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The Jatiya Hindu Mahajote has demanded that the government declare the eighth, ninth and tenth days of Durga Puja as public holidays instead of granting leave through executive orders.
The organisation also expressed concern over the security of the Hindu community ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja and Union Parishad elections.
The demands were made at a press conference at the National Press Club on Friday. The event was chaired by Mahajote President Prabhas Chandra Roy, while its Executive Secretary and spokesperson Palash Kanti Dey read out a written statement.
Dey alleged that attacks on members of the Hindu community and their places of worship had occurred in the past before and after religious festivals and during elections. He claimed that incidents of vandalism at temples and idols, as well as threats against members of the Hindu community, had been reported in several districts ahead of this year’s Durga Puja.
“These incidents have created concern among the Hindu community,” Dey said, calling for those issuing threats to be brought to justice regardless of their political affiliation.
Referring to the alleged burning death of Dipu Das in Mymensingh and the recovery of the body of Niranjan Chandra Sutradhar from a drum in the same district, Dey claimed that 46 members of the Hindu community had been killed or found dead across the country over the past nine months.
He called for impartial judicial investigations to determine whether the deaths were suicides or planned killings.
The organisation also demanded security for doctors, teachers, police personnel and journalists from minority communities. It sought a clear government statement over allegations that Hindu candidates had been excluded from the final list for recruitment as government primary school teachers.
The Mahajote’s four-point demands include declaring the eighth, ninth and tenth days of Durga Puja public holidays from next year; installing CCTV cameras at all permanent and temporary puja venues with government funding and strengthening security from 10 days before the festival; forming a minority protection law and a minority commission; and establishing a central monitoring cell for Durga Puja security.