Staff Reporter:
Central committee of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad on Friday relieved its Chattogram chapter President Ashish Bhattacharya and General Secretary Hillol Dey for failing to perform their responsibilities adequately.
Earlier, the Chattogram unit issued a lifetime termination of Joint Secretary Sajal Dutta for allowing a group that performed songs, including one having Islamic theme, at JM Sen Hall Puja mandap on Thursday evening, as stated in a release signed by Sachin Chandra Baroi, office secretary of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad.
Besides, central Puja Udjapon Parishad strongly condemned the incident.
The President of Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad Shri Basudev Dhar and General Secretary Shri Santosh Sharma said in a statement that people of the Hindu community have been deeply hurt by this unexpected incident. The Parishad demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident and exemplary punishment.
Simultaneously, the Puja Udjapon Parishad emphasised that the government has implemented necessary measures to ensure the successful celebration of Durga Puja. Such incidents can understandably hinder these positive efforts, it said.
The statement called for collaboration among the government, military, law enforcement, political parties and student organisations to unite against miscreants, stressing that there is no alternative to this collective action.
Meanwhile, Puja Udjapon Parishad Chattogram Finance Secretary Sukanto Bikash Mohajan filed a case in connection with this matter accusing seven persons with the Kotwali Police Station on Friday.
The six persons who performed songs on the stage and Sajal Dutta were accused in the case, said Officer in-Charge (OC) Fazlul Kader of Kotwali Police Station.
Police earlier detained two of the six persons. The two individuals were shown arrested in the case.
Other accused included Abdullah Iqbal, 30, Rony, 28, Golam Mostafa, 27, and Md Mamun, 36.
Sajal Dutta had requested Chattogram Cultural Academy to perform songs on the stage on Thursday night, said Kazi Md Tarek Aziz, additional deputy commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP).
As per the request, six members of the academy performed two songs and one of the songs hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community, the ADC said.
They sang ‘Shudhu Muslims er Lagi Asheniko Islam’ and Shah Abdul Karim’s famous song ‘Agey Ki Sundar Din Kataitam’.
A video of the incident went viral on social media.
Rumour Scanner, an independent Bangladeshi fact-checking website that debunks fake news and misinformation, confirmed that the viral video was real and unedited.
Being informed, Chattogram Deputy Commissioner (DC) Farida Khanom rushed to the spot and said that the authorities would arrest the six youths within 48 hours who took the stage at a puja mandap and sang two songs, including an Islamic one, claiming they would only sing a patriotic song.
