Bangladesh: Yunus govt asks Hindus to pause Durga Puja music during namaz and azan

Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladeshhas askedHindus in the country not to play musical instruments as part of Durga Puja celebrations during namaz and azan, the country's local media reports stated.

Bangladesh Home Affairs Adviser, Lieutenant General (retired) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, on Tuesday said that puja committees have been asked to turn off sound systems and avoid playing musical instruments during namaz and azan.

He further said that the organisers had agreed to therequest.

"Such activities need to cease during offering namaz, and the pause will have to be followed from five minutes prior to azan," Chowdhury was quoted as saying by The Times of India on Tuesday.

The announcement was made after a meeting on the law and order situation in the country ahead of Durga Puja at the Dhaka Secretariat.

Durga Puja is the largest Hindu religious festival in Bangladesh.

Over 32,000 puja mandaps to be set up

Chowdhury said that a total of 32,666 puja mandaps will be set up across the country.

Of these mandaps, 157 will be in Dhaka South City, and 88 in North City Corporations, according to local newspaper Dhaka Tribune.

This comes weeks after attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh subsequent to student protests against quotasin education and jobs for descendants of Bangladesh's freedom fighters. This also led to the resignation of then Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina.

The safety of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh has been questioned after Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh's interim government's chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, called for communal harmony in the country.

"We are a nation of communal harmony. No one shall do any act that destroys religious harmony," the reportquoteshim as saying.

“No one should take the law into their own hands. If someone takes the law into his own hands and creates a chaotic environment in society, we will definitely bring him under punishment.”

Watch |India-Bangladesh: Yunus wants good relations with India and other neighbours

However, some initiatives by Yunus' government have raised concerns about the India-Bangladesh ties.

Yunus government banned the export of hilsa to India, creating a shortage of Bangladeshi ilish (as the fish is known in Bengali) ahead of Durga Puja.

The ban on exports strained the long-standing practice of Bangladesh sending large consignments of Padma ilish to India, particularly West Bengal.

(With inputs from agencies)