On September 8, during a preparatory meeting for Durga Puja, Chowdhury issued what he termed an \u201corder\u201d and declared before journalists: \u201cThere must not be any gathering for alcohol or cannabis during Durga Puja.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bangladesh\u2019s minority rights group concerned over possible exodus to India<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jihadists blueprint to sabotage Durga Puja in Bangladesh and India<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Such a statement, by directly linking Bangladesh\u2019s most revered Hindu festival with alcohol and drugs, is not only insulting to the Hindu community but also potentially dangerous. Devotees and rights activists alike are questioning: Is Durga Puja a festival of alcohol and cannabis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n A repeat of past communal provocations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not the first time such hateful rhetoric has been directed at Durga Puja. During Sheikh Hasina\u2019s tenure, Awami League Member of Parliament Bahar Uddin Bahar notoriously described Durga Puja as a \u201cliquor festival.\u201d Following the fall of the Hasina regime last year, Bahar and his daughter Suchona fled to India, where they remain in exile, according to a report by The Weekly Blitz<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By echoing similarly offensive language, Yunus\u2019s adviser appears to be continuing a dangerous pattern of demeaning Hindu religious practices under the guise of \u201claw and order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fuel for extremist violence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even more worrying is the broader implication of Chowdhury\u2019s words. By labelling Durga Puja gatherings as potential sites for drug abuse, the Yunus regime risks providing justification for radical Islamist groups \u2013 such as the so-called \u201cTouhidi Janata\u201d \u2013 to target Puja celebrations with false accusations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lalon Akhra under police protection after attacks on shrines<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unprecedented: Extremists dig out corpse of Nural Pagol, burn it on the highway<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Observers fear that such rhetoric could serve as a green signal for mob violence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Attacks on Puja mandaps under the pretext of \u201cstopping drug use\u201d,<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Harassment of devotees by mobs branding them as \u201cAwami League supporters\u201d or \u201cagents of fascism,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Vandalism, arson, and even physical assaults during Puja celebrations across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With over 33,000 Puja mandaps scheduled nationwide this year, even a single incident could trigger a chain reaction of communal violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Authoritarian control over Hindu rituals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chowdhury also went further, announcing new restrictions on Puja processions in Dhaka, insisting that idols must be immersed \u201cin a strict line, in order, one after another.\u201d While ostensibly framed as administrative regulation, critics argue that such measures are designed to control and humiliate the Hindu community, reducing their religious freedom under Yunus\u2019s authoritarian administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A warning sign of what lies ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Religious leaders and civil society members have condemned Chowdhury\u2019s statement, calling it a deliberate insult to the country\u2019s Hindu citizens and a calculated attempt to stoke communal unrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At a time when Bangladesh desperately needs interfaith solidarity and unity, the Yunus regime appears to be playing with fire. By weaponising religious festivals and imposing degrading narratives, it risks plunging the nation into a new wave of communal bloodshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n