Bangladesh asks Hindus to pause Durga Puja activities during namaz, azaan

The newly formed interim government in Bangladesh has urged the Hindu community to halt Durga Puja-related activities, particularly music playing, for during azaan and namaz.

Home affairs adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said puja committees have been asked to keep musical instruments and sound systems switched off and that they have agreed.

“Such activities need to cease during offering namaz, and the pause will have to be followed from five minutes prior to azaan,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by The Times of India on Tuesday.

He made the announcements after a meeting on the law and order situation in the country ahead Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community in the country.

Chowdhury also said a total of 32,666 puja mandaps will be erected across the country this year. Of these, 157 mandaps will be in Dhaka South City and 88 in North City Corporations, reported Dhaka Tribune.

Last year, the number of the puja mandop was 33, 431, he added, pointing out that the number will exceed this year.

Chowdhury also assured of security during the festival, starting from the time of of the making of the idols.

“We have discussed how to ensure round-the-clock security at the puja mandaps. Measures will be taken to facilitate celebration of puja without any hindrance and prevent the evil activities of miscreants,” he was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune.

Muhammad Yunus calls for communal harmony

Meanwhile, in an address to the nation, Bangladesh’s interim government’s chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, called for communal harmony in the country. “We are a nation of communal harmony. No one shall do any act that destroys religious harmony,” The Times of India quotes him as saying.

“No one should take the law into their own hands. If someone takes the law into his own hands and creates a chaotic environment in society, we will definitely bring him under punishment.”