DHAKA, Oct 27, 2023 (BSS) - With the end of the five-day grand celebration of
the country's Hindu community's largest festival Durga Puja in a festive and
peaceful manner, Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad (BPUP) thanked Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina for what they said her "personal strong commitment to
ensure communal harmony in the country".

"We extend gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina", reads a statement of
BPUP issued last night, that also lauded what they spread of Awami League's
slogan as enshrined in the party slogan "Religion is universal irrespective
of religion".

Earlier, Sheikh Hasina to extend greetings with the Hindu community members
at Dhakeshwari National Temple where she assured devotees that Awami League
(AL) has stood beside them and has continued to support as her party (Awami
League) always promotes communal harmony.

They also complimented sincere efforts put in display by all relevant law
enforcing and other intelligence agencies-Police, its detective branch (DB)
and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and National Security
Intelligence (NSI) and Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI) for
checking any untoward incidents during the festival.

In the statement, they also acknowledged the role of media and journalists as
they found the role of the newsmen in spreading the message of communal
harmony centering the festival.

President of BPUP JL Bhowmik and its General Secretary Professor Chandra Nath
Podder, Mahanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee President Monindra Kumar Nath and
its General Secretary Romen Mandal signed the statement.

Meanwhile, leaders of the country's largest minority platform, Bangladesh
Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad (BHBCOP), have called the attempts of
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami to project "minorities
are not secure" under the Awami League government "hypocritical," referring
to their "reluctance to acknowledge rampant communal attacks on minorities
during the last BNP-Jamaat government".

BHBCOP General Secretary Advocate Rana Dasgupta said: "This is an attempt to
score political points. Whenever they (BNP-Jamaat) were in power, we
witnessed state-sponsored atrocities against minorities."

With a rise of over 200 pandals, this year the country saw celebration of
Durga Puja at over 32,400 mandaps.