Centre in Dhaka set afire: Iskcon
DHAKA/KOLKATA: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) on Saturday alleged that its centre in Dhaka district in neighbouring Bangladesh was burnt down in the early hours of Saturday.
ISKCON Kolkata vice president Radharamn Das told Press Trust of India that the targeted attack on members of the community and members of the Vaishnavite order goes on unabated as “vandals set ablaze idols inside the temple at the Namhatta property.”
While ISKCON Bangladesh said it was a “family temple” belonging to an ISKCON devotee, the organisation’s Kolkata office said “ISKCON Namhatta Centre” was targeted. 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 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 a news agency 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 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 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 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.
West Bengal BJP president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar in a post on X said, “Strongly condemn the horrific arson attack on the #ISKCON Namhatta Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which destroyed the Deities of Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan and sacred temple items.”
“This is an unforgivable act of hatred against a place of worship. Immediate action must be taken to bring the culprits to justice and ensure the safety of religious minorities,” the Union Minister of State for Education said.
