Bangladesh PM Rahman visits Durga Puja sites as government boosts funding, holidays and security

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has visited Durga Puja sites and temples, meeting members of the Hindu community and exchanging greetings as the country’s major Hindu festival is underway. On Tuesday, he visited sites in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Chattogram. The visits come as the Bangladeshi government has raised its financial grant for Durga Puja from Tk 4 crore to Tk 5 crore, declared three consecutive public holidays, and ordered tighter security arrangements nationwide.

At a Sharadiya greetings programme at the Radha Gobinda Dharmasabha Temple in Rangpur, Mr Rahman said the country had long been home to people of all faiths and called for that coexistence to continue.

“Just as people of every religion have lived together peacefully in this country for thousands of years, we want them to continue living together in peace for the next thousand years as well,” he told those gathered.

He recalled that people of different religions had fought together in the 1971 independence war and had again come together during the 2024 student-led mass uprising that removed the previous government. “We must also work together, irrespective of religious beliefs and affiliations, if we want to build the Bangladesh we aspire to create,” he said.

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The increased grant was approved after the Hindu Religious Welfare Trust requested Tk 4 crore; the prime minister later raised the sum to Tk 5 crore and personally handed over the cheque on 7 October. The same day the government also allocated Tk 3 crore for the Buddhist community’s Kathin Chibar Dan festival.

A government notification issued on 7 October declared public holidays on 20, 21 and 22 October 2026. Combined with the regular weekend, this gives government employees five consecutive days off.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said after a high-level coordination meeting that agencies at national, divisional, district and upazila levels had been instructed to maintain law and order. Measures include round-the-clock monitoring cells, improved coordination between police and volunteers, and efforts to ensure uninterrupted electricity and emergency lighting at puja venues.