Bangladeshi Hindus shake off fear of attacks to celebrate the festival

In Muslim-majority Bangladesh, large crowds celebrate the biggest Hindu festival of the year amid tight security after a spate of attacks on the minority following the ouster of the autocratic prime minister.

Swirling dancers leap to deafeningly loud music for Durga Puja on Sunday, a joyous climax to a week of prayers and parties for the South Asian country’s Hindu followers, who make up less than a tenth of its 170 million people.

“We pray for a better and more inclusive Bangladesh,” said Sourav Das, 34, who works for a private company and came with his wife and family to the crowded Dhakeshwari Hindu temple in the capital.

This year, the colorful celebrations are a defiant expression of faith after the Hindu community was hit by the chaotic aftermath of a student-led revolution that forced the prime minister to flee.

Sheikh Hasina fled in a helicopter on August 5 and found shelter with old allies, the Hindu nationalist government of powerful neighbor India.

Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including mass arrests and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

– “Favorable occasion” –

Some Bangladeshi Hindus and Hindu temples were targeted in the ensuing chaos, as some were said to have supported the now-ousted Hasina government.

The attacks were condemned by the new interim government and its leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who visited the Dhakeshwari temple on Saturday to celebrate what he called an “auspicious occasion” with Hindus.

There was tight security around the Dhakeshwari Temple on Sunday as police and security forces kept vigil.

But the Hindu worshiper Das said everything was “fine.”

“Initially we were a bit worried as there were several incidents across the country, but things seem to be better now,” he said.

The festival commemorates how the fierce demon-slaying goddess Durga visits her home from the icy peaks of the Himalayas, where she lives with her husband, the destroyer god Shiva.

The festival is a celebration of good over evil and marks the killing of the buffalo demon Mahishasura by the goddess.

At the center of the action are the dazzlingly lit “pandals” – a canopy made of colorful fabric pulled up on bamboo poles – which house intricate clay idols of the goddess and her children.

The clay idols, painstakingly hand-painted in dazzling colors over weeks, will be immersed in the sacred waters flowing into the sea later on Sunday, the finale of the festival.

24-year-old student Bristi Saha came with her younger sister to pray to the goddess, saying she had asked her to protect Bangladesh.

“We pray to her that the country remains safe,” Saha said. “As long as the country is doing well, everything is good.”

– ‘From the heart’ –

At the temple, devotees took photos of themselves with the painted idol of Durga while young women danced.

“Hail Durga!” they sang.

Saha said the situation in the city is different than in the countryside.

“I personally don’t feel any insecurity because I live in a city,” she said.

“But some people in rural areas are a little worried about these incidents.”

But Kajol Debnath, 77, one of the founders of the Puja Celebration Council in Dhaka, said “isolated incidents” in recent months had not marred the big party.

He said Bangladeshis of all religions and politics came together to celebrate an “inclusive” festival.

“We say religion belongs to the individual and festivals belong to everyone,” Debnath said.

“The political parties and various social groups came and helped us organize the puja this year,” he added, saying he would like to continue doing so in the future.

“We hope it remains something that comes from the heart and not just lip service.”

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