2002-10-09 Published by Indian Express Gathered by Staff Reporter
DHAKA,OCTOBER 9
A Hindu temple was torched and statues of deities were destroyed in Bangladesh, ahead of a festival, reports said on Tuesday. In the northern area of Kishoreganj, a temple was set ablaze and badly damaged on Saturday. A leaflet left behind called for an end to ‘‘idol worship’’ and for a mosque to be built replacing the temple, the Sangbad newspaper reported. A day later, a group destroyed statues of deities, made ahead of the major Hindu festival of Durga Puja on Thursday, in Narayanganj near the capital Dhaka. A private guard identified as Shah Alam was arrested for the attack on Sunday, police officer Ashadul Islam said. In another incident, two teenagers were arrested for destroying idols in the western Natore district, Sangbad reported. The government, however, has denied any campaign against Hindus, who form about 12 per cent of Bangladesh’s 130 million-strong population, and has assured full security for the festival on Thursday. In the Narayanganj incident, local lawmaker Giasuddin Ahmed, who is from Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, offered 40,000 taka (689 dollars) for the destroyed deities to be rebuilt.
Source: http://www.hindunet.org/News/default.php?dtstr=20021009