An unruly mob vandalised an Indian cultural centre in the Bangladesh capital and caused “minor” damage to four Hindu temples across the country on Monday, witnesses and a community leader said.
Kajol Debnath, leader of the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, said he had received reports that at least four Hindu temples had been damaged across the country.
“These are minor losses,” he said. However, some Hindu community leaders are scared in view of the tense situation created after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to eyewitnesses, the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre located in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area was damaged by the unruly mob.
Protesters set fire to several prominent places in Dhaka, including the Bangabandhu Bhaban, also known as the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, located at Dhanmondi 32, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.
The museum is dedicated to Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was assassinated while he was the President in 1975.
The development comes at a time when massive protests forced Prime Minister Hasina to resign and leave Bangladesh. Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman announced that an interim government was being formed and urged protesters to stop the violence.
Formally inaugurated in March 2010, the Centre promotes bilateral cultural relations between India and Bangladesh by organizing cultural programmes, cultural seminars, workshops and by employing India-based gurus, professionals and trainers for Yoga, Hindi, Indian classical music and Indian dances like Kathak and Manipuri.
This also includes high-ranking professionals from Bangladesh who have received training from Indian gurus or Indian universities.
The centre, a cultural centre of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, has a library of over 21,000 books in the fields of Indian art, culture, politics, economics and fiction.