NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) said on Saturday that one of its centres and temples were set ablaze by miscreants in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
ISKCON Kolkata spokesperson Radharamn Das said the religious organisation’s Namhatta Centre and deities of Shri Shri Laxmi Narayan, along with other items inside the temple were set on fire.
“It seems that atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh are continuing unabated. Today, in the wee hours, our centre and temple were burnt down. We are deeply pained,” Radharamn Das, vice-president of ISKCON, Kolkata, and spokesperson, told the media.
Das claimed that the fire was initiated from the backdoors of the temple using petrol in an X post, adding that the arson and vandalism took place between 2 and 3 am on Saturday. “Early morning today, between 2-3 AM, miscreants set fire to the Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple and the Shri Shri Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which fall under the Hare Krishna Namhatta Sangha, located in Dhour village, under the jurisdiction of Turag Police Station, Dhaka district. The fire was initiated by lifting the tin roof at the back of the temple and using petrol or octane,” Das said in his X post.
The West Bengal BJP unit strongly condemned the attack on the Hindu temple in Bangladesh and called the recent incident an “unforgivable act of hatred.” State unit chief and minister Sukanta Majumdar took to X and wrote, “Strongly condemn the horrific arson attack on the #ISKCON Namhatta Centre in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which destroyed the Deities of Shri Shri Laxmi Narayan and sacred temple items. This is an unforgivable act of hatred against a place of worship. Immediate action must be taken to bring the culprits to justice and ensure the safety of religious minorities.”
Agitations have erupted in several parts of West Bengal, Tripura and other parts of India over the alleged atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and the “forceful” arrest of religious leader and Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Prabhu in the neighbouring country. ISKCON had claimed earlier that many of its centres and temples were being forcibly shut down in Bangladesh and urged devotees and monks in the neighbouring country to be discreet and not wear tilak or saffron garb in public.
(Manas Dasgupta)