Bangladesh: Three Hindu Temples Attacked, Vandalised In Chattogram By Mob After Friday Prayers

Amid ongoing violence against Hindus and other minorities, a violent Islamist mob on Friday (29 November) attacked and vandalised three Hindu temples in Bangladesh's Chattogram.

The port city has recently seen protests and unrest following arrest of a former ISKCON member and Hindu Monk Chinmoy Krishna Das.

The attack took place around 2:30 pm in the port city's Harish Chandra Munsef Lane, where the Shantaneshwari Matri Temple, the nearby Shoni Temple, and the Shantaneshwari Kalibari Temple were targeted, news portal BDNews24 reported.

Temple authorities stated that a mob of several hundred people, chanting slogans, pelted the temples with bricks, damaging the Shoni Temple and the gates of the other two temples, as reported by BDNews24.com.

Abdul Karim, chief of Kotwali Police Station, confirmed the incident, noting that the attackers had tried to damage the temples.

Tapan Das, a permanent member of the Shantineshwari Main Temple management committee, and a leader of the Harish Chandra Munsef Lane community, told bdnews24, “A procession of hundreds arrived after the Juma [Friday] prayers. They started shouting anti-Hindu and anti-ISKCON slogans.”

“The attackers began hitting the main gate of the Shantaneshwari Temple, and threw brickbats. At the time, they vandalised the Shoni Temple and also attacked the Kali Temple. Several nearby shops were also targeted,” he added.

Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the principal of the ISKCON-run temple Pundarik Dham in Chattogram, is leading an organisation called the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaran Jote.

Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August, the alliance has actively demanded an end to minority persecution, alongside eight other significant demands.

A sedition case was filed on 30 October against Chinmoy Das and 19 others, accusing them of placing a saffron flag over the Bangladeshi national flag.

Police arrested Chinmoy at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport on Monday.

On Tuesday, a Chattogram court denied him bail and ordered his remand, leading to protests by the Hindu community outside the court.

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