Bangladesh: Awami League slams interim gov advisor for 'anti-Hindu' remark

Dhaka, Sep 9 (IANS) Bangladesh’s Awami League has strongly condemned interim government Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury for his derogatory remarks against Hinduism, in which he referred to Hindu rituals as “gatherings of liquor and drugs.”

His derogatory remarks came ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja celebrations, the largest religious festival of the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.

According to local media reports, Chowdhury on Monday said, “During Puja, fairs are often arranged around mandaps where alcohol and drugs are consumed.”

Condemning the remarks, the Awami League said, “The Home Affairs Advisor of the illegitimate Yunus government has shattered the spirit of Bangladesh’s Liberation War by making a vile remark against Hinduism. In his recent statement, the Hindu faith was scorned and religious rituals were degraded as nothing more than a ‘gathering of liquor and drugs’.

The party stated that such words are not only deeply disrespectful but also a dangerous attempt to incite religious hatred.

“Worship means devotion, prayer, joy, and celebration - yet the Advisor has insulted the nation’s spiritual heritage by suggesting it is synonymous with drunkenness and addiction. This is not just an insult to one religion - it is an affront to the entire nation,” said the Awami League.

The party further accused the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of sheltering extremist Islamists, while humiliating minority communities at the highest state level.

According to the Awami League, such actions exposed the agenda of the Yunus regime of “fueling division, communal conflict, and religious discord”.

“The Advisor’s statement proves that the illegitimate Yunus regime is not only incompetent but also actively working to destroy the nation’s fundamental unity. By degrading religion and insulting minorities, they seek to cling to power. But the people of this land will never accept communal hatred,” the party asserted.

Emphasising that Bangladesh belongs equally to Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians, the party said, the 1971 Liberation War was fought to build a nation on communal harmony, whereas Yunus' regime is now spreading communal hatred.

--IANS

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