Followers of the minority Hindu faith held prayers and took out processions in Bangladesh on Monday (August 26, 2024). This is the biggest Hindu festival since the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government earlier this month.
Temples in Dhaka and in other cities held Kirtan and Geeta Yagya as thousands of Hindus were seen visiting temples and offering prayers.
The mood of the festival, which is a public holiday in Dhaka, was set by Chief Adviser to the Interim Government of Bangladesh Prof. Muhammad Yunus, who appeared on TV on Sunday (August 25, 2024) evening for a national address and assured that citizens of Bangladesh will not be discriminated against on the basis of religion or political beliefs.
Apart from the Dhakeshwari temple of Dhaka, celebrations have been reported from Chittagong, Rangpur and other areas of Bangladesh, though the festivity in the eastern districts of Brahmanbaria, Comilla and Feni has been dampened because of the floods.
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In many places, the festival committees pledged financial support to the flood-affected regions in the east. In many festival spots, representatives from the biggest opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s cadre were seen helping with the organisational work.
The celebrations of Sri Krishna Janmashtami came twenty-one days after the departure of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which coincided with reported attacks on the minority communities of Bangladesh. The spirit of brotherhood generated by Prof. Yunus’ speech was, however, dented later in the evening when a large group of student protesters, the predominant political group in post-Hasina Bangladesh, clashed with the paramilitary Ansar employees.
Ansar members had been protesting, seeking regularization of their services. By various accounts, around six million members of the Ansar group were hired during the Sheikh Hasina years.
Later during Sunday (August 25, 2024) night, the students held a press meeting in which they accused the Ansar group of being pro-Hasina and accused the Indian authorities and Ms. Hasina of provoking the paramilitary to launch the attack.
On the other hand, Prof. Yunus has urged all sections of Bangladesh society to desist from launching protests in order to press their demands and requested the pressure groups to give written statements seeking resolution of problems.
