Bangladesh : Local Hindu leaders demand all-year-round protection amid rising attacks on temples ahead of Durga Puja

The leaders claimed attacks on Hindu temples and idols occurred across 13 districts amid preparations for the festival.

 Jayanta Kumar Deb, president of Mohanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star: "If we want to build a discrimination-free Bangladesh, we should not only think about security for five days of Puja, we have to think about security for all 365 days."

He remarked during a press conference orrganised by the Mohanagar Sarbojanin Puja Committee and Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad at the Dhakeshwari National Temple auditorium in Dhaka.

Reading out a written statement, Jayanta said before the Puja, they demanded the withdrawal of false and baseless cases filed against religious and ethnic minority leaders and innocent people.

Puja Udjapan Parishad President Basudev Dhar was quoted as saying by the newspaper that many people of the Hindu community have become victims of these fabricated cases.

He requested the government to allow them to participate in the Durga Puja festival.

Subrata Chowdhury, the Puja Udjapan Parishad's adviser, demanded people who vandalised the idols to be punished as per the law.

According to the data shared by the Hindu leaders, this year Bangladesh is witnessing 33,355 mandaps across the country, 1,894 more than last year, and at 259 mandaps in Dhaka city, seven more than the previous year.