Yunus greets Hindus on Janmashtami; promises to promote interfaith harmony in Bangladesh
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh's interim government chief Muhammad Yunus on Monday met the country’s Hindu community and vowed to promote interfaith harmony as he hosted a reception for them coinciding with Janmashtami.
The minority Hindu population has faced vandalisation of their business and properties and devastation of Hindu temples in the students’ violence that ensued for days following the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5.
"There can't be any divisions among people in our country. We are equal citizens. The interim government is determined to protect the rights of every citizen of the country," the chief adviser’s (CA) office quoted Yunus as saying.
According to the statement, Yunus expected to build Bangladesh “where everyone can practice their faith without any fear and where no temple needs to be guarded”.
“Bangladesh is a large family where the responsibility of the government is to protect the rights of every citizen,” his office quoted him as saying on X.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad president Bashudeb Dhar, Ramkrishna Mission of Dhaka’s principal Swami Purnatmananda Maharaj, and Hindu community leaders including Kajol Debnath and Monindra Kumar Nath were present during the meeting.
“We spoke with Professor Yunus for almost an hour and he said all Bangladeshis are members of a single family. We will eliminate any sense of communalism,” Dhar told PTI.
Yunus greeted the country’s Hindu community leaders and promised to promote interfaith harmony, the statement said.
The CA office statement said the Hindu leaders greeted Yunus on the auspicious occasion, saying they sought blessings of the Lord Sri Krishna for the harmony and prosperity of the nation and the interim government.
“Hindu leaders praised the Chief Adviser's recent comments at the Dhakeshwari Mandir, a sacred temple in Old Dhaka, saying it would help build a non-communal society in the country and ensure religious harmony in the society,” the statement read.
Simultaneously, they raised the issue of “Hindu property grabbing, including the land of Hindu temples”.
The reception came as tens of thousands of Hindus celebrated Janmashtami by rallying at the famous Dhakeshwari Temple and other temples and Hindu monasteries by singing Vedic hymns, kirtans and bhajans.
Janmashtami is a public holiday in Bangladesh to mark the birth celebration of Lord Krishna.
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Rape accused's mother murdered by victim's brother in MP's Shivpuri
Shivpuri (PTI): The 60-year-old mother of a rape accused was killed allegedly by the victim's brother in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, a police official said on Saturday.
The incident took place on Friday, Rannod police station house officer (SHO) Arvind Chauhan said.
"An anganwadi worker returning from a hospital was offered a lift by one Inder Gurjar, who took her to a secluded spot and raped her. She called up her brothers to narrate the ordeal. One brother of the victim along with two associates went to Gurjar's house and assaulted him. When Gurjar's mother Sirkunwarbai (60) intervened, she was attacked with a sharp weapon. She died on the spot," he said.
Based on a complaint filed by the deceased woman's daughter-in-law, three persons were booked for murder. One of them was held on Saturday, the official added.
A separate case has also been registered against Gurjar for rape, he said.
Police personnel have been deployed in the area in view of tension following the incident, the official added.
