In Bangladesh, students form protective rings around temples
Times of India | 7 August 2024
12 Kolkata: As mayhem engulfed Bangladesh with a section of protesters vandalizing monuments and official buildings, a number of students’ organisations and youth wings of political parties stood guard outside temples and churches to keep them safe. Several such photos of circles of students and youths guarding temples, were widely circulated on social media.
One such place was in Chittagong, where groups of students, armed with sticks and poles, teamed up to guard temples at Nandirhat and Fatehabad. They kept a vigil against anyone attempting to vandalise the temples. In Comilla, groups of Muslim clerics guarded temples on Monday night. On Tuesday, Nahid Islam, one of the key coordinators in the anti-quota movement, posted several messages on his Facebook page, urging students to keep a watch. He asked students to put up blockades in areas, where they apprehended attacks on members of minority communities of Bangladesh.
At Bagerhat in Khulna, students’ units of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party got their supporters divided into a number of units and started guarding temples. “There are more than 100 big temples in the Bagerhat district. We had information that the miscreants were planning to target religious places. We decided to send small teams to every big temple. But still, many temples remained unguarded as people were scared to step out of their homes, given the volatile political condition,” said Ronny Mollah, joint general secretary of Chhatra Dal, Bagerhat. “None of the temples, where we put up a vigil, was vandalized.”
Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu, Bouddho, Khristan Aikko Parishad, said that at several places, locals came out to protect the religious establishments. “This is a welcome move, but these attacks will continue over the coming few months till the situation stabilizes. This is not the first time that temples have become the target of miscreants. In 2021, temples were vandalised across districts. But this time, there are several people who have formed groups to protect the religious establishments. I hope they continue to do so in the next few months,” Dasgupta added.