Built on railway land without permission: Bangladesh clarifies on Durga temple demolition
Bangladesh government on Friday clarified the circumstances around the demolition of a Durga temple in Dhaka's Khilkhet area which led to protests held by minority organisations. The government stated that the temple was built without permission on land owned by Bangladesh Railways. According to the Bangladesh government, 200 feet from the existing rail track is considered solely railway land.(Reuters/Representational Image)
According to the foreign ministry, the makeshift puja mandap was set up by a local Hindu community during Durga Puja last year without permission, news agency ANI reported.
While the railways extended the permission to build it, the agreement was to remove it after the celebrations which the organisers violated. Repeated reminders given to organisers
'Regrettably, after the Puja was over in October 2024, the organisers declined to remove the makeshift Mandap, violating the mutual agreement. Rather, they established a 'Maha Kali' (Kali Murti) there," the report quoted the Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a statement.
Further, the ministry elaborated that despite the repeated reminders, organisers made the mandap permanent and went against the arrangement with the railways. The statement also highlighted that the Railways held consultations with the local community and issued a public notification 'asking all concerned to remove all unauthorised installations, including vendors, hundreds of shops and political party offices, illegally built on either side of the rail tracks.'
The land on which the mandap was built is owned by Bangladesh Railways, according to the ministry, who has stated that 200 feet from the existing rail track is considered solely railway land. The statement also added that the land is needed to build two new rail tracks under a project
The government of Bangladesh said it is committed to safeguarding the rights of all communities and protecting places of worship. However, it also mentioned that constructing religious structures on public land without proper authorisation is not allowed. The official statement said that Bangladesh Railways had issued notices on June 24th and 25th, requesting the removal of all unauthorized structures and on June 26th, following due legal procedure, they peacefully removed all unauthorized installations along the rail tracks.
'In the course of the eviction process, the idol of the makeshift Mandap was immersed in the nearby Balu River, in due reverence, with the participation of the members of the local Hindu community," the ministry stated. The government stated that the removal of unauthorised structures to reclaim public land is a routine and lawful administrative action.
Meanwhile, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) criticised Bangladesh's interim government over the demolition, stating that the government failed in its duty to protect the temple and instead framed the incident as an issue of illegal land use. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Bangladesh government holds the responsibility to safeguard the Hindu community, along with their properties and religious institutions.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Over 30 detained in Istanbul as police disrupt banned Pride March
Authorities have banned Pride marches in Turkey's largest city since 2015, citing public safety and security concerns read more Turkish police detained at least 30 individuals in central Istanbul on Sunday as they attempted to participate in a Pride March, which authorities had prohibited as part of a years-long crackdown on LGBTQ+ gatherings, according to an opposition legislator. Reuters video saw police scuffling with a group of protestors brandishing rainbow flags in the city centre before collecting them up and putting them into police vehicles. Kezban Konukcu, a pro-Kurdish DEM Party legislator who joined the march, told Reuters that at least 30 people were detained. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Police did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The Istanbul governor's office had already declared the march illegal, claiming that parties supporting it were acting 'illegally'. Authorities have banned Pride marches in Turkey's largest city since 2015, citing public safety and security concerns. President Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party has adopted increasingly harsh rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community over the past decade. In January, Erdogan declared 2025 the 'Year of the Family,' describing Turkey's declining birth rate as an existential threat and accusing the LGBTQ+ movement of undermining traditional values. 'The primary goal of the gender neutralization policies, in which LGBT is used as a battering ram, is the family and the sanctity of the family institution,' Erdogan said in January. Rights groups have condemned Turkey's stance. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned that government rhetoric and actions are fuelling a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ people, contributing to rising discrimination and violence. Despite the bans, small groups of activists continue to mark Pride Week each year. Organizers say the increasingly aggressive police response reflects broader crackdowns on dissent and freedom of assembly in Turkey. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Zelenskyy says ‘ready to buy' US air defence systems as Russia launches ‘biggest' airstrikes on Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the United States and its allies to send more air defence systems after a Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed during a wave of Russian missile and drone attacks. 