DHAKA/KOLKATA: A group of people set fire to an ISKCON temple in Dhaka district in Bangladesh in the early hours of Saturday. While ISKCON Bangladesh said it was a “family temple” belonging to an ISKCON devotee, the organisation’s Kolkata office said “ISKCON Namhatta Centre” was targetted.
The attack in Dhour village, under Turag police station in Dhaka district, took place in the early hours of Saturday.
A Turag police station official said a manhunt was launched to track down the culprits.
According to Charu Chandra Das Brahmachary, general secretary of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Bangladesh, the temple was set on fire after lifting the tin roof. “The fire was, however, doused quickly but an idol was damaged and curtains burnt,” he added.
In India, however, ISKCON Kolkata vice president Radharamn Das told PTI that the “vandals set ablaze idols inside the temple at the Namhatta property.”
“ISKCON Namhatta Centre burned down in Bangladesh. The deities of Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan and all items inside the temple were burned down completely.
“Early morning between 2-3 am, miscreants set fire to the Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple and the Shri Shri Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which fall under the Hare Krishna Namhatta Sangha, located in Dhour village, under the jurisdiction of Turag Police Station, Dhaka district,” Das said in a post on X.
“The fire was initiated by lifting the tin roof at the back of the temple and using petrol or octane,” he added in the post and also gave the address.
The relations between India and Bangladesh came under strain after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus came to power after deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5 following a student-led protest.
The relations deteriorated further in recent weeks over continued attacks on Hindus and especially after the recent arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former member of ISKCON Bangladesh and now, a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote organisation.
The Iskcon Kolkata vice president also expressed concern over Chinmoy Krishna Das’s safety following his denial of bail and the violent attacks.
Das’ arrest in a sedition case on November 25 from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport had triggered demonstrations by supporters of the monk. An assistant government prosecutor, Saiful Islam Alif, was killed during a protest in Chattogram after the monk was denied bail on November 26.
The attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh have triggered protests in India. The Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned the Indian envoy recently and lodged a protest over the storming of the Bangladeshi mission in Agartala by a group of protesters.
Meanwhile, in the Indian state of Assam, the Barak Valley Hotel and Restaurant Association has announced they would not host any Bangladesh national till attacks on Hindus and other minorities in the neighbouring country stopped.
Barak Valley, which comprises three districts of Cachar, Sribhumi (formerly Karimganj) and Hailakandi, shares a 129-km-long border with Bangladesh’s Sylhet region. (PTI)