Bangladesh 'urges' pause in Durga puja activities during azaan, namaaz

The interim govt of Bangladesh has "urged" the Hindu community to halt their Durga puja-related activities, specially playing any musical instrument five minutes before azaan and during namaaz. "Such activities need to cease during offering namaaz, and the pause will have to be followed from five minutes prior to azaan," home affairs adviser Lt. Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said Tuesday, ahead of Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community.

The home affairs adviser said the puja committees have been asked to keep musical instruments and sound systems switched off during azaan and namaz. Committees have agreed, he said. A total of 32,666 puja mandaps (pandals) will be erected across the country this year, with 157 and 88 mandaps in Dhaka South City and North City corporations, respectively.

Though the number of puja mandaps was 33,431 past year, the number will exceed this year, he said, quoting the Puja Celebration Parishad. "We've discussed how to ensure round-the-clock security at puja mandaps," Chowdhury said. Measures will be taken to facilitate the celebration of puja without any hindrance and prevent the "evil activities" of miscreants, he added.

Meanwhile, in his speech to the nation on Wednesday evening, chief adviser Muhammad Yunus said, "We are a nation of communal harmony. No one shall do any act that destroys religious harmony."

He said the govt is determined to shape a democratic Bangladesh so that "we don't fall into the hands of a dictatorship". "No one should take the law into their own hands. If someone takes the law into his own hands and creates a chaotic environment in society, we will definitely bring him under punishment," Yunus added.