The Durga Puja attacks in Bangladesh are designed to throw the country back into chaos

It is disturbing news again from a neighbour, Bangladesh. Hindu temples have been vandalised and at least three people lost their lives in the violent clashes in the People's Republic of Bangladesh. This is one of the biggest disruptions in interfaith harmony of the country that is making remarkable strides on the economic front. Sheikh Hasina’s Government has been in power for quite some time. However, religious fanaticism has been on the rise in Bangladesh. It validates what writer Tasleema Nasrin has been warning about Muslim fundamentalism in the country. That the religious bigots chose Durga Puja as the occasion to rupture the social fabric of the country speaks volumes about their designs. It can have a spillover, multiplier effect and reaction in bordering India and thus it could snowball into a major issue. This would neither be good for Hasina’s Government nor for her country that needs peace to prosper. If Bangladesh burns, it will be pulled  back to the old days of economic hardships and misery. The Bangladesh Government has deployed the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in 22 districts after the attacks. This shows that the incidents are neither isolated nor unplanned.

So far, three people have been killed during clashes between Muslim bigots and the police at Hajiganj sub-district in Chandpur. One person died later in the hospital of injuries. The police have so far detained 43 people in connection with the violence. This is one of the biggest challenges that the ruling Awami League party is facing right now. It has a daunting task to protect the Hindu minorities while not antagonising the majority of Muslims. This indeed is a tight ropewalk for Sheikh Hasina and her party. Hindus are 10 per cent of the 169 million, largely Muslim, population. The Awami League, which led the struggle for independence, harped on the Bangla language movement, not religion. But later it fell out with the military, which consolidated its position by supporting religious fundamentalists. In 1977, Zia-ur-Rahman dropped secularism. Later in 1988, General Ershad made Islam the State religion and hobnobbed with the fundamentalists, laying the foundation of the current rise of religious extremism. The sporadic violence has claimed several lives ever since, though this time it is more organised and designed to garner maximum mileage.