New Delhi: India on Saturday issued a statement calling upon the Bangladesh government “to ensure the safety and security of Hindus and all minorities and their places of worship, especially during this auspicious festival time.”
The statement by the Ministry of External Affairs came in the wake of the attack on a Puja mandap in Tantibazar, Dhaka and the theft at the Jeshoreshwari Kali temple at Satkhira. According to reports, the crown gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2021 Bangladesh visit was stone from the Kali temple on Thursday. Later on Friday night, a firebomb was reportedly thrown at the Hindu Goddess at a temple in Dhaka’s Tantibazar area, creating panic among the devotees who thronged the temple.
“These are deplorable events. They follow a systematic pattern of desecration and damage to temples and deities that we have witnessed over several days now,” the external affairs ministry said in the statement on Friday. Earlier on Friday, the ministry said that India is deeply disturbed by the reported incident of theft of a religious article from a temple in Bangladesh.