Kolkata, Dec 7: Another temple of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been burned down in neighbouring Bangladesh in Dhaka, said the vice-president and spokesman of ISKCON-Kolkata Radharaman Das on Saturday.
“Another ISKCON Namahatta Centre has been burned down in Bangladesh. The deities and all items inside the temple were burned down completely. The centre is located at Dhaka,” Das said. He said that the attack took place in the early morning on Saturday around 2 a.m. and 3 a.m.
“Miscreants set fire to the Radha Krishna Temple and the Mahabhagya Lakshmi Narayan Temple, which comes under the Hare Krishna Namhatta Sangha, located in Dhour village, under the jurisdiction of Turag Police Station in Dhaka district,” Das said.
He also said that the fire was initiated by lifting the roof of the back of the temple. “Petrol or octane was used to ignite the fire,” said Das. Condemning the attack, BJP’s state president in West Bengal and the Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar said that this was an unforgivable act of hatred against a place of worship.
“Immediate action must be taken to bring the culprits to justice and ensure the safety of religious minorities,” Majumdar said. Earlier this month, Das accused the international peace organisations of being indifferent about the attacks and atrocities on minority Hindus in Bangladesh. Recently, while addressing the West Bengal Assembly, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought the intervention of the United Nations (UN) in Bangladesh.
She also floated a proposal for the Union government to consider peacekeeping forces in Bangladesh following UN intervention. However, the West Bengal Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari has described her proposals as yet another example of her dichotomy.
“The Chief Minister placed a proposal on the floor of the assembly so that peacekeeping forces can be sent to Bangladesh. What had her police in the state been doing when the jihadis were obstructing Hindu religious festivals in different pockets of the state? Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh and Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal are the same,” the LoP said.
IANS