The new interim government of Bangladesh, led by Muhammad Yunus has asked the Hindus in the country not to play musical instruments as part of Durga Puja celebrations during namaz and azan, the country’s local media reports stated....READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
Bangladesh Home Affairs Advisor Lieutenant General (retired) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Tuesday said that puja committees have been asked to turn off sound systems and avoid playing musical instruments during namaz and azan.
He further said that the organisers had agreed to their request.
“Such activities need to cease during offering namaz, and the pause will have to be followed from five minutes prior to azan,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by The Times of India on Tuesday.
The announcement was made after a meeting on the law and order situation in the country ahead of Durga Puja at the Dhaka Secretariat.
Durga Puja is the largest Hindu religious festival in Bangladesh.
Chowdhury said that a total of 32,666 puja mandaps will be erected across the country.
Of these mandaps, 157 will be in Dhaka South City and 88 in North City Corporations, according to local newspaper Dhaka Tribune.
This comes weeks after attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh followed by student protests against government quotas in education and jobs for the descendants of Bangladesh’s freedom fighters. This also led to the resignation of then Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.
The safety of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh has been questioned after Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled from Bangladesh to India.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim government’s chief advisor Muhammad Yunus called for communal harmony in the country.
“We are a nation of communal harmony. No one shall do any act that destroys religious harmony,” The Times of India quotes him as saying.
No one should take the law into their own hands. If someone takes the law into his own hands and creates a chaotic environment in society, we will definitely bring him under punishment.”
Watch | India-Bangladesh: Yunus wants good relations with India and other neighbours
However, some initiatives by Yunus’ government have raised concerns about the India-Bangldesh ties.
Yunus government banned the export of hilsa to India, creating a shortage of Bangladeshi ilish (as the fish is known in Bengali) ahead of Durga Puja.
The ban on exports strained the long-standing practice of Bangladesh sending large consignments of Padma ilish to India, particularly West Bengal.