'This war must be brought to an end pressure on the aggressor is needed, and so is protection,' Zelenskyy said in a post on X. 'Ukraine needs to strengthen its air defence the thing that best protects lives. These are American systems, which we are ready to buy.' He added, 'We count on leadership, political will, and the support of the United States, Europe, and all our partners.' Almost all night long, air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine — 477 drones were in our skies, most of them Russian-Iranian Shaheds, along with 60 missiles of various types. The Russians were targeting everything that sustains life. A residential building in Smila was also hit,… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 29, 2025 Zelenskyy said he had raised Ukraine's request for more Patriot missile batteries with President Donald Trump during a NATO summit earlier this month. The US has not announced any new military aid since Trump returned to office. The Ukrainian President's renewed call came after an overnight Russian barrage that involved 477 drones and 60 missiles. Ukraine's Air Force said 211 drones and 38 missiles were shot down. At least 12 people were injured, including two children in the Cherkasy region. Damage was reported in Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Ivano-Frankivsk. One of the casualties was F-16 pilot Maksym Ustymenko. According to Ukraine's Air Force, he destroyed seven airborne targets before his jet was hit. 'The pilot used all of his onboard weapons and shot down seven air targets. While shooting down the last one, his aircraft was damaged and began to lose altitude,' the Air Force said in a statement quoted by Reuters. Zelenskyy confirmed the pilot's death in a separate message posted with video footage showing damage to civilian areas. 'Tragically, while repelling the attack, our F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, died. Today, he destroyed 7 aerial targets. My condolences to his family and brothers-in-arms,' he wrote. Russia has increased the frequency of large-scale airstrikes in recent weeks. Ukrainian officials said Moscow launched more than 1,270 drones, 114 missiles and 1,100 glide bombs over the past week alone. Russia's state-run RIA news agency said a Ukrainian drone killed one person in the Russian-held part of Luhansk. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Kerala govt. firm on Zumba in schools, seeks an end to controversy
The Kerala government dug in its heels on Sunday regarding its decision to introduce Zumba sessions in government schools, despite criticism from certain Muslim social organisations and clerics who argued that the aerobic fitness dance format was patently against Islamic precepts. However, the administration also cautioned society against allowing the controversy to escalate into an alienating culture war. Several Muslim organisations sought to moderate the controversy in larger civic interest. For one, the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama (EK faction) leader Nasar Faisi Kudathai welcomed Mr. Sivankutty's statement. Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM) State president T.P. Abdulla Koya Madani urged clerics to refrain from making divisive statements. Meanwhile, General Education Minister V. Sivankutty messaged the government resolve to introduce Zumba in schools. He stood by in solidarity as Zumba fans turned out in strength in front of the Secretariat to showcase the popular exercise format. Instructors guided the adults and children, including families, as they gyrated and gambolled to upbeat music. Against divisiveness He urged society to put an end to the divisive controversy. He said the extreme right fringe, irrespective of their religious hues, sought to inject communalism and divisiveness into the younger generation by attempting to arbitrate on uniform codes, holidays, class hours, and examination timings. 'Such schismatic ruses will not pass muster in secular and progressive Kerala. Students are free to choose not to attend Zumba classes. Attendance is not linked to marks or evaluation of academic performance,' he said. How the dispute began The dispute erupted after the Wisdom Islamic Organisation and the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS), including some ultra-conservative Islamist clerics, opposed the government's move. Some clerics equated Zumba to 'lewd and skimpily clad DJ party dancing' on social media. They ruled that the exercise format violated the lifestyle regulations codified in Islamic law and undermined family and religious values. The Muslim Students Federation (MSF) requested that the government provide evidence that Zumba could prevent drug and alcohol abuse before making the fitness dance form mandatory in schools. However, the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), a prominent social organisation for Hindu backwards classes, backed the government's move. SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan told reporters in Alappuzha: 'Those opposing Zumba should step back. If someone says there is an attempt to turn Kerala into a religious State, they would not be entirely wrong.' The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) urged the government not to bow to the whims and fancies of Islamist groups as part of the Left Democratic Front's (LDF) 'appeasement politics'. However, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader V. Muraleedharan questioned the wisdom of introducing an exercise format 'alien to India and its culture' into the State school curriculum. The Youth Congress, Students' Federation of India (SFI), and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) denounced the move to impose religious considerations on sports and art forms.
