Muted Puja in Bangladesh

kolkata: the national federation of puja committees in bangladesh has announced that durga puja will be celebrated in a "very muted manner" this year. the new khaleda zia government has assured the minority hindu community that every step will be taken to ensure peace during the celebrations. earlier, president shahabuddin ahmed gave the same assurance to leaders of the community.the khaleda zia government has maintained the custom introduced by its predecessor by sanctioning tk 40 lakh to the hindu kalyan trust from the state exchequer for puja this year. however, the question still looms in the minds of the minority community members whether the pujas will pass off peacefully. durga puja has earlier been the subject of politics in bangladesh. while the festival itself traditionally encompasses all bengalis and becomes a get-together cutting across religious lines, the minorities have been using the threat to suspend the celebrations as a leverage in their bargaining with the authorities ever since president ershad's time. this year, it is not only the hindus who are expressing concern over the security of the minorities in the country. european union emissary in dhaka, antonio de souza menezes, has said he has received complaints about violence against the minorities. on the eve of the october 1 elections, the media alliance for election monitoring in bangladesh, an independent group of journalists, had expressed concern that the minorities might not be able to vote freely. some political analysts, however, point out that the minority issue is a little more complex than plain persecution and insecurity. a curious twist in the tale has been added by poet shamsur rahman by dissociating from the south asian conference against fundamentalism in dhaka. on october 4, the conference had issued a press statement denouncing the coercion of the minorities during and after the elections. the statement included rahman's name as a signatory. the following day, the veteran poet wrote a letter to newspapers saying he did not have anything to do with the statement. the allegation of debarring minorities from voting has also been questioned. in an analysis of the election results, prof. asif nazrul of the department of law, university of dhaka, has shown that of the 12 constituencies where the minorities are largely concentrated, the awami league has won eight, some with overwhelming majority. in all these constituencies, 75 to 80 per cent votes were polled. the real cause of concern for the minority community, according to a section of bangladeshi intellectuals and bangladesh watchers, is different. it is that both the deposed awami league and the alliance that has come to power seem to be using the community as a pawn on their political game. and the events during puja may be crucial in this game.