Hindu platforms thank PM for ensuring peaceful Durga Puja celebration

With the end of the five-day grand celebration of the country's Hindu community's largest festival Durga Puja in a festive and peaceful manner, Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad (BPUP) thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for what they said her "personal strong commitment to ensure communal harmony in the country".

"We extend gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," reads a statement of BPUP issued on Friday night.

Earlier, Sheikh Hasina extended greetings to Hindu community members at Dhakeshwari National Temple where she assured devotees that Awami League (AL) has stood beside them and has continued to support as her party (Awami League) always promotes communal harmony.

The BPUP also complimented sincere efforts put in display by all relevant law enforcing and other intelligence agencies -- Police and its detective branch (DB), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI) -- for checking any untoward incidents during the festival.

In the statement, they also acknowledged the role of media and journalists as they found the role of the newsmen in spreading the message of communal harmony centering the festival.

President of BPUP JL Bhowmik and its General Secretary Professor Chandra Nath Podder, Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee President Monindra Kumar Nath and its General Secretary Romen Mandal signed the statement.

Meanwhile, leaders of the country's largest minority platform, Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP), have called the attempts of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami to project "minorities are not secure" under the Awami League government "hypocritical", referring to their "reluctance to acknowledge rampant communal attacks on minorities during the last BNP-Jamaat government".

BHBCOP General Secretary Advocate Rana Dasgupta said, "This is an attempt to score political points. Whenever they [BNP-Jamaat] were in power, we witnessed state-sponsored atrocities against minorities."

With a rise of over 200 pandals, this year the country saw celebration of Durga Puja at over 32,400 mandaps.