Hindus in Bangladesh safe, peaceful Durga Puja testimony: Minister Hasan Mahmud
Hasan Mahmud said the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies are supporting these fanatics groups, adding their main politics is anti-India and anti-Hindu. '
Bangladesh information minister Muhammad Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said Hindu minorities in the country are in a safe position and the government supports them.
He said the peaceful Durga Puja celebrations in Bangladesh is a testimony to their safety. “There are about two crore Hindus in Bangladesh. This year there were over 33,000 Durga Puja pandals. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered our party workers to keep a watch on puja pandals to ensure there is wrongdoing,” the I&B minister said at a press conference in Kolkata.
Referring to the communal violence in Bangladesh during Durga Puja in 2021 and instances of attacks on Hindu community in the country, he said, "Those who had tried to create problems during Durga Puja stand exposed. We have taken special measures to ensure no untoward incident takes place."
He said the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies are supporting these fanatics groups, adding their main politics is anti-India and anti-Hindu. 'Our government has taken tough action against the miscreants," he added.
In the city to inaugurate Bangladesh Film Festival, Mahmud said the Indo-Bangla relation is not dependent only on the Teesta water-sharing agreement between the two nations.
He added that more than the relation between the two governments, it is the people-to-people associations between the two countries that have helped strengthen the diplomatic relations.
The Teesta river water agreement is yet to be finalised with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee opposing some of its points.