Security in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh was stepped up Monday as the Hindu community began subdued celebrations for a major religious festival amid reports of attacks on minorities.
Witnesses said police and para-military Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) guards were posted at venues where representations of Hindu deities were erected for the five-day Durga Puja festival which climaxes on Friday.
Anil Chandra Nath, president of the National Puja Festival Committee, called for "subdued celebrations" as a mark of protest "due to continued communal attack, torture and repression".
He said the Hindu community was faced with "uncertainty and distress because of incidents of destruction of deities, rape and killing, with many fleeing to safer places".
Minority religious groups in the country say they have faced violence and harassment since the country's October 1 general election which gave the Islamist-allied Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) a landslide victory.
A coalition group of Hindus, Buddhists and Christians said minorities were being targeted because they were judged to be supporters of the defeated Awami League.
Some Hindus have said their attackers were members of the BNP, though the party has denied any of its supporters are involved.
The government has assured the Hindu community of all possible security to ensure they can celebrate their festival with the usual fanfare.
Several government ministers, including Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, toured Puja venues on Sunday and Monday to assess the security situation, officials said.
Chowdhury blamed "some quarters" for trying to create anarchy and reportedly vowed to identify and punish them, saying Bangladesh was a land of all faiths.
But Finance Minister Saifur Rahman, quoted by the official BSS news agency, denied any communal problem in Bangladesh saying the attacks were propaganda put out by the Awami League to destabilise the country.
In Dhaka's old city, where most of the capital's Hindus live, about 100 colourful representations of deities were set up while police and BDR stood guard, witnesses said.
The usual drums and music were absent but vendors were hoping worshippers would turn up in larger numbers later.
Hindu leaders said the number of statues were less in number this year in comparison to previous festivals.
"Most of us are just performing our minimum religious rites as we are very upset," said Suman Chowdhury, a doctor who lives in old Dhaka.
The Prothom Alo newspaper on Monday reported attacks on Hindus in the southeastern Chittagong area, with many fleeing their homes.
Those remaining have established groups of vigilante guards comprising young local people in case of further attacks.
Residents have blamed the attacks on a powerful local BNP member of parliament, the newspaper said.
Witnesses said meanwhile that at least 100 Hindu families from Bangladesh have fled to India following alleged persecution.
A government legislator in the Indian northeastern state of Tripura, Rabindra Debbarma, said most of the Bangladeshi families who had fled their homes were taking shelter with friends and relatives.
"Some of the Bangladeshi nationals whom I spoke to said they were being tortured and harassed by ruling BNP supporters forcing them to enter India," Debbarma said.
"The refugees told me that Bangladeshi Hindus who supported the BNP were not targeted in the continuing raids inside that country," Debbarma added.
Bangladesh's population is 88 percent Muslim, with the rest being Hindu, Buddhist and Christian -- Dhaka, (AFP)
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