart attack during the attacks on temples and houses in Hajiganj, Chandpur.
The Parishad said the statement of the foreign minister has gravely hurt, aggrieved and disappointed the Hindu community. People get a wrong message about the administration if actual information does not reach the people from responsible persons.
The Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad statement, signed by its office secretary Biplab Dey, also said though the foreign minister acknowledged the vandalisation of idols, his statement that said that no temple is damaged is nothing but the denial of truth.
The Parishad thinks the responsible quarter of the government should highlight actual information of communal attacks to people and take punitive action against the responsible persons and rehabilitate the victims.
The Parishad hopes the foreign minister will reassure the people by withdrawing the untrue parts of his statement.